WVU OFFENSE SHOWS FLEXIBILITY, FOR A CHANGE

In order to justify taking the costs of my ticket as a write-off (along with mileage, binoculars, visor, foam finger, and hot dog), I’ll be writing up my impressions of every college game I attend this season.Coincidentally, my itinerary currently includes only seven games scheduled to be played in Morgantown, West Virginia.The season-opener against Villanova, from the Football Championship Subdivision Clusterfudge, was a classic tune-up -- a preseason game in a sport that has no preseason. But, early on, it looked like ‘Nova and their spread offense would make a run at knocking off the Mountaineers.The tide turned dramatically when Villanova quarterback Antwon Young made like Garo Yepremian from the WVU 13. Linebacker Mortty Ivy eventually recovered, and then carried a member of the Wildcats’ offense on his back as Ivy rumbled deep into Villanova territory.At that moment, the sense that this could be the 2008 version of Appalachian State at Michigan disappeared.The focus then became the West Virginia offense. With the Wildcats loading the box to slow down a rushing attack led by quarterback Pat White and running back Noel Devine, the Mountaineers under new coach Bill Stewart did something that former coach Rich Rodriguez never would have done.Stewart had White throw the ball. A lot.In all, White threw 33 passes, completing 25. (The second number would have been even higher but for several dropped balls.) White threw for five touchdown passes, a Mountaineer Field record.The difference in the approach was stunning. Under Rodriguez, the passing game consisted of two plays: bubble screen and deep ball. And, typically, White had two options: throw to the primary (only) receiver or pull the ball down and run.With Stewart’s take-what-they-give-us strategy instead of Rodriguez’s I’ve-never-met-a-wall-I-wasn’t-willing-to-continue-to-bang-my-head-into-until-all-my-hair-plugs-fall-out-again style, it’s safe to say that these Mountaineers would have scored more than nine points against Pitt in a game that would have delivered a shot at a national title.Still, it’s way too early for this version of the team to think about playing in the final game of the college season. The defense is a work in progress, at best. Villanova racked up 399 yards of offense, outgaining the Mountaineers by 45. If adjustments aren’t made quickly, the final scores of the WVU football games will resemble the numbers put up in a WVU basketball game.But, in all, it was a very good start for the Mountaineers. Stewart won his debut by 27 points, Rodriguez lost his first game at Michigan, and the arch-rivals from Pitt lost at home to Bowling Green.Even if next week’s visit to East Carolina results in something other than a win, August 30 was a day that WVU fans will remember, since it was the first tangible step toward forgetting months dominated by ugliness.