Submit your WVU football question

Thanks much for your participation in the West Virginia football Q&A.

It is your job to ask the questions; my job to answer them -- so keep them rolling in. I will answer them as I get them each day throughout the season and through whatever bowl game the Mountaineers go to, as well as through signing day in February. Please remember to include your last name in submissions.

You can follow the Mountaineers daily here and at 'Eers to the Ground, a blog devoted to West Virginia football.

Also, take time each week to find your way into my live chat, it is each Thursday at 2 p.m.

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Q: Good morning. I wonder what you think of Coach Stew's long-term prospects at WVU? Personally, I like the guy immensely. He's a gentleman, a good mentor, and very personable. Further, I doubt we'll see any NCAA violations under his tenure. However, I don't believe he has the chops or the killer instinct to make WVU a title contender. To me, he's Don Nehlen, part II. As long as he's our coach, I believe we're going to have to get used to a string of Meineke Car Car bowl (or equivalent) appearances, with the occasional BCS non-title bowl. James Wood, Myrtle Beach, S.C. DUNLAP: And being Don Nehlen is a bad thing? Maybe I am missing something here. James, you need to remind yourself of something: Coach Nehlen did something Rich Rodriguez never did with the West Virginia program ??? he played in a game where the National Championship was in the balance. He also had a 1993 undefeated regular season. Did Rich Rodriguez ever have one of those? Heck, the road Mountaineer Field is on is named for Coach Nehlen, so, maybe I am missing something here, but being if being compared to that man is a bad thing, then I don???t want to be a good guy. Coach Stewart is a gentleman, a wonderful man and, most important for the sake of this conversation, a head coach who has grown immensely since the Colorado loss last season. The guy has lost ONE GAME THIS YEAR ??? at an SEC school, on the road, in a night game. Do you know how many programs in this country would love to have a man such as Bill Stewart leading their program? The guess here is quite a few, actually, the majority of major college programs. On top of that, with Casteel and Mullen as the coordinators, and Doc Holliday as the ???ace recruiter,??? I think the staff under Stewart is on par with any in the country outside of maybe USC, Texas and Florida, which are a notch above everyone. So before you question Bill Stewart, you should sit for a few minutes and ponder what you really have because you wouldn???t miss it until it was gone.

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Q: Hey Colin, what kind of future do you foresee for Noel Devine in the NFL? I see him as a Darren Sproles type player, only with a little bit more power. Your thoughts? Scott, Upper St. Clair DUNLAP: Maybe. Devine has shown a penchant for being a more powerful runner this season, there is absolutely no question about it. He is, for his size, strong as an ox. That said, it is tough for backs that small to make a mark in the NFL, as I would think Noel would have to also be a combo slot receiver and help on special teams if he were to be a true asset to an NFL team. He will get a chance, absolutely, no question about it, because of his ability to cut. But, his longevity in the NFL will be based on his versatility in my opinion because, I just don???t know if he could withstand being an every down back at that level. The guy who intrigues me even a little more than Noel is Jock Sanders, because he is already a pretty refined slot receiver, can return punts and kicks and might be that little waterbug type of player (like Sproles, Wes Welker, etc.) that could fit right into an NFL system.

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Q: Why does the Big East get no respect? It seems to me for years now (since Miami and Va. Tech left) that the Big East is considered much weaker than other conferences when in actual fact the big east has won the majority of their BCS bowls since then and continue to win outside of the Big East (espically in bowls). Is it that people looking outside in just see teams like South Florida, UConn, and Cincinnati and just assume they are still the weak teams of the past? I mean come on it took until this week and many teams to lose for Cincinnati to hit the top 5, but the ap still has a team with one loss above them! WHY? Mark McCahill, Fairchance, Pa. DUNLAP: The Big East football conference is gaining national acclaim each year. It is a process, yes. I think there is some truth to what the ESPN Thursday night crew who does games likes to say EVERY TIME a Big East team plays. And that is this: The Big East gets more acclaim when one of the traditional powers (Pitt, WVU, Syracuse) is at the top, rather than a school like Cincinnati or UConn or South Florida. It is just the old traditionalist in some people. But, as with anything, times change and people need to adjust to that change and the reality is this: There are some very good football programs now, that weren???t very good football programs 20 years ago. The nation needs to wake up to this. For example, if someone in 1989 told you in less than two decades that Boise State and Cincinnati would be better football programs than Florida State and Virginia, you???d think they were absolutely out of their minds. But, that is the case right now, as it stands today. And that, in a small way, is a sort of microcosm for the Big East???s problems in terms of getting noticed.

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Q: Do you think the teams WVU has beaten are a basis for a top 25 ranking? William Matthews, Myrtle Beach, S.C. DUNLAP: I don???t know what the true basis is, really. I will say this, I think Pitt and West Virginia are two of the best 25 college football teams in the country, no question. They both deserve to be ranked. But with some of the teams, it is nothing more than a popularity contest. (See: three-loss Oklahoma still being ranked.)