5 Thoughts ... 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl
West Virginia 31 ... North Carolina 30
GAME RECAP:
Pat White's special day
- 2008 CFN Meineke Car Care
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2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl
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1. It’s the common discussion
coming at this time of year when
it comes to all-time great
college football players who
don’t necessarily fit a pro
prototype. This year, one of the
biggest NFL question marks is
Pat White, the all-time greatest
running quarterback in college
football history. He’s not big
enough to be a regular NFL
starter and he doesn’t have the
arm. He’s accurate and he could
be effective for stretches, but
he’s not an NFL passer (even
with the beautiful laser beam he
threw to Alric Arnett for his
third touchdown pass of the
game). However, if I’m a pro
offensive coordinator, I beg,
plead, and bribe the general
manager to spend a fourth round
pick on White and then roll the
dice. No, White’s not going to
be the franchise quarterback,
but in today’s day and age of
the single-wing a.k.a. Wildcat
formation being used on a
regular basis, I’d love to
design a package of 5-to-10
plays a game for White to allow
him to do a little bit of
everything. Unlike using a
Darren McFadden or Ronnie Brown
under center, White would add
another dimension to the offense
with his passing ability. If my
team is down to an emergency
quarterback, why not use White
for a game or two here and
there? No one would be able to
spend enough time to adequately
prepare for him. To be a major
NFL player, White will also have
to show he can be used as a
receiver, kick returner or a
running back, even if he's
saying all the right things
about being a quarterback, but
if Chris Johnson, who isn’t all
that big, and Darren Sproles can
succeed as a complementary back,
then why not White? It’ll be
interesting to see how creative
the pro types can be with the
Mountaineer star.
-
Pete
Fiutak
2.
I don’t know what the future holds for Pat White in the NFL. I just
know that he needs to be given a chance to throw the football in
some capacity. He may not fit the prototype, but he’s got a terrific
left arm and is a winner. In fact, he’s the winningest quarterback
in NCAA postseason history after leading West Virginia to a
thrilling comeback win over North Carolina. Have you watched White
develop as a passer over the last four years? He’s accurate, has
good zip on his passes, and does a nice job of managing the game.
Oh, and if things break, word has it he can scramble out of trouble.
White doesn’t want to take the Randle-El route to the pros. He wants
to remain behind center. After watching him carve up the Heels for
332 yards and three touchdowns on 27-of-33 passing, he’s earned a
chance to lay out his case in front of scouts over the next three
months.
-
Richard Cirminiello
3. If only all December
bowl games could be like today's showstopper in Charlotte. West
Virginia's thrilling win over North Carolina possessed
more start-to-finish intensity than any other bowl game this season,
even the Poinsettia Bowl. TCU's triumph over Boise State provided an
entertaining contest, but with that having been said, the Horned
Frogs needed a quarter and a half to get their motor running. West
Virginia and North Carolina were ready from the word go, in a
frenzied affair that truly felt like a titanic struggle. It's very
rare when two teams care the way the Mountaineers and Tar Heels did,
in one of those not-so-famous bowl games with one of those
off-putting and awkwardly long commercial sponsorship labels. With
the way these two squads threw haymakers at each other, you would
have thought this was the Orange Bowl. Cincinnati and Virginia
Tech, in another Big East-ACC matchup, will both have to play way
over their heads to produce anything close to what we saw this
afternoon in the home of the Carolina Panthers.
-
Matthew
Zemek
4. Buh-bye, Hakeem Nicks. It’s been fun covering you at this level
for the last three years. He can return to Chapel Hill for one more
year, but why should he? Sure, Carolina should be poised for an ACC
title run in 2009, but Nicks has clearly outgrown the competition,
and is ready for new challenges. The type of challenges that pay
really well. Although I’m generally a proponent of staying in school
because most athletes aren’t as ready as they assume, Nicks is an
exception. He’s NFL-ready right now, and in a weak year for
receivers, will soar into one of the first two rounds of April’s
draft. Against a pretty good West Virginia pass defense, he caught
eight passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns, looking acrobatic
on half of the grabs. If he’s using his noodle, it’s the last time
Nicks will put on a show without charging admission.-
Richard Cirminiello
5. Part of the reason why this game (which was played at midday in
fog) surpassed the Poinsettia (played on a perfect night in San
Diego) is that an actual crowd came to Charlotte and filled the
ballpark. As huge as the Boise State-TCU game was, that contest drew
fewer than 36,000 fans. Mountaineer and Tar Heel backers roared with
delight for three solid hours today, and the energy from the stands
certainly helped West Virginia and North Carolina sustain a
high effort level for such a long period of time. It's not rocket
science: Loud crowds enable players to play faster, stronger and
better. When stadiums are dead, players have to generate their own
energy and willpower, leading to a poorer product. Yes, the
Poinsettia Bowl turned into a wonderful game, a testament to
the quality of the two teams on display, but this not-as-sexy
bowl--in Charlotte fog--surpassed the showdown in San Diego.
Fans--in their numbers and in the strength of their vocal
chords--had a lot to do with that.
The point of this comment is not just to compare two bowl games, but
to make an important point about the bowl system in general. As
money-driven as the bowl system is--a sad reality which creates
matchups based more on tourism than raw merit--you can't knock bowl
organizers when they seek filled seats instead of high-quality
matchups. If Boise State wanted to gain a BCS bowl over Ohio State
or other teams, Bronco fans needed to fill Qualcomm Stadium the way
North Carolina and West Virginia fans filled Bank of America Stadium
in Charlotte.
Yes, Boise (and TCU) fans, the BCS system isn't great. (Not a news
flash, to be sure.) But as long as this bowl system exists, the
schools who travel well are the schools who will get the benefit of
the doubt when premium bowl invites are handed out. If college
football fans on the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains think
that Eastern media centers don't respect them, today's crowd in
Charlotte--combined with the small crowd in the Poinsettia
Bowl--offered a perfect reason why.
It's not fair, but as long as West Virginia-North Carolina draws
twice as many people as Boise State-TCU (the Poinsettia
Bowl attracted alarmingly little national media attention for a game
of its stature), teams in the Pacific and Mountain time zones can
only complain so much. -
Matthew
Zemek