A WVU fan's opinion of Noel Devine

1st - it's great to be a part of the TigerRant. Definitely an "interesting" place that requires thick-skin and sense of humor.

Noel Devine is quick, but he's not fast. I think that has more to do with his short stature than anything else (short-gait). And since he's put on more weight from his earlier years, I think that's leveled out his top speed. Another problem I see, he seems to slow-down in order to make a cut around the, usually-congested, line-of-scrimmage. This is the opposite of Tavon Austin, who appears to be able to cut without skipping a beat. You would expect someone that small to get roughed up, but Noel has a unique ability to avoid those smashing hits we typically see. With such a low center of gravity already, when he squats down, your DBs will would have to be extremely low (like 3ft) to get a good faceplant.

Overall, Noel is a dependable back who I see having a 2-3 yard average against your defense, and possibly breaking 2-5 longer runs of 10-15 yards. If he can manage to break a huge run, your DBs will catch him from behind and limit what would normally be a 70-yard pickup to about 40-yards. Of course, that huge run has been absent this year. You will also catch him behind the LOS several times this game. Although, he's gotten smarter and tends to know when to hit the dirt instead of trying to fight his way out of an unwinnable situation when being gang-tackled behind the line.

To sum it up, Noel has great vision and acceleration going from 0 to 60 really quick, but he's not going to outrace your secondary for a long TD. Either way, I'll still take it. Your defense will be an interesting matchup with our offense, and will most certainly come down to how much time our OL will give Geno, and how well they can run-block. My other concern is Geno taking some hard hits.

Your depth and the heat will take it's toll in the 2nd half. So if we don't jump out early, it could get ugly by the end of the game. I think we have a "chance", but it will be determined on the field.