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.

Q: What is your take on the talent on the WVU football team? WVU fans keep saying that Coach Stewart is messing up a BCS team but I just don't see the talent. There are no Heisman candidates or All Americans on this team. Noel Devine lost his opportunity with his poor showing against South Florida. And as for Big East honors only Noel and Sanders on offense and Neild on defense will earn All Big East honors. Arnett may earn second team honors and Williams as well on reputation only, injuries have slowed him, but that's it. Brown is an above average athlete but is just an average QB. Three All Big East members earns you an 8-4 record in my opinion. In fact, it has appeared to me that both Cincinnati and Pitt have done a better job recruiting talent than WVU in the past four years and perhaps Rutgers as well. That is why WVU has dropped in the Big East pecking order. The coaching change has certainly contributed, which affected recruiting for a time, and it is still unclear if Stewart can do the job, but it appears to me that WVU's supposed talent is more a myth than reality. What is your take??

David L. Worthington, Winchester, Va.

DUNLAP: Very good question.

My take on this one is simple: Other than the quarterback - who everyone needs to remember is a first year starter - and Noel Devine and Jock Sanders, almost all of the players who have the potential to make a real difference on the roster, or who have made a real difference on this roster, are young guys.

The offensive line? The best talent right now is Barclay, who is a sophomore, with the two guys who have the most potential being Jenkins and Madsen, both redshirt freshmen. Also, Urban at tight end, is also a sophomore.

Then, you look at what can be with the skill guys on offense - Tavon Austin, Logan Heastie, Mark Rodgers, Shawne Alston, Ryan Clarke, Geno Smith, JD Woods,and Steadman Bailey, and it is very obvious that this group can be special, and none of them is in their third year in Morgantown yet.

On the other side of the ball, up front is Josh Taylor, Julian Miller and Jorge Wright, with the back end having two guys who can be superstars - Pat Miller and Broderick Jenkins.

All of them are young.

So, David, I think you hit on something here. Maybe this version of the Mountaineers, and by "this version" I mean this year's team, is what it is. Maybe they are an 8-win team that goes to a nice bowl and finishes third in the league.

But, with that said, I don't think they have dropped off at all in the pecking order, rather, they are a program in a bit of a two-year down cycle, which all programs not named Florida or Texas seem to go through. Heck, I mean look at USC right now, even the mighty Trojans are going through a down cycle, but no one seems to want Pete Carroll fired, and they probably have more young talent than anyone in the country, it just takes time, no matter how great of a high school player you are, to grow accustomed to the college game.

I believe WVU has some of the top young talent, on both sides of the ball, in the conference and will fight for a conference title the next three seasons because of all those guys I mentioned above.

Q: Isaiah Pead is stretching for goal line, ball rolling in his grip,WVU defenders punch it loose and Chris Neild recovers. WVU GETS THE BALL! But wait! The replay official apparently sees something different than everyone else involved in the telecast and watching the television. Isn't this ineptitude from replay officials around the country getting really old really fast? I have an idea. Perhaps, they should have a central replay station with live feeds of all the games, like the NHL. They are the only sports organization that seems to get the replays right a majority of the time. What do you think?

Robert Fisher, Pittsburgh

DUNLAP: In theory, this sounds like a cure-all, but from a logistical standpoint, it never could happen. There are in the neighborhood of 120 Division I-A football teams, and they are governed by different conferences, in which the games are officiated by crews from those conferences. Also, it would take an agreement, a vote of sorts, from everyone involved, and we all know how college football is with everyone getting on board for something --- it hardly ever happens and, if it does, it takes about 100 year for it to be implemented. I agree with you on the NHL model, and how it has made "getting it right" in that sport almost a certainty, but with college football, there are just far too many logistical hurdles to clear for it to ever become a situation where there is a war room somewhere and all the games are analyzed.

Q: While I am not a WVU fan, I have to say that WVU got hosed on the review when UC fumbled in the endzone. In listening to the halftime report on ESPN, Lou Holtz was reluctant to express any strong opinion about the review results. These bogus reviews are happening a lot this season. Why are reporters/game analysts afraid to criticize the officials who are supposed to be fair and impartial, but obviously are not?

Jody, Hutchinson, Pa.

DUNLAP: I saw the same report when I made it back to Pittsburgh the next day and watched the game, which I had recorded on my DVR. It was puzzling to hear Holtz, as he was critical, but only to a degree, stopping short as if he was a coach who was going to get fined or something if he had gone any further. Not to have ESPN's back, but I think Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore, the guys who called the game from the booth, more than voiced their disagreement with the call.

Also, I can speak to our columnist, Ron Cook, who sat next to me at the game and wrote a column highly critical of the officials.

So, while Holtz stopped short of really taking the replay official to task, Cook, Tessitore and Gilmore definitely did not.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.