and the great young coach Rodriguez and his spread offense. Its making Morgantown a destination for many top coaches and programs that are wanting to imporve their offense.

Between ESPN football & basketball homepages, I think WVU is approaching a record for the most times on being on the front of these pages. As former legendary MountainEER play by play would say " Its a great time to be a MountainEER whereever you may be".

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/index


MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Ohio State paid a visit Monday, the latest of dozens of schools to send its football coaches this way in the past few years.


All of them come for one reason: To hear West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez explain the nuances of his no-huddle, shotgun, run-first spread offense.


Yeah, the one that rang up 38 points on Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.


AP Photo
Rich Rodriguez has WVU pointed in the right direction."Everybody has a little different version of the spread," Rodriguez said Monday, as he and his wife and two children found their seats at WVU Coliseum for a basketball game against Pitt. "It's flattering when people come out, and we learn a lot when people visit us. Like Ohio State. Here's a team that's pretty good themselves, and they're running some of our stuff. I talked to (Texas coach) Mack Brown the other night, and obviously he did a lot of it with Vince Young. It's kinda nice to trade ideas with people. It can help both programs."


Rodriguez paused and added, "Schemes are sometimes a little bit overrated. It's still more about execution and talent, but obviously if you do something unique and have success, people are going to want to copy it."


Which pretty much tells you all you need to know about the state of West Virginia's football program: People want to copy it.


The big question in Morgantown, as the Mountaineers prepare to open spring practice March 20, is whether Rodriguez can duplicate his own success from last season.


Or, perhaps, top it.


The Mountaineers finished with a No. 5 AP national ranking, tying the 1988 team for best in school history. A quick glance at their 2006 schedule triggers two thoughts:


1. They might have a better chance of losing in one of their two bye weeks than in any of their first seven games, all of which are against teams that failed to reach a bowl last season and posted a combined record of 24-53.


2. How on earth will they be battle-tested enough for game No. 8, at Louisville on Nov. 2?


Initial reply to thought No. 2: A lot of folks wondered the same thing about West Virginia when it emerged from the belittled Big East to play SEC champion Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. They didn't wonder for long. By the end of the first quarter, the turbo-charged Mountaineers had raced a 21-0 lead.


Second reply to thought No. 2: It's a legitimate question, and Louisville is a legitimate challenger -- probably the only one -- to West Virginia's Big East throne. The Cardinals' backfield combo of quarterback Brian Brohm and tailback Michael Bush is every bit as dangerous as West Virginia's tandem of quarterback Pat White and tailback Steve Slaton.


But the buildup to the potential Big East game of the year can wait. What's critical for the Mountaineers at the moment is how they deal with the massive expectations. They could be ranked in the top five, and at least one person (hello, ESPN.com's Pat Forde) has WVU No. 1 in a preseason ranking.


Can they handle the heat?


Pat White rushed for 952 yards and passed for 828 in 2005.Well, the Mountaineers didn't do such a good job of it two years ago, when they began the season ranked No. 10 -- and picked as high as No. 4 in one publication -- but lost their final three games to finish a disappointing 8-4.


Don't expect a repeat of that collapse. For one thing, the schedule is too forgiving. For another, West Virginia's leadership core is more team-oriented. Some of the best players in 2004 were more interested in themselves and in the NFL than in being good teammates and quality leaders.


That shouldn't be a problem this season. Sophomores White and Slaton, for example, are mature beyond their years.


Still, Rodriguez admits the pressure "weighed" on his team two years ago. His first mission with these players will be to remind them that their record is 0-0 -- and that the best way to keep a zero in the right-hand column is to sacrifice for the common good.


"The biggest key for us is to keep everybody unselfish," he said. "Keep 'em unselfish, keep 'em humble, keep 'em hungry. They're good guys, so I think they'll stay that way."


On the personnel front, Rodriguez must replace his offensive tackles and three-fifths of a hard-hitting secondary. Word is, capable reinforcements are ready to supplement a talented cast that includes perhaps the best running quarterback in Big East history.


Yes, we remember Michael Vick. So does Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, who schemed against Vick when the quarterback starred at Virginia Tech and Schiano ran Miami's defense.


Schiano believes White might be the more dangerous runner.


"It's very, very similar preparing for him," Schiano said. "They're an awful lot alike as far as the things you have to concern yourself with. (White) is going to give this league fits for a long time. He's special."


So is this team. That might not translate to a 13-0 record and a national championship, but it'll be good enough to give opponents nightmares -- and likely prompt a few coaches to visit Morgantown after the season.

Does this board really need YET another thread about West Virginia? Get off your damn cross once and for all.

If you don't like it, you don't have ot read it. I'll get off my cross when you do something about penis envy issues.

Fluffy, UT (insert campus) called and said if you continue to wax poetic about that mountain girl, they are going to divorce you ass and take you to the cleaners.

Clear evidence of the pitifully weak schedule of Wet Virginee and Eastern Football. Even an average football program like UNC played 9 bowl teams last year. (and beat four of them no less)

Louisville ( a 2 loss Big East team) 69 UNC 14

OWNED!

Virginia Tech (2nd place ACC team)...34
We't Virginee (1st place big east)...17

OWNED and DOMINATED !!

WVU #5 in final poll ( ahead of any ACC team)

Big East is now 6-3 in BCS bowl games
ACC is now 1-8

is this conversation on a loop? I swear it is the same crap over and over and over.

Sorry, but I'm not your therapist.

WVUBetty = Tokyo Rose

Her Tigger= Elly Mae Clampett

Elly Mae was a Tennessee fan...wrong analogy. I think she sang Rocky Top all the way to Hollywood.

BTW - Too bad Don Knotts died recently. He was the only good thing to ever come out of West Virginia.

Forrest Gump was from the great state of Alabama. He was smart enough to go with the premier athletic program of Alabama located in Tuscaloosa.

And Forrest had an IQ of 40..perfect candidate for Bama! LOL.

Yet even with an inferior IQ still made the smart decision and picked Alabama.

Fluffy, honey, you do know that Forrest Gump was a fictional (make believe) character, don't you?