It’s Thursday, and still no trash between the rivals. This is starting to get dull. In fact, the WVU team is saying it won’t do any trash-talking during the game.
Adam “Pac Man” Jones swears he can do it. Rich Rodriguez isn’t so sure.
The topic of conversation is, well, conversation. More specifically, it is the trash-talking version of conversation.
Rodriguez, West Virginia’s football coach, doesn’t want to hear it. And Jones, his sophomore cornerback and the reigning WVU master of the art, says that’s fine by him.
“I’m going to keep my mouth shut this game,” Jones said, referring to Saturday night’s sold-out Backyard Brawl against Pitt at Mountaineer Field. “I can contain myself.”
It’s not that Rodriguez doesn’t believe that, but, just as a precaution, he gathered his team for its Monday meeting this week and, well, stressed it.
Is Rodriguez trying to suck the life out of this game? I’m starting to think so.
When Rich Rodriguez played football at West Virginia, he doesn’t remember too much about the Pitt games. He recalls quarterback Jeff Hostetler scoring a touchdown to defeat Pitt.
“The game I remember the most was when we defeated Penn State, 17-14, during the 1984 season,” Rodriguez said. “I still have that one on tape.”
We are getting some game analysis, though. The piece also gets a little into the WVU defensive scheme. The 3-5-3:
So, what exactly is the 3-5-3? It’s a rarely seen base defense that essentially uses three down linemen, five linebackers and three defensive backs. Most teams use such a scheme for their “prevent” defense, but the Mountaineers use it on a full-time basis.
“They make it tough on a quarterback because they take him out of his rhythm,” Pitt coach Walt Harris said. “They have five guys underneath and three deep and it can really throw you out of whack. And, they have so many variations, and they can do so many things that they trick you a lot of times.”
The 3-5-3 was effective enough to hold the Panthers to two touchdowns and a field goal in a 24-17 loss last season at Heinz Field. The Mountaineers forced four turnovers out of that alignment, including a pair of interceptions.
On the Pitt defensive side, there is a piece on Pitt and its dealings with the @#%^!* spread offense. The title of the article is “Panthers no longer spooked by spread.” Well they may not, but the fans sure as hell are. The piece is short on details but long on player and coaches confidence that “this time for sure” that Pitt will contain it.
I’m not so sure. Rodriguez went through a year of hell installing the spread. WVU went something like 3-8 his first year, because it takes a year for players to learn and understand it — something Walt Harris didn’t grasp back in 2001. Now that it is installed, though, it is scary how effective it can be. Especially against a team like Pitt — that tends to overpursue. Of course the main concern for Pitt will be stopping the WVU running game with Quincy Wilson.
The WVU players seem to be looking forward to the game, even if most of them (at least the ones quoted) were unfamiliar with the history.
There are a couple player puff pieces focusing on WVU WR, Chris Henry. Both the Pittsburgh and WV profiles mention his aspirations to rival Pitt’s Larry Fitzgerald. Also one piece on the return from his concussion, and trying to get enough tickets for family — WVU QB, Rasheed Marshall.
Finally, the Dominion Post continues its running top fives with the top 5 upsets. For good or ill, Pitt won 4 of the 5 listed.
