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: I read your columns and also some of the West Virginia news outlets. In those other media outlets the sports writers are really hounding Coach Stewart and it appears that many of the fans are also in some of the sports blogs. My question is why? Coach Stewart has the WVU football team in the Top 25. Maybe they aren't winning pretty, but they are winning at 7-2. He has the best winning percentage of new coaches ever at WVU and has two very successful recruiting classes. The players love him and recruits are coming because of him. Why don't the fans and media in West Virginia show him more respect? Are they that fickle and spoiled?

Thomas Visser, Nashville, Tenn. (Formerly Charleroi, PA)

DUNLAP: Fickle or spoiled? Good question.

I have a proposition for all those people who think Bill Stewart is a bad coach. Call a fan at Maryland, or one at Virginia, or one at Baylor, or one at North Carolina State, or one at Syracuse, or Louisville, or at Indiana or at Vanderbilt or at Kentucky or at Arkansas or Washington State or UCLA or Arizona State or Duke or Connecticut or Rutgers or Minnesota or Illinois or Iowa State or Colorado or the modern day-Florida State or Rice or Mississippi State or Purdue or ??? well, I know I am missing some, I just rolled those off the top of my head.

Anyway, call a fan at one of those places and see just how bad you really have it.

The fans of this West Virginia team are great, they are loyal, they are a fan base I've been around that I can only compare to the Steelers in terms of just how much they want their team to succeed.

But, with all that said, the ones who are anti-Bill Stewart are ones that I cannot begin to understand.

The man is one of the finest humans I have even met, that is first and foremost and in these days when scumbaggery seems to run rampant in college athletics, things like character, honor, moral fiber and being the best leader of young men should mean something -- and I know they mean a lot to Bill Stewart.

Oh, yeah, and about that "on field" stuff -- he has the best 23-game start of any coach in the school's football history. That should count for something, right?

It sure counts as something in my book.

Q: The passing game has gone from what looked like to be on the verge of being very god early in the season, to now a last resort. With Brown under center, there does not seem to be a whole lot confidence throwing the ball downfield. Instead we are back to the passing game of old; WR screens and quarter back roll-outs. This is what I view as playing safe - trying not to loose, instead of trying to win. What are your thoughts on the passing game where it currently stands? Also, I have noticed that Brown never stays in the pocket, he is always running around in the backfield at the first sight of pressure. From my perspective, this only limits the field he can throw to and hurt passing accuracy. How do you see this?

David Furyk, Pittsburgh

DUNLAP: There is some merit to what you are saying, as the passing game looked to be wide open the first couple games. That said, I think everyone needs to remember, it is a lot easier throwing the ball over the head of a defensive back from Liberty or East Carolina, than it is throwing it deep over one from South Florida or another Big East school. I would also agree that the downfield stuff would need to pick up some, but you can't force it. It seems a lot of the defensive game plan from the other secondaries has been centered around not letting Alric Arnett get loose deep, and allowing him to catch home runs (like the ball he caught against Marshall from Geno Smith). In some regards, I think West Virginia has taken what has been given, but there is a part of me that also agrees with you, that I do think that they need to take more chances downfield. And, I'd be remiss not to mention it again: Wes Lyons' lack of productivity has hurt to a degree that you have problems even adequately quantifying. If he were just to show up once, just one time in go out there and have a huge game, I think everyone would look at the passing game differently.

Q: Do you think that the Big East will keep its BCS bid for perpetuity? And what are your thoughts on expanding the conference? I have heard ECU and UCF as additions is there anybody else? Would any addition hinge on the school being football only?

S. Kosanovich, Fairmont, W.Va.

DUNLAP: To your first question: Yes. It is the conference's bid, they earned it. Also, you hit on two schools that make the most sense, both in terms of a competitive balance and from a logistical standpoint in ECU and Central Florida. What I would love to see is Villanova do what UConn did when Skip Holtz was there. That is to say, put a ton of money into upgrading the football program in a quick time period and elevate it from a Division I-AA school to a Division I school in that sport. That would solve the problem without admitting another member, as Villanova, already in the league in basketball, would jump into it in football. I know it is probably far-fetched on my part, but it sounds like a good idea, right?

Q: Can we talk about youth and inexperience for a minute? 12 players on offense (13 if you count Geno Smith) and 8 players on defense that get significant playing time have less than 2 seasons of experience on the field. Offense; Austin, J.Brown, W.Johnson, R.Clarke, Starks, Rodgers, Urban, Kovatch, Barclay, Jenkins, Madsen, and Braun. Defense; Sands, Glover, Tandy, Hogan, Lazear, J.Miller, J.Taylor, and Wright. That's most of the starting 22 from game to game and a lot of the primary subs. If they're 7-2 at this stage in their developments then shouldn't people lighten up and expect greater things in the future?

Robert Fisher, Pittsburgh

DUNLAP: Mr. Robert Fisher from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, you win the "couldn't have said it better myself" award for today. I owe you a drink.

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