Dale Sparks, Associated Press Coach Roch Rodriguez's Mountaineers are favored to win the Big East title. Click photo for larger image.

Rich Rodriguez could face a big problem Monday when the West Virginia Mountaineers report for the start of preseason football drills.

It could be that the first practice will have to be conducted without helmets because the players' heads won't fit into them.

The Mountaineers, ranked as high as fifth in the country by one publication, are 11th in the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and heavy favorites to win what's left of the Big East this season.

Heady stuff.

Which is exactly why Rodriguez a while ago tried to, uh, head off any thoughts his players might have had that they're all that, and that this season will be a cakewalk.

"He was mad," defensive end Joe Sykes said. "He had a team meeting with the guys that were here and he kind of laid it all out in front of us."

"It's part of my job to make sure [the players] stay grounded and do the things they need to do to be successful," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez, entering his fourth season at West Virginia, will get help in that regard from the 24 seniors returning from last season's 8-5 team.

Sykes, a junior, said the veteran Mountaineers have constantly pounded home warnings about overconfidence.

"You've just got to keep a level head and stay humble," Sykes said. "You're not supposed to listen to all of the hype and you've just got to show up."

"We're still not good enough not to play hard and win," Rodriguez said, repeating a litany he has delivered to his players for the past two years. "Sometimes when you get extremely talented, you can not play your best and still win or you can have a lack of execution and overcome it with some big plays.

"We're not good enough to do that."

That's one message his players will hear Monday -- and for a lot of days thereafter.

Here's another message designed to ensure the players' heads will fit snugly into their helmets next week.

"We've got to get a better pass rush on defense, and we've got to throw the ball better on offense," Rodriguez said. "We've got to be better on our third-down efficiency on both offense and defense. I can give you a whole list of things."

Last season, when the Mountaineers won their final seven regular-season games and tied Miami at 6-1 for the Big East championship, they were last in the league in passing offense (156.5 yards per game).

They were last in passing defense (259.8).

They were last in sacks (18).

They were seventh in third-down efficiency, converting just 33 percent of the time.

Oh, yeah. One other thing on this year's to-do list.

"We've got to play better against Maryland," Rodriguez said.

Ah, Maryland. Those pesky Terrapins.

In its past three tries against Maryland, West Virginia has been outscored, 123-31.

Maryland, which visits Morgantown Sept. 18, wiped out the Mountaineers twice last season -- 34-7, in College Park and, 41-7, in the Gator Bowl, which West Virginia entered ranked 20th in the country.

"People say we should be ranked here or ranked there or whatever," Rodriguez said. "But you don't have to think back too far to the bowl game to see we have a lot of work to do to take the next step."

The Mountaineers also have a lot of starters returning from the 2003 team, losing four starters on offense, four on defense and punter Todd James.

But the losses seem significant.

Gone from the offense are leading rusher Quincy Wilson, fullback Moe Fofana and linemen Ben Timmons and Geoff Lewis. Gone from the defense are defensive backs Brian King, Lance Frazier and Leandre Washington and All-American linebacker Grant Wiley.

"We lost a great player in Grant Wiley," Rodriguez said. "And certainly a big concern is replacing the experience we had in our secondary. But we return guys who know what they're doing, and there are a lot of new players back there who are showing they can be good."

That must be true -- based on the Mountaineers' rather lofty standing in the season's first ESPN/USA Today poll.

The Mountaineers, after all, are ranked just behind No. 9 Ohio State and No. 10 Florida and just ahead of No. 12 Iowa, No. 13 Kansas State and No. 14 Tennessee.

"A lot of our guys have never been in this position where they're going to be hunted instead of the hunter," Rodriguez said. "Teams are going to come after us."

Which has its upside.

"I think our program has continued to grow in the public's eyes and it's getting to the point where we're expected to have success every year, and that's what the good programs do," Rodriguez said. "Isn't that the way you want it? That bull's-eye means you've accomplished something in the past."