The Times West Virginian

WVU hosts Louisville today in ‘must-win’
If the NCAA will pardon the expression, West Virginia’s football season has the feel of a playoff.
Four games — one and out.
That’s what it has come down to and it begins at noon today in Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium when Louisville comes to town.
Sands starting to come into his own for WVU
You know it is going to be a bad night when maybe the best play you make on defense ruins your chance to turn a game around, but so it went for West Virginia last Friday night in South Florida.
With less than a minute left in the first half, South Florida was leading, 17-12, and on the move.
HERTZEL COLUMN: Williams fighting for playing time
Middle linebackers are to football what lions are to the jungle.
Simply put, they are the king of beasts.
Think of the names throughout history — Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert, Ray Nitschke and West Virginia’s own Sam Huff.
They act tough. They talk tough. They live tough.
Devine, Williams semifinalists for awards
West Virginia running back Noel Devine and middle linebacker Reed Williams are semifinals for college football major awards.
Devine, who figures to become a 1,000-yard rusher when WVU hosts Louisville this weekend, needing just 46 yards, and who ranks second in the Big East in rushing was named a semifinalist for the prestigious 73rd Maxwell Award.
HERTZEL COLUMN: Tandy not shying away after USF game
It was one thing to get beat on a Friday night in Tampa, but Keith Tandy knew it happened before and would happen again.
Such is the life of a college cornerback, be they as smooth and solid a Pacman Jones or still young and learning, as this sophomore is.
In a way, as difficult as it is to accept, it is the easy part of the job.
WVU panel discusses playoff, paying athletes
College football needs to go to a playoff system to decide its national champion but it should not begin paying its players, a panel of West Virginia-connected sports owners and former players maintained Wednesday night at a discussion of the business of sports at the Erickson Alumni Center.
Coaching not always about Xs and Os
Too often we lose sight of the real job football college coaches have in front of them, paying far too much attention whether are running their offense from the spread or the wing-T, whether they use an odd or even front on defense, whether they blitz or play straight zone.
The Xs and the Os are all nice to talk about, but in the end, there isn’t a football coach who doesn’t know an X from an O and what to do with his Os when your Xs are lined up in a certain way.
HERTZEL COLUMN: Alexander had tough decision
A million or so years ago, back when both the earth and I were young, there was a high school baseball player named Dave Seddon.
At the time, he was maybe the best player in the state of New Jersey, good enough for the Boston Red Sox to offerehim $50,000 to sign after high school … and this was when $50,000 was a lot of money.
Stewart: Team has to move on
Considering the road ahead of West Virginia in this 2009 football season, it is difficult to think of them any longer as anything but spoilers in the chase for the Big East Conference championship.

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