Rapid Takeaways Following West Virginia's Elimination From Bowl Contention

No bowling for the West Virginia Mountaineers this season as they collected their seventh loss of the year, dropping to Arizona State, 25-23.

My thoughts on this one...

The little things were the difference

West Virginia had a chance to take a two-score lead early, but a failed fourth down conversion kept it 3-0. Even after the failed attempt, you still felt good about the situation with Arizona State pinned inside their own 10. Instead of getting off the field and getting good field position for the offense, they allowed a 94-yard touchdown drive. A three-and-out and four plays later, the Sun Devils found pay dirt again. A huge early swing in the game.

At the end of the first half, Jeff Weimer dropped a ball on third down, allowing ASU to hold onto its last timeout and get the ball back. Then, Keyshawn Robinson was flagged for kick catch interference, giving an extra 15 yards of field position. Fortunately for WVU, they weren't impacted by the two miscues.

Um, that's not Jeff Sims... is it?

All week, we talked about how much Sims puts the ball in harm's way. He has a ton of fumbles to his name, interceptions, and balls that should have been picked off. Aside from the mishandling of the snap on 4th and inches in the third quarter, those turnover-worthy plays just didn't pop up today. You have to give credit to him, but also, it's concerning that WVU was never able to get him rattled, and zone coverage was extremely soft.

Was Houston an anomaly on the ground?

It looked like WVU had turned a corner a couple of weeks back against Houston in terms of rushing the ball. The offensive line fired off the ball, the backs ran hard, and it resulted in one of the better rushing performances of the season. Last week, against a bad Colorado run D, WVU averaged just 3.2 yards per carry. Today, those struggles continued, hanging around two yards per tote. I'll say it again... I don't know why they haven't gone back to Walter Young Bear at right guard over Kimo Makane'ole. That's what worked against Houston.

The little things were the difference

Um, that's not Jeff Sims... is it?

Was Houston an anomaly on the ground?

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