Let’s get right to it with the interview with Mike Casazza, the WVU beat writer for the Charleston Daily Mail. For more insight on WVU football, check out Casazza’s blog here.

CL What are people in Morgantown making of this game? Liberty is sort of an anonymous opponent for a Big East school. How are the fans, coaches, etc., treating this game, especially with the grudge match against East Carolina looming next week?

MC For fans, season-openers, especially against Division I-AA teams, are ceremonial here ... no offense. People respect what Liberty did last year and understand they’ll come to play, but quite honestly don’t think they’ll win. Can’t say that’s unusual. They’re more concerned with some uncured issues the staff and players are also concerned with—offensive line, short-yardage, third down defense, kickoff return defense, so on and so forth. They all want to see fixes to problems that lingered last season so they can feel better about what awaits them next week. The players and the head coach reference that ECU game all the time. All. The. Time. If they’re uncertain Saturday night, it’s going to be a long week for the Mountaineers as the prepare for the Pirates.

CL Jarrett Brown clearly has some ridiculously large shoes to fill with Pat White gone at quarterback. What kind of player is Brown, and how has he handled the heightened expectations heading into his senior season?

MC Brown’s a big kid with a big arm, but he can still move and run with the ball. They’re going to deviate from their old offense this year, but not because of the quarterback. The new staff had a plan and started it last year. The team and the plan you saw in the bowl game, when the staff had a month to prepare and really focus on things it wanted to do, is most like what you’ll see this
year. JB’s been fine with the transition, though. He could have left in the past, but he wanted this shot. I don’t think he, as a fifth-year senior, is going to let nerves or external factors spoil it. You mention the ridiculously large shoes, which is completely accurate, but that might actually be good for JB and the offense. Pat was so good it’s kind of absurd to think anyone is going to approach that, let alone a first-year starter.

CL We all know Noel Devine is fast. Really fast. Where do you see him taking the biggest jump in his development as he heads into his junior season?

MC Probably as a more complete player. People will have to absorb the carries Pat vacated and you’d have to think Noel gets most of those plays. He’s not a 25-carry-a-game guy, though, so if he gets, say, 12 of Pat’s plays per game, maybe seven are carries and five are receptions. They need to find a way to get him into space and keep him fresh, so reverses and screens and quick passes can accomplish that. He’s a better straight-ahead runner now, too. Everyone’s looking for the short-yardage back here, but if Noel can continue to develop as he has and make one move and go, he should probably be able to get that yard or two the team often needs on third or fourth down.

CL A lot has been written about concerns over WVU’s young offensive line? Where is this group in its development, and is it going to be as big of a weakness as everyone thinks?

MC It’s the issue right now. They just moved the starting center, who started the final five games there last year, to right guard. The new center is a redshirt freshman who revealed he was once afraid the coaches would ask him to play center. Granted, he was embellishing a little, but the point is it wasn’t long ago he wasn’t a center. Now he’s the starter. They’re set at tackle, but the guard-center-guard thing is unsettled. Football’s a little like baseball in that you want to be sound up the middle. Well, you have those three, the first-year starting quarterback and fullbacks and running backs who often struggled in short-yardage and goal line situations. That seems significant, right? I will say this, though: The line is absolutely sure it’s going to be much, much better than people expect. And to be fair, we’re judging them on the fact they haven’t played much. What if they’re really good right away? It’s possible. More likely, they have some bumps, but find some continuity and get to be
pretty good toward the middle of the season.

CL Just how good is this Tevita Finau cat? I’ve read somewhere that the JC transfer defensive end is already quite the fan favorite in Morgantown. How much of a difference maker can he be? (TO INTERJECT: I am an idiot, and I clearly didn’t realize Finau is not with the team. That’s what you get when you read preseason magazines that are published in May. Mike graciously answered anyhow.)

MC Ah, the F word. The only thing I can tell you about him is he is not a fan favorite. He’s not on the team and has instead tantalized and tortured fans with numerous reports of his impending arrival. He’s signed three letters of intent here. Three. We’ve been told no less than four times he’d be here on a specific date. We’re still waiting. To expect him to contribute this season is
unreasonable. To predict him to actually make it here seems a little far-fetched now, too.

We thank Mike for his time. Look for another Q&A next week (I hope), with a Durham, N.C., media expert as North Carolina Central prepares to visit Liberty.

***

Now, for some more quick notes:

It’s about this time each year that FCS football fans get themselves all frothed up over a lack of perceived respect from mainstream media outlets. Here’s the problem with that, though: The championship subdivision went 2-85 last year against its bowl subdivision counterparts. Only New Hampshire (by beating Army) and Cal Poly (by beating San Diego State and nearly toppling Wisconsin) saved face for the FCS. While the Appalachian State-Michigan game was quite the event for FCS fans, it was an extremely rare one. Generally, the FBS wins most of the matchups with its FCS brethren.

There are a couple of interesting matchups this week, as Temple opens as a 3 1/2-point favorite against Villanova and Duke opens as a 1 1/2-point fave over defending FCS champion Richmond, which beat Duke in 2006. The only other single-digit betting lines are in the Wyoming-Weber State game, where the Cowboys are a 7 1/2-point favorite and the Southern Illinois-Marshall game (Herd by seven)

Here are the rest of the FBS-FCS lines, courtesy of PointSpread.com:

Eastern Kentucky (-20) at Indiana
Montana State (-33) at Michigan State
Liberty (-32) at West Virginia
Towson (-32) at Northwestern
Appalachian State (-12) at East Carolina
Central Arkansas (-15 1/2) at Hawaii
Northern Iowa (-24) at Iowa
Youngstown State (-31) at Pittsburgh
Jacksonville State (-40) at Georgia Tech
Northeastern (-35) at Boston College
Nicholls State (-36) at Air Force
Portland State (-40 1/2) at Oregon State
Jackson State (-36) at Mississippi State
Northwestern State (-35) at Houston
William & Mary (-19) at Virginia
The Citadel (-31 1/2) at North Carolina
Samford (-19) at Central Florida
Charleston Southern (-61 1/2) at Florida
Wofford (-17) at South Florida
Alcorn State (-42) at Southern Miss
North Dakota (-45 1/2) at Texas Tech
Northern Colorado (-42 1/2) at Kansas
Mississippi Valley State (-40 1/2) at Arkansas State
Massachusetts (-18) at Kansas State
Indiana State (-40) at Louisville
Western Carolina (-35) at Vanderbilt
Stephen F. Austin (-19 1/2) at SMU
Idaho State (-38) at Arizona State

The following games, I can’t find lines for:
Sacramento State at UNLV
Coastal Carolina at Kent State
UC Davis at Fresno State
North Dakota State at Iowa State
Missouri State at Arkansas
Southern at La.-Lafayette

My best guess for FCS wins this weekend? One, maybe two, mostly likely coming from that group of single-digit lines. Any other win would be a monumental upset, even Appalachian State, now that quarterback Armanti Edwards is doubtful for the Mountaineers’ game at East Carolina.

—A quick look at how the Big East has fared against the FCS since 2005:

CINCINNATI (4-0)
2005—beat Western Carolina, 7-3
2006—beat Eastern Kentucky, 31-0
2007—beat Southeast Missouri State, 59-3
2008—beat Eastern Kentucky, 40-7
2009—vs. Southeast Missouri State
(NOTE: Apparently, the Bearcats only schedule FCS directional schools)

CONNECTICUT (4-0)
2005—beat Liberty, 59-0
2006—beat Rhode Island, 52-7
2007—beat Maine, 38-0
2008—beat Hofstra, 35-3
(Huskies outscored FCS teams 184-10 in those games. Yikes.)

LOUISVILLE (2-0)
2007—beat Murray State, 73-10
2008—beat Tennessee Tech, 51-10
2009—vs. Indiana State

PITTSBURGH (3-0)
2005—beat Youngstown State, 41-0
2006—beat The Citadel, 51-6
2007—beat Grambling State, 34-10
2009—vs. Youngstown State

RUTGERS (4-0)
2005—beat Villanova, 38-6
2006—beat Howard, 56-7
2007—beat Norfolk State, 59-0
2008—beat Morgan State, 38-0
2009—vs. Howard
2009—vs. Texas Southern
(NOTE: Rutgers seemingly is a supporter of Historically Black Colleges and Universities)

SOUTH FLORIDA (4-0)
2005—beat Florida A&M, 37-3
2006—beat McNeese State, 41-10
2007—beat Elon, 28-13
2008—beat Tennessee-Martin, 56-7
2009—vs. Wofford
2009—vs. Charleston Southern

SYRACUSE (1-0)
2008—beat Northeastern, 30-21
2009—vs. Maine

WEST VIRGINIA (3-0)
2005—beat Wofford, 35-7
2006—beat Eastern Washington, 52-3
2008—beat Villanova, 48-21
2009—vs. Liberty

So in review, since 2005, the Big East is 25-0 against FCS teams, with an average margin of victory of 44-6 (rounding off). ... Only one of those games was decided by less than a touchdown. Only two were decided by less than two touchdowns. Eleven of those games were blowouts of 40 points or more.

So, yeah, I’d say the odds are stacked against Liberty Saturday in Morgantown.

***

That’s all for today, unless something big happens at practice. If so, I’ll update. Look for the feature on Ian Childress in tomorrow’s print News & Advance.