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17-14, another regular on the WVUSports.com Message Board, had 2 wonderful posts I wanted to share. . .
Ch-ch-ch-changes....(long)
Posted By: 17-14
Date: Monday, 4 October 1999
"The result of many little things is not little. When you study the way winners do things and compare them to the way you do them, you may not like what you see, but you better see it." -- Tony LaRussa
I'm the last person who thought I'd be writing something like this, but my blind optimism has worn off. There is absolutely nothing about this football program right now that gives me any hope of a turnaround.
I'd like to be able to believe that the present staff could do it, get back to where we once were, but that would imply that we've been somewhere this decade. And if you look closely, that would be false.
Someone posted that in our last 35 games, we're 17-18. Go back a bit more, and it doesn't get much better. Since the 1994 season (65 games), we're a very mediocre 36-29 (.55). Or, better yet, take a look at the whole decade:
1991: 6-5
1992: 5-4-2
1993: 11-1
1994: 7-6
1995: 5-6
1996: 8-4
1997: 7-5
1998: 8-4
1999: 1-4
This season is only the boiling point of problems that have been building up for quite some time. Forget the records for a second, and think about individual games. Miami in 96 & 98; Notre Dame in 97; Pitt in '97; East Carolina in 99; Purdue in 95....the list could go and on of games that we were in a position to win and didn't. Why?
Why do we never beat teams that we're not supposed to beat? Seriously, try to think of the last "upset" that we pulled. Miami in '93? Maybe, but we were ranked #9, they were #4, and it was at home.
Why do we rarely win games that are considered tossups? Last year, in the Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Miami and Missouri games, we were either slight favorites or slight underdogs. We went 1-3 in those games. Keep going back and you'd find the same thing...our record against VT, SU & Miami since 1994 -- 4-12.
Why do we continually lose to teams that we're favored against? What are they doing to us that we aren't doing when we play Ohio St. or Nebraska? How is it possible that a team can be "upset" so many times without being able to pull the trick on someone else? We've lost to Rutgers twice this decade, we've lost to Maryland FOUR times this decade, we just got beat by a 1-3 Navy team AT HOME. I can accept that, at times, upsets will happen, but I don't think it's coincidence that they always happen to us.
There are other questions that beg to be answered as well, like....How can we continue to place more and more players in the NFL and still field mediocre teams? Why do we continually read about other teams "wanting it more" after every loss? Why are other teams getting more out the same level of talent than we are? Why are other teams able to be more successful with less talent?
There are three things a coaching staff is responsible for before the game starts. They must get their team 1)Physically ready to play 2)Mentally ready to play & 3)Emotionally ready to play. Do we do that? Physically, I think we're fine, but I think we fail miserably on the other two. When was the last time you saw us outhustle a team? When was the last time we played smarter than someone? When was the last time we did BOTH?
Don Nehlen has been instrumental in building WVU into a football program, and he should be afforded the dignity and grace of retiring, but the time has come to make a change. If the same coaching staff is one the sidelines next fall, there should be no reason to expect that anything will be different.
They say that repeating the same act over and over and expecting different results is one definition of insanity. If that's true, we should all be committed.
Doesn't sound too Crazy to me, 17-14!
Here's the other post. . .
From Mike Cherry's numbers column...
Posted By: 17-14
Date: Tuesday, October 5, 1999
3-13 -- Record since 1994 season for WVU in games decided by seven points or less.
I don't think anything could clearly summarize my frustration with WVU football more than that record right there. Outside of this year, it hasn't been that we don't compete or that we're getting blown out of games. It is the simple fact that once we put ourselves in a position to win we don't produce.
Think if we were only .500 in those games (8-8). Pick five games from that time (one a season) and see what a difference it makes:
1994: The Carquest Bowl (24-21 loss to SC) - A win there and the whole bowl thing is put to rest.
1995: Purdue, 26-24: A win puts us at 6-5 instead of 5-6 and possibly into a bowl, which translates into $$$$$.
1996: Miami, 10-7. Change that to a W and instead of being a depressed 7-1 tea, we're still an upbeat 8-0 team that maybe doesn't come out flat and lay down for Syracuse.
1997: Notre Dame, 21-14. Just beating Notre &^$^&%! Dame would have been reward enough.
1998: Miami, 34-31. Same story as '96 -- the loss carried over to the next week and we dropped one at VT. If we in, who knows? Even if we still would have lost at Tech, we would have finished 9-2 (6-1 in the Big East) and been the conference's reprsentative in the Orange Bowl. Again, more money, more exposure.
The cumulative effect of continually losing close games can destroy a program. It kills confidence, hurts recruiting and creates doubt and dissension. 1999 is simply a product of our past.
Folks, this guy nails it! Thanks 17-14!
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