WVU Student here, looking forward to the matchup, hoping for some good conversation.

Now that sh** is funny.

 

Back to the game at hand... tell me more about this WV Defense, I am trying to figure out what the Pros and Cons are to the 3-3-5 that the Mountaineers are running. I am just not familar with it and thougth I saw the Saints playing it in the playoffs... so I am really interested.

My counter to the 3-3-5 for LSU might be to run double TEs (maybe check out there depth with Jumbo sets) and see if we can knock around some guys at the point of attack to spring a running back into the open field.

 

3-3-5 def is suppose to let the LBs and DBs make more plays and the DL distracts the OL. Also helps with defending the pass(but not yet for WVU)

You'll hear... Bruce Irvin's name and prob Robert Sands name alot.

 

For some reason the 3-3-5 leaves more secondary lapses then running issues. I'm uncertain of the specific stat but the jist of it was that we haven't had a back rush for over something like 125 yards in a matter of years. However our pass coverage is troubling. As it has been the last few years we don't seem to have problems with passing attacks but more of passing plays. What I mean is last year we were notorious for pushing our opponents to 3rd and longs and them coming up with a 1st. I haven't seen us chipped away at passing wise in sometime, we're just more liable to give up a big play. Both Maryland TD's were over 40 yard pass plays, one of the Marshall ones was 90 something. The design of the 3-3-5 is supposed to allow the safety's to support the corner's but for some reason 2-3 times a game our corners and safeties have their thumbs up each others butts and a receiver has enough time to wave to his parents on a TD. Supposedly we were going to have a great defensive secondary this year, I'm still unconvinced. Our defensive line isn't anything to scoff at, Scooter Berry and Chris Nield plug holes nicely, and the linebackers fall in on the run pretty well. People will be riding LB Bruce Irvin pretty hard this week leading up to the game. He's a JuCo JR transfer and this past week he had 3 sacks plus made the QB uncomfortable all day despite only playing a fraction of the downs. He could be the real deal but the jury is still out.

Offensively we've made huge shifts since the Rich Rod era. We don't really run the spread anymore, although we look like we have a prototypical spread QB he's actually simply a scrambler. He's got legs but he won't run down field much, he'll just scramble to pass. Oddly enough our coaches have shifted a lot of our running game to in between the tackles, which boggles my mind. A good load of our running falls on the shoulders of guys under 6 feet tall but with blinding speed, one would think that sweeps and plays outside would be the way to go. The core of the carries will come from Devine, short yardage will fall to the bruising Ryan Clarke, Austin looks like Devine in size and stature and he'll get a few carries too. On the outside we've got Jock Sanders who looks like Devine and Austin (we love our midgets) he's a pretty diesel slot receiver, low center of gravity, he can burn people on screens and such. This past week we saw the maturation of WR Stedman Bailey, he went to the same high school as our current QB and so they seem to have natural timing. Our offensive line is the biggest issue, coming into this year we were told it one one of the strongest points of the team, but they have looked awful all year. Simply embarrassed at Marshall I think this will be the way for you to beat us, attack us at the line and we'll have all sorts of issues.

 

It is amazing the similarities one can draw here between WVU and LSU, especially LSU last season.

Around here, we call it 3rd and Chavis...although it hasn't reared it's ugly head the last couple games. <knocks on wood>

Ok now that's just creepy...:lol:

 

Also allows a team to disguise pressure too. Could REALLY confuse our QB who seems to be constantly troubled by even the thought of it.

 

If you want to see how the 3-3-5 is supposed to work watch the Fiesta Bowl game where we blasted Oklahoma. That game we played nearly flawless.

Honestly we play it more like a 3-4. We play 3 d lineman, 3 lbs, 2 cbs, a FS, and 2 other safetys. The 2 extra safetys play up a lot at the line of scrimmage. Last year we had 6'5" Robert Sands playing safety and as far as Im concerned thats where he needs to be. The 96 yard play against Marshall and both bombs against MD he was playing up on the line of scrimmage like a LB. When he is deep not much gets over his head. He got hurt in the first game and hasnt played the same since. There is something wrong with his shoulder. They said it was a stinger, but i played and got stingers from blasting people. They never hurt me for that long. I think its a little more serious than he is letting on.

 

I am more interested in the team you have this year. Any place hosting a replay of one of this year's games?

 

Yeah the one thing you'll learn all week about WVU fans is that we cling to the past waaaaay too much. We'll mention games from 1985 if we think it makes us look good. Seriously though, fans (guilty here too) will mention our Sugar bowl win over UGA in 2005, or our Fiesta bowl in 2007. It's what happens when you're the winningest program without a national title, it's funny because today I was thinking about how intwined LSU and WVU's fates were in 2007. Your loss to Ark literally put a national championship on a plater for us that we couldn't take, and so we gave it back to you. I think had we not choked vs. sPitt that year that we like you would have embarrassed a vastly overrated tOSU.

 

You're welcome here. Some of our other neighbors are exactly the same way.