Chuck Finder: First of all ... "War Eagle to ya!" If you didn't hear it last Thursday night, that's how Auburn fans greet one another. (And, man, weren't there quite a few of them visiting up north?!) But, then, they probably phrase that differently when they greet Coach Tommy Tuberville. We'll start today's session with some Breaking News, yet another reason the PG strives to be your one and only media source: Senior Pat McAfee of Plum was named today among the 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award -- and, heck, punting's only his part-time job. The others include: California's Bryan Anger (a freshman!), Baylor's Derek Epperson, Iowa's Ryan Donahue, Oklahoma State's Matt Fodge, Florida's Chas Henry, Cincinnati's Kevin Huber, Michigan's Zoltan Mesko (isn't "Zoltan" a cartoon?), Utah's Louie Sakoda and Ohio State's A.J. Trapasso. On to your pre-UConn queries ...

WVUAtomicNoodle: Do WVU and Pitt benefit from each other losing ... i.e. is Pitt losing good for WVU in terms of recruiting?

Chuck Finder: Wow, nothing like a toughie right outta the box. Well, as a consicentious observer (and not objector, i.e. the Vietnam War era), methinks any Big East follower would say that both a strong Pitt and West Virginia make for the best recruiting of all. Why, you might ask? If they're the best of the Big East, and they certainly are it's most traditional powers (in other words, the conference NEEDS them to be good), then it would logically follow that the best recruits -- everything else being equal -- want to play for either the Panthers or Mountaineers. Then kids break down those decisions on schools, playing styles, ability to play quickly, coaches, social life (wink, wink)....a host of factors. Oh, one last thing: outside of a handful of WPIAL players, they mostly recruit in different directions: Pitt goes elsewhere in Pennsylvania and Ohio, WVU seems to focus on the Philadelphia area alone a little and Virginia a lot. Of course, Florida will remain perhaps a hotter battleground tha

Chuck Finder: Am I long-winded, or what? Next question.

Stef_Djordjevic: WVU: Back or one week wonder? I'm hoping they turned the corner, but I have to wait and see Saturday to be sure.

Chuck Finder: Now that's the Big East-championship-caliber question. You make all the right moves, as always, Stef: Saturday at UConn will be the key. Granted, the Mountaineers could lose a close win -- man, do the Huskies seem to prevail in home games they have no business of winning (fair catches for touchdowns, rainstorms, et. al.?) -- and still maintain confidence along with a bit of a roll for the final title run. But I know the players believe Auburn was the corner, and they've turned in the right direction. In fact ... shameless promotion alert ... in Saturday's paper, i quote a longtime starter as likening the Auburn victory to a certain triple-overtime thriller in 2005. As you say, we shall see soon enough.

Michele: Did the win over Auburn seem to to ease some of the internal tensions between the coaching staff that have been rumored; at least that you have been able to notice?

Chuck Finder: I'm not in their meeting rooms -- and, man, i would like to be a fly on those walls -- but i can tell you two things. 1. Jeff Mullen had no voice left Tuesday night, which he says came from yelling at the kids and pushing them to keep improving. 2. Winning, or at least playing close to potential, covers up all wounds, scars and cuts. Everybody seems to be getting along now....

Clambert: So what does your crystal ball forecast for the UConn game? Does WVU continue to build mo ... or was Auburn just a pipedream?

Chuck Finder: No, CLam (and I apologize for not getting to some of your questions a coupla weeks ago), it's hard to believe that the Auburn victory was their one-hit wonder. That's what everyone was expecting from them, right? In fact, I still can hear fans along the field complimenting the players afterward, "THAT's what Mountaineer Football is supposed to be!" And it wasn't their peak, but it was a peek at their potential. Granted, Auburn isn't that good....but it probably could finish in the upper echelon of the Big East. As for my crystal ball....hey, don't listen to mine: It predicted the Tampa Bay Rays and a Ron Paul presidency! Seriously, WVU seems to have UConn's number; the Huskies have yet to run or move much offensively on them, and the UConn defense doesn't stop the big play, at least. But they have 66-21 plastered all over the place up there, and they have confidence in both their home-field magic (see "fair catch for a touchdown," above) and Donald Brown, who in this incarnation i

Clambert: There was much angst before Auburn about WVU's receivers being unable to get seperation ... WVU ran lots of slant patterns against Auburn...is a slant pattern helpful to WRs who are having trouble getting open?

Chuck Finder: It isn't merely patterns -- and WVU seemed to trot out a few new ones for Auburn, such as Jalloh dragging across the back of the end zone. But it's up to the receivers to use their speed, their fakes, their athleticism to lose cornerbacks, and Auburn had some really good ones. We'll see Saturday if the best yet, UConn's Darius Butler, can blanket them. I have a feeling WVU will try to throw away from that guy. Seems prudent, right?

Clambert: Since Rich Rod will be linked to WVU forever..here's a Rod question. Why has Rod had so many decommits lately?

Chuck Finder: 2-7. Giving up -- what? -- 79 unanswered points to Penn State. And the flighty teen-aged mind. Hey, even WVU had a noticeable de-commit. It's early for everybody. Football oughta go the way of basketball and adopt a mid-October, early signing date. Sure, coaches (ahem) don't always keep their commitments, but some of these kids need to learn responsibility. (By the way, for grins sometime pick out a signing class at any institution, and check back three, four and five years later to see how many of those kids not only stayed, but became any kinds of players. It is, indeed, a crapshoot.)

Stef_Djordjevic: No one talked their opponent up more than Lou Holtz. But, Stew seems to be in the same mold when it comes to praising the opposition. At what point, as a journalist, do you learn to take a coach's words with a grain of salt?

Chuck Finder: I learned back in college, during the Dark Ages when Wooly Mammoths still roamed the earth, not to abide by coaches. Especially football coaches. True story: The coach of Centralia High School told this cub reporter that opposing Highlands High School was 0-7 and hadn't scored a point all season -- and he was deathly afraid this was going to be their week to break out. It wasn't, of course.

Michele: Coach Stewart has taken a beating over his clock management skills, or lack thereof, last week before halftime and also in the Colorado game. Do you chalk this up to a first year adjustment or is "What we have here is a failure to communicate"?

Chuck Finder: Love the "failure" line, Michele. Well, the Auburn halftime wasn't so mismanaged. (Sorry, I had to check my notes there a second). An 18-yard pass to the Auburn 48 with 25 seconds left, and Patrick White gets flushed from the pocked, running out of bounds with 15 seconds left. That was the key play there: They needed a decent gain to get in field-goal position or take one last crack at the end zone. So, failing that, they had White drop back one last time for a bomb, and he got sacked. No interception. No fumbled. Nothing lost, but at least a little something ventured. So, in short, Auburn wasn't anywhere near the clock failure as Colorado was. We'll have to withhold further such judgements until they get into a minute-long situation at the end of a half or game, huh?

Clambert: Stew said last night that Brad Starks is injured and that J. Brown is close to being 100%. Does Stew dare to use the "Q" package with Starts out?

Chuck Finder: Funny, we didn't hear anything about Starks in the injury reports to the media Sunday, Monday or Tuesday ... Seriously, Brad Starks hasn't contributed much since, um, Colorado. Jarrett Brown could be highly useful on third down and as White's backup, of course. So, if you're piecing together a pecking order, you want Brown more than Starks. And, yes, you want to throw Brown out there with White on the field, to further confound a defense -- especially a UConn one with a Cody Brown who owns seven sacks already. Keep those QBs moving: side to side, back and forth, in and out of the lineup, capice?

Clambert: Uconn can paste all the slogans they want ... but when it comes down to the brass tacks ... doesn't WVU just have too much talent ... a deeper, faster team?

Chuck Finder: Hate to be a Devil's advocate (which is part of a journalist's job description), but wasn't WVU more talented, deeper and faster than Colorado? East Carolina? Randy Edsall is such a quality coach because he wins with defense, few mistakes and capitalizing on an opponent's mistakes. His team won't win many beauty contests on talent, depth and speed alone.

Clambert: The word is that Mullen borrowed from Texas Tech techniques for the "legal pick"..if that's so why didn't we see them against ECU or CU?

Chuck Finder: Everybody who runs the spread uses picks. Everybody who used Mouse Davis' Run and Shoot (the apple tree from which all this evildoing sprang) employs some sort of pick play. The questions are: When to use it, and how effective can it be without getting a penalty?

LovemesomeME: What do you feel are some possible matchup issues we will have with UCONN?

Chuck Finder: Just based on your handle alone -- and have you found anyone who loves you as much as you do? -- i'm gonna tackle this one. (OK, it's a good question, too.) Sackmaster Cody Brown will probably give Selvish Capers fits; Brown moves around, but i can't imagine he wants much of Ryan Stanchek. If WVU cannot move the ball on the ground effectively, with White (and, man, he needs to get loose for once, doesn't he/) and Devine, then Brown and cornerback Darius Butler could make it highly difficult for the passing game. One last matchup: The WVU defense has to keep Donald Brown in some kind of check, such as 110 yards rushing or less. No big gainers. Get the ball back to the offense for three touchdowns, at least. If the Mountaineers don't score more than 21 or 24 points, they likely will lose.

Mountie: I think what Michele was asking about was that some are criticizing Stewart for not calling timeout when Auburn still had the ball near midfield on 4th down and less than a yard.

Chuck Finder: My bad, I sit corrected. Sorry, Michele. That's a good point, but it was a highly confusing time. And most football folks would agree with WVU there: If Auburn/Tuberville goes for the first down and gets it, you've just given them a free timeout and more than 60 seconds to go the final 50 yards, or at least get a field goal and stop WVU's momentum. So, in that case, most people may well give Stew a gold star for holding his timeout there.

Clambert: Going back to WVU's QB situation ... if Starks is injured ... who is WVU's 3rd QB? Hogan?

Chuck Finder: As Brandon said to me not long ago, he wants to play offense, too. (Fifty-something touchdowns in one high-school season should give him carte blanche, too, or it would if i was the offensive coordinator.) Coley White will make the trip, but it would have to be an extreme emergency to yank his redshirt. Then there's a kid from Chartiers-Houston, DePasquale (and i apologize if i'm butchering that without looking). The crux is, Stew needs to say his prayers for White and JBrown.

Stef_Djordjevic: Why do you think Stew hasnt called a TO or challenged an official's call yet? Obviously, there were 3-4 poor call on Auburn's first drive. But, after that the SEC officials called a great game and let the kids play, unlike their BE counterparts.

Chuck Finder: Actually, that SEC crew to me seemed to favor the home, non-SEC team throughout. So maybe Stew knew to give them a little ground ... Then again, he hasn't chewed out many, if any, officials yet, has he? That White lay-the-ball-down call at East Carolina, in this football observer's eyes, begged for a review -- even if the ref tells you not to. You owe it to your players sometime to stop a momentum change, even if you know your challenge is a loser and will cost you a timeout. Hey, a first-half timeout isn't worth THAT much. Don't save 'em. Don't hesitate to spend 'em cheaply on a replay to halt an opponent's rhythm or confidence.

Clambert: When WVU plays Pitt who do you think will have more fans in the stands..Pitt or WVU?

Chuck Finder: At Heinz Field? The Stillers. I'm betting Pitt fans, after last season, will show up for this Backyard Brawl. Unless, of course, the Panthers enter that game with a four-game losing streak.

Clambert: The ESPN folks made a big deal of White's new helmet. If that helmet is so good at preventing head-knocks then why isn't everyone wearing one? Especially if you play Rutgers (not that they are a dirty team..just ask BE QBs).

Chuck Finder: Repeat after me: The only way to prevent concussions is to never leave bed. It's your brain. It's the only one you've got. This new helmet (and, last i heard, a PG news reporter was looking into a story on it) follows a three-year push by the NCAA to try to cut back on concussions and help players. That's why a few years ago players were allowed to wear a couple of different kinds of helmet that were more protective. My kid plays hockey, and you should see each year the growth in the medical technology to try to make those buckets better; the same thing continues to happen with football.

Stef_Djordjevic: Obviously, WVU is the trendy pick again for the BE. Do you see WVU going through the BE "gauntlet"(if you can call it that this season) unscathed? Obviously, it depends if they have turned the corner...

Chuck Finder: Man, now i sound like a politician: We'll know more Saturday. But the way this league is, the way teams play so inconsistently from week to week, it's a good bet the champion will emerge with a loss. Or two. Hey, it happened last year, right?

Clambert: Speaking of recruits...do you think there is hard feelings between Stew and Boyd? Stew sorta went off on Boyd and his daddy last night.

Chuck Finder: Methinks the divorce is final. If you were advising Stew, wouldn't you maybe tell him to tone it down? Especially if Boyd winds up at, say, a rival to WVU and looks forward to four years of torturing you? If he's that good, anyway ...

Stef_Djordjevic: Any opinion on UT-TT? I'd like to see TT pull it out at home, but I dont think they will be able to hang with UT. Even TT's close win over OU last season was due to Bradfor being knocked out early. With McCoy in the game I think UT wins by 2 TD's

Chuck Finder: All right, we've gone an entire 15-minute overtime, so i'll end with a question from my stomping grounds, the Big 12. Everybody loves Mike Leach. Everybody loves to see the video-game numbers rung up by Klint Kingsberry or Kris Kringle or whoever is the Texas Tech quarterback. But they have yet to win The Big Game. They have yet to outscore All The Big Boys. Texas has. And you're right about TT's victory over Oklahoma last year. But it should be a scorefest. I'm not sure if a Pat Knight-Rick Barnes basketball meeting would outscore this football game.

Chuck Finder: Thanks, all. Enjoy UConn. And don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses. See ya'all next week.