Week 4: West Virginia at Colorado

College football fans are waiting to see if West Virginia will again be dominated, as it was against East Carolina. Or will the Mountaineers – armed with Pat White and Noel Devine – again be dominating, as they were much of last season?

The previously explosive offense followed a 48-point outburst against Villanova with a 3-point clunker against ECU. Meanwhile, WVU’s defense has allowed an average of 392.5 yards a game.

There has been some news, though, in the Mountaineer camp. On Monday, new West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said middle linebacker Reed Williams, recovering from shoulder surgery, would be playing against the Buffaloes. Williams was last season’s leading Mountaineer tackler and the defensive MVP of his team’s Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma.

In Williams’ absence, WVU’s defense has been in disarray, even considering a rebuilt defensive line and secondary.

That defense’s task in this game will be to stop Colorado QB Cody Hawkins, who started all 13 games as a redshirt freshman and set every major CU passing and total offense record for the class. He’s passed for an average of 237.5 yards this season.

Hawkins, son of coach Dan, has a couple of favorite targets in sophomore Scotty McKnight and senior Patrick Williams.

The Buffs have a nice four-man defensive line with a pair of triple letterwinners in end Maurice Lucas and tackle George Hypolite. Eastern Washington had but 47 rushing yards and Colorado State 71.

WVU’s plan may still be to run at CU, but the early competition has gone after the Buffaloes’ secondary. Eastern Washington and CSU threw a combined 89 times and gained an average of 245 yards. The Buffs, though, have four interceptions on the year and cornerback Cha’pelle Brown sank Eastern with a pick for a score.

Notes:

Colorado has defeated Colorado State by 38-17 and Eastern Washington 31-24 to earn its first 2-0 record since 2005.

Tall West Virginia receiver Wes Lyons is expected to play against the Buffs after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery during August camp.

Keep an eye on the special teams in this game. Colorado’s Josh Smith, aka "J-Fly," has 314 kickoff return yards and a TD on 10 attempts in two games. He has four returns of 40 yards or more and is averaging 19 yards per punt return. Meanwhile, WVU kicker/punter Pat McAfee has been excellent this season. He’s the Big East’s highest scoring kicker and has connected from as far out as 52 yards.

Key Player (Mountaineers) – Ryan Stanchek, OT

The leader along the WVU offensive line, expected to be one the nation’s strongest, must straighten himself and his teammates out after pushing for an average of just 164 rushing yards a game so far this season.

Key Player (Buffaloes) – Jeff Smart, LB

The middle linebacker will have to keep West Virginia from reestablishing its inside zone read option. So far, CU’s defense hasn’t been lights out overall, allowing 304 yards of total offense against suspect competition.

West Virginia by 1