The company line from WVU coaches and players following the 38-14 Pinstripe Bowl loss to Syracuse Saturday night in New York City was that the team did a poor job overcoming adversity.
Well, that’s one way of putting it.
Another less delicate way would be that the 2012 Mountaineers were dominated by a team from a conference WVU always believed was inferior.
Notably, Syracuse was not even the best team from the ramshackle Big East; Louisville has the BCS bid. If WVU had played in the Big East this season, it may have found itself in the Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl against a Conference USA opponent.
The cold, snowy, rainy weather was appropriate for the grim spectacle Saturday.
The West Virginia offense was, at times this season, accurately described as “high-powered.” That adjective can be quietly shelved for the off-season.
WVU managed a modest 285 yards of offense, compared with 511 for Syracuse. On third and fourth downs, WVU was 0 for Yankee Stadium: no first down conversions on 11 tries on third and three tries on fourth.
Syracuse, meanwhile, was a healthy 50 percent on 18 third down and two fourth down attempts.
Along the way, WVU managed to be flagged ten times for 106 yards, compared with five penalties for 68 yards for Syracuse.
Yes, there will be plenty of complaints about the officiating. WVU fullback Cody Clay swore to me after the game that he did not commit a hold on the 28-yard touchdown run by Andrew Buie that got called back.
But officiating did not cost West Virginia the game. Syracuse was the more prepared, better team on Saturday.
The conditions were blamed for WVU’s inability to run the ball effectively. However, Syracuse thrived in the snow and rain. The Orange out-gained WVU on the ground 395 to 149. Prince-Tyson Gulley pushed through the WVU defensive line like a snow plow on I-79, gaining a career-best 208 yards and scoring three touchdowns.
By the time the third quarter was over–a 15 minute period where Syracuse took command of the game and outscored WVU 23-7–the brave Mountaineer fans who sat through the miserable conditions could manage only stunned silence as they began adding up the cost of a trip to New York for this.
And now Mountaineer Nation will be left during the long off season to rehash 2012 and speculate about the 2013 season.
It will be an adjustment.
For most of 2012, the giddiness of the Orange Bowl carried through the first five games of the season, spiked by talk of Heisman Trophies and national and/or conference championships.
That seems like such a long time ago.
The new paradigm in college football calls for schools to provide enough entertainment to entice fans to spend ever growing amounts of money for the experience.
On that front, WVU’s inaugural season in the Big 12 provided plenty of excitement. Except for Texas Tech and Kansas State, the Big 12 games were compelling and competitive.
But this age of college sports abhors backsliding; there can only be forward motion. Losses are only supposed to be temporary setbacks in the constant escalation.
Of course it’s an unrealistic expectation, but this is the new reality.
And, after losing six of its final eight games, including Saturday’s Gotham-sized flop, it’s evident that WVU football, at least in its current state, is not ready for prime time.