Okay, so this won’t be as eloquent or over-the-top of Q’s sweet analysis earlier, but clearly we all saw tonight how not-great Louisville and WVU really are.  I won’t take anything away from their Offenses.  Brohm is legit, and the combo of White and Slaton (when they hold onto the ball) is exciting to watch.  But these two teams were undefeated coming into tonight because of some weak-ass schedules and some luck.  Summary?  They have no D.  Neither one.  None. Zippo.

The scheduling was even more fortuitous for both teams because they played teams that MIGHT AS WELL HAVE FIELDED 3 players on offense, because it would have been as effective.  Tonight, both teams faced good offenses.  And both teams showed just how horrid their defenses are.   Don’t believe me?  Check out the statistics of the offenses each team has faced.

West Virginia played their first 7 games against Marshall, E. Washington (I-AA), Maryland, E. Carolina, Miss St, Syracuse and UCONN.  What an intimidating list this is!  Not even counting I-AA E-Dub (which might as well be a high school squad), here are the combined average stats of these offensive powerhouses:

WVU Competition Average Points-per-Game:  21    Average National Rank:  79 of 119 

Highest ranked in PPG was Maryland at 58 and WVU faced 3 teams in the 90’s. 

WVU Competition Average Yards-per-Game:  312    Average National Rank:  81 of 119

Here the highest ranked was E. Carolina at 44, and they faced 3 teams in the BOTTOM 23.

What’s the point?   WVU put up great offensive numbers against so-so defenses and scored a ton of points.  But that didn’t expose the weaknesses in their D, because they played against teams that CAN’T MOVE THE BALL.   But the pollsters are all impressed bc of the fancy O and the goose-egg in the Loss column (well, til tonight).

Louisville?  Not any better.  They played the oh-so-scary list of Cincy, Kansas State, Kentucky, Miami (THUG U), Middle Tennessee, Syracuse and Temple.

Louisville Competition Average Points-per-Game:  20     Average National Rank:  82 of 119

Highest ranked in there was Kentucky at 53rd and they faced 2 teams in the 90’s and Temple at #117.

Louisville Competition Average Yards-per-Game:  296    Average National Rank:   89

Highest ranked here is Thug U at 63rd, and 3 teams are in the 100’s. 

MY.   GOOD.   LORD.

Out the door, these two teams, until tonight, played only a SINGLE GAME against a team with a top 50 offense in EITHER CATEGORY.  And that was WVU vs. powerhouse E. Carolina ranked #44 in PPG. 

Almost any decent program, anywhere, in any league college high school or POP WARNER would look good after a schedule like that.  And would most likely be undefeated as well.   Both teams’ weakness was revealed tonight, and I think we all know that these are top 15 teams at best…would any of you seriously place them in the same league as OSU, Michigan, Auburn, FL or ND?  Even an ND fan that knows the weakness of our own D has to notice the difference here…

I just don’t get how all the pollsters somehow miss this.  Oh wait, maybe they don’t spend their Thursday nights running freaking averages…I need a beer.

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