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Student Profile

Leading the defense in tackles, earning Fiesta Bowl defensive MVP, wresting a spot on the ESPN Magazine All-American Academic team with a 3.9 grade-point average, maybe all that weight was too much on Reed Williams' shoulders. Maybe it explains why he needed postseason surgery on both.

Spinning so many plates, and so well, would tear anybody's labrums, right?

"It's time management, really," said Williams, a red-haired senior whose steady recovery may scratch him from West Virginia's Aug. 30 opener. "You have to make yourself a list of priorities: You got the Big Man up top, you got family, you got school, girls, social life, academics. . . ." He kids. Football is up there somewhere, too.

This is the heir to the endowed chair of Mountaineers middle linebacker previously held by Playboy Academic All-American Jay Henry, who never got a B in his life. Williams isn't as much of a natural-born smarty. His folks never allowed him outside until homework was done, and practiced such routines as multiplication tables nightly.

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A tough Big East outing for Bob Huggins and his basketball big fellas. But these football Wildcats are Division I-AA and have no Brian Westbrook (of the Eagles) or Howie Long (of the Hall of Fame) on their roster.

Skip Holtz, scheduled the morning of the Fiesta Bowl to interview for a Mountaineers head-coaching job that was vacant only a few hours longer, may well set a Pirates trap on TV in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. After all, the previous time out, he got them to beat No. 22 Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl.

Another Thursday night game, another road Blackout for WVU (see Maryland 2007, Louisville 2006). These Buffaloes beat No. 4 Oklahoma in Boulder a year ago, and that was before ballyhooed recruit RB Darrell Scott and a no-huddle offense arrived. Could Folsom Field become WVU's Folsom Prison?

The in-state Coal Bowl returns to Morgantown for its third rendition. Is it tiresome yet? Is it a Lump-of-Coal Bowl? Until Marshall grows competitive again, this governor-mandated game mostly serves to undermine WVU's BCS computer standing.

Life after Ray Rice won't be easy at Rutgers, which lost half of last season's final six games with the 2,000-yard rusher. Sixteen starters return on a team that will come to pass, with Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt receiver threats to dissect a relatively untested and young Mountaineers secondary.

By this point, it could be the Greg Robinson Death Watch, with Syracuse facing Akron, Penn State and Pitt inside the Carrier Dome, or a resurgent Orange if it manages to beat Northwestern and Northeastern along with a victory stolen somewhere from those other three non-North directionals.

Homecoming for ex-Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, who had success the previous time he was at Mountaineer Field. But it's the new offensive coordinator who could get the Tigers going: Tony Franklin, in three weeks, installed spread that compiled 423 yards in a bowl. Imagine what he will do in 10 months.

The surprise conference team of 2007 could repeat, given 17 starters returning and a less-than-challenging schedule, except for the fact that four of its first seven games are on the road. Then UConn returns home to face Cincinnati and WVU.

The second-most intriguing conference lawsuit of the year is QB Ben Mauk suing the NCAA for a sixth season of eligibility. QB Dustin Garza, whom WVU has faced before, otherwise figures to replace Mauk and takes over a bunch of Bearcats who lost just once in their final six games -- to WVU.

QB Brian Brohm is gone, along with a trio of talented receivers. Coach Steve Kragthorpe must surround QB Hunter Cantwell with skill and a decent defense. The defense last year gave up 131 points in its final three games. And four of its top five tacklers also are gone.

No need to remind WVU about the No. 2 ranking and national-championship chance it frittered away. But what the heck: 13-9, 13-9, 13-9, 13-9, 13-9, 13-9, 13-9, 13-9, 13-9, 13-9. Heinz Field the day after Thanksgiving could play a key factor. Pitt, too.

The Bulls own a two-game winning streak against WVU, both times dashing Mountaineers dreams, so the Revenge Mode continues. QB Matt Grothe gives them some trouble, but mostly it's the South Florida defense that stymies WVU.