Boos rained down at Mountaineer Field on Saturday during WVU’s sleep-inducing 17-6 win over woeful Syracuse.
In his post-game comments, Coach Bill Stewart asked WVU fans to not boo the players.
Note to Coach Stewart: Fans weren’t booing the players. They were booing the play calling and the coaches calling the plays, chiefly offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen and Stewart himself.
How do we know this?
Because during the second serious chorus of boos, after another too-short pass on third down, dozens of fans in the south stands stood up, turned around, and looked upward to face the press box—where Mullen sits—and raised their arms in disbelief.
(Much like, by the way, Georgia fans during WVU’s 28-0 first half against the Bulldogs in the 2006 Sugar Bowl.)
Stewart said it wasn’t Mullen’s fault—it was the fault of backup quarterback Jarrett Brown, starting for concussed quarterback Patrick White. Brown, Stewart said, has been given downfield passing plays but was checking down to the third receiver or the short route.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Interesting.
On two of the first three plays, Brown seemed to have no problem throwing downfield. Well, he did have a problem—he overthrew both receivers. But he was throwing downfield and not checking down.
To be fair, the Syracuse game was Brown’s first as a starter in this new offense. WVU should get White back for the Auburn game. The consolation there is that if there’s an offense worse than WVU’s, it’s Auburn’s.
Mullen has never been an offensive coordinator, and that’s clear. It seems he doesn’t know yet how to watch a game as an offensive coordinator, meaning watching how the defense reacts all game and looking for a weakness.
Apparently, the call he made that sprang Noel Devine for the 92-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the exact right call to be made after watching the Orange defense all day.
Maybe Stewart and Mullen, brought from Wake Forest, and all his coaches need to do like law professors do to first-years—break them down to build them up.
But right now, it looks like Mullen and Stewart are wrecking what was a glorious WVU offense that scored touchdowns at will, averaging more than 40 points per game. Now, WVU’s per-game scoring average is actually decreasing with each game.
Further, I don’t think enough attention or criticism has been leveled on new offensive line coach Mark Johnson, brought in from Georgia.
Evidently, in the months since the Fiesta Bowl blowout of Oklahoma, Johnson has untaught WVU’s offensive guards how to block. Or has utterly confused them—are we a zone-blocking team or a drop-back passing team or a power-I team, they seem to wonder? At any rate, Johnson appears to be hurting now, rather than helping.
The team now has several days to “go back to the drawing board,” as Stewart seems to say after every game (six games into a season?) and get ready for Auburn—most importantly, to get White’s head clear.
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about 1 month ago
This is way it is so stupid for our fans to boo. 90% of them don't know anything about football. First DAVID Johnson is the line coach. Yes the first two pass were down field and he missed them, Badly. After that he did check down on atleast 5 pass. And these "bubble screens" everyone is so in love with calling it is actually a option half the time. He has the option to throw the screen, run, or hit the man down field. We have checked down to the screen more times than not. If he checks off to a short man and misses the man running free down field its obviously Juff Mullins fault! Also this isnt the same offense as last year as much as you want it to be. Compare the back fields from last years Cuse game. No White, Schmitt, Slaton, Raynaud. 4 NFL caliber athletes whose presence who is missing. I know they are replaced with guys that are to talented guys but you can't remove that much and expect no drop off.
Another thing is knowing the situation and when to boo. I can understand late in the forth LOSING and booing play calling by running and throwing short deep in your own zone. But Mullins had a choice. Since fans will boo basically no matter what: 1. Be smart control the ball, the clock, and the field position with a inexperienced QB and defense playing. Then he gets booed BUT we win the game. OR 2. throw down field, save clock, risk turnover, get booed by the same idiots and lose the game. I think he made the right choice. So please understand the game before you try boo and carry on and call for a guys head, remember people we won. Cuse aint great but they should have beat pitt the week before.
from about 1 month ago
Nick - Very well put. The problem is every fan thinks they are an offensive genius. Unless you are in the on the sideline or in the coaches' box , you don't understand the dynamics of the game and the decisions being made. I agree, Mullen can't be at fault on a play call if the QB chooses a check down receiver when a man is open down field.
I do think that Mullen is going through some on the job training and that has caused offensive hiccups. I fee like each game there are two or three plays that are a centimeter away from breaking for a touchdown. If they can just start getting a few breaks (like the 92 yard Devine run against SU), limit penalties, and make good blocks this WVU offense could start putting big numbers on the board again.
about 1 month ago
That was "feel" not "fee"
about 1 month ago
Exactly, i completely agree with you about the on the job training. Every offense that goes through a coaching change experiences that too. And if those one or two plays do go for 6 we wouldn't be hearing anything from any of the fans.
about 1 month ago
Well fans have a right to boo to voice their displeasure. They have to be experts at college football to boo? Do you have to be an expert in politics to vote for a President? An actor to boo a movie you don't like? Booing is just voicing displeasure at something they don't like - and in this case it is justified because the product and play on the field is bad - for whatever the reason may be. The only downside is the booing doesn't help our recruits who visit or watch the games. But booing can be a good thing to get a bad coach out the door faster.
I "boo" in general not because of particular plays. I boo the program because a) WVU didn't do their due diligence in hiring a new coach. They barely interviewed any outsiders, if any, and did not take their time finding a new coach. It just so happens Bill Stewart doesn't have a track record of success as a head coach, offensive/defensive coordinator, as an architect etc. In other words, they hired a long-time assistant who hasn't proven himself to be head coach material, imho. What does it say when no other D-IA program would hire Bill Stewart, even to this day? b) I boo Bill Stewart because he hired novice coaches for critical positions (e.g. Jeff Mullen as o/c). c) I boo Bill Stewart for the BOTTOM LINE results of being 4-2, with 2 of those opponents probably not considered Top 50 programs. They 4 wins they have come against teams that are ranked 75-110th in the nation, with Villanova not even a D-IA program. Even with a diminished offensive roster, they still have Devine replacing Slaton, Jock Sanders replacing Reyaud, and White is still there. They have a net loss of Owen Schmitt. That does not explain going from 40ppg to 17ppg against I-A opponents. d) I boo Bill Stewart because he is never blames himself in any detail for anything that goes wrong... it's always "we are missing Slaton and Schmitt" or "the offensive line can't block" or something else. e) I boo Bill Stewart because he refers to himself in the 3rd person a lot and has an ego too... I boo Bill Stewart because he tries to come across as a "nice guy"
f) I boo Bill Stewart because he's not the best possible face for the program and for recruits g) I boo Bill Stewart because he thinks it's ok to talk about being 4-2 but not talk about losing to two bad teams in East Carolina and Colorado h) I boo Bill Stewart because he thinks we're not even a Top 25 team when the talent is there i) I boo Bill Stewart because he over-praises and over-spins (positively) everything... like when he complimented Syracuse for a well played and well coached game... the same Syracuse team that is 1-5 and has no wins against 1-A opponents. The same Syracuse team that gave up 40+ points to Akron, 45+ to USF, and 34 to Pitt.
j) I boo Bill Stewart because he doesn't have the same level of expectations of excellence that Rich Rodriguez did. RichRod would go on record as saying he wanted this to be a Top 10 program year in and year out. Bill Stewart has not said that - maybe because if he does, he'd have to be held to that high standard he cannot reach? No Bill Stewart just wants to be a so-so 8-4, 7-5 Don Nehlen like team so at the end of the day, Bill Stewart can claim "this is Billy Stewart's program and team, dadgummit."
h) I boo Bill Stewart because a coach has already proven you can take this small state's school and program and finish in the Top 10 annually (for the past 3 years) and win over teams like OK, Ga Tech and Georgia - and Bill Stewart ignores this success and standard and thinks it's unrealistic for the school to be a Top 10 program.
i) I boo Bill Stewart because he talks like a moron and Gomer Pyle at press conferences.
j) I boo Bill Stewart because a truly better coach would have this team at 5-1 or 6-0, and would not have struggled to beat two of the worst I-A football teams, Syracuse and Rutgers. If the losses came against Top 50 programs, then I could overlook the record.
k) I boo Bill Stewart because he believes in ball control offensive first and foremost over an explosive offensive that can put points on the board quickly.
They may be 4-2 but everyone knows deep down this program is headed down the wrong path. What makes anyone think he has the wherewithall to be a successful coach and have a sucessful program? Can anyone please cite concrete examples from his past?
Look how long Syracuse has held on to Greg Robinson, hoping against hope that he would turn that program around. At least Robinson had NFL experience. I'm afraid WVU fans are fearing several more years of what Syracuse has gone through and that's ultimately why we boo.
about 1 month ago
Andy - Whoa! That was a really really long post to simply say that you don't like Stewart or the direction that WVU is going. The defense is good despite having a pile of youngsters starting and losing their best player Reed Williams to shoulder surgery complications. The defense will continue to improve. The kicking game is good. The offense is obviously the problem. Mullen is learning while he goes, WVU is missing Schmitt more than anyone expected, and White has been out do to injuries. I still think this team can get better and has a shot (maybe a long shot) at winning the Big East. It isn't all doom and gloom. It has been tough on the fans and team that expectations were so high in the preseason. In all reality this WVU team didn't deserve to be ranked in the top ten to begin the year. Maybe not even in the top 20. People (myself included) forgot how much changing your offensive coordinator can effect productivity.
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