Ye olde notebook:
n There seemed to be two topics of conversation swirling around WVU's football program during this off week. One centered on the job status of Mountaineer head coach Dana Holgorsen. The other, perhaps oddly, centered on Baylor receiver Corey Coleman, who breezed to three touchdowns against West Virginia last weekend. "[Coleman is] the best player in college football," Holgorsen said after BU's 62-38 win. "You can put me on record with that." Writers blew up Monday's Big 12 teleconference to follow up.
Nationally, though, the Big 12 player most focused on is the one straight ahead of Holgorsen and the Mountaineers: TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin.
With about a week left in October, most agree the Heisman Trophy front-runner is LSU running back Leonard Fournette, followed by Boykin.
There's good reason for the attention to Boykin. After a shaky opener at Minnesota, he's putting out numbers that surpass those of past Heisman winners Robert Griffin III, also of Baylor, and Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M.
"He belongs in [the Heisman conversation], no question in my mind," Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said in the conference call. "I thought about it leaving Fort Worth last December and probably feel stronger about it now after seeing him this [past Saturday]."
Rhoads remembers watching Boykin, now a senior, as a freshman.
"He had a strong arm then, but he didn't have the accuracy he does now," said the Cyclones coach. "He throws the deep ball on the money; he throws the underneath stuff on the money; he throws the quick gains. Some of it looks like a side-armed pitcher. ... Then he's just so dangerous with his legs."
"He's a dangerous player that belongs in any discussion about the best player in America."
TCU coach Gary Patterson agreed.
"Judging by how you help your team, we wouldn't be 7-0 if it wasn't for Trevone Boykin and [receiver] Josh Doctson," said the Horned Frogs coach. "The biggest thing for [Boykin] is to do what he's been doing, stay focused and, if he wins and plays the way he has been playing - especially being on national TV - all that will take care of itself. Our [WVU] ballgame is a Thursday night ballgame. A lot of people will get a chance to see him play."
Boykin has 2,539 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns through seven games. Some say he also looks more comfortable than ever in the spread offense.
"I think he is, especially with a Josh Doctson, the way he's played," Patterson said. "He has a comfort zone knowing he can put it up and have people go catch it - especially the way Josh can elevate. You get [injured receivers] Kolby [Listenbee] and [KaVontae] Turpin back, get some guys back, rehab your whole arsenal, there's no doubt he's getting comfortable. I thought the first game against Minnesota was the only game he tried to rush it and do too much. The rest of the season he's let the game come to him."
n Another aspect to Boykin's story is the way he's carried the Horned Frogs while injuries have ravaged his team, especially on the defensive side.
Offensively, Patterson said Turpin, a freshman wideout, will play against WVU. The outlook isn't as good for sophomore receiver Emanuel Porter, who has a hyperextended knee.
Defensively, Patterson has been plugging holes all season. Linebacker Sammy Douglas and defensive end James McFarland went out early in the year. Last Saturday, linebacker Travin Howard was moved to strong safety after Denzel Johnson was ejected for targeting. Through just the first three games, TCU had to replace eight defensive starters. One, linebacker Mike Freeze, dropped out of school. Safety Kenny Iloka suffered a season-ending knee injury.
"We'll have the same approach as a Thursday Thanksgiving game," Patterson said. "For us the biggest thing is to get some guys healthy. We feel West Virginia will be the biggest challenge we've had so far. It's one of those games with speed and physicalness on both sides, so we'll have to be ready for it."
n This may soon change, but so far WVU is No. 4 in average home attendance among Big 12 schools. Ahead of the Mountaineers are Texas (88,366), Oklahoma (85,137) and Iowa State (57,829). WVU is at 57,416, followed by Texas Tech at 57,334.
Another note: the Big 12 is 23-7 versus non-conference opponents. The league is above .500 against all leagues except for the 2-2 mark against the Big Ten.
n You might know NCAA hoops teams can scrimmage one opponent each preseason in a closed atmosphere. Last season for WVU it was Ohio State.
This season? The Mountaineers will scrimmage Temple at an unnamed court somewhere between the two schools. It's a one-year setup.
"We were both looking for someone to scrimmage," said Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins. "[Temple coach] Fran [Dunphy] and [WVU assistant] Billy [Hahn] are good friends."
Should be a nice matchup. The Mountaineers are again working with the press despite new rules emphasizing freedom for ballhandlers. And the Owls always seem to have nice guards.
This year, Dunphy has one in 6-foot-5, 205-pound Quinton DeCosey, who averaged 12.3 points last year and 15.4 the year before. The Owls also have incoming four-star shooting guard Levan Alston, 6-4. They have, however, lost DeCousey's backcourt mates from last season, Will Cumming and Jesse Morgan.
Overall, Temple was 26-11 last season and had a good argument to get in the NCAA tournament. The Owls whipped Kansas 77-52, but had to settle for the NIT.
West Virginia's team will hold an open intra-squad scrimmage for Mountaineer fans at 7 p.m. this Saturday at the Coliseum. The gates open at 6. Huggins said some of his players are "beat up" from practice. Newcomer Lamont West hasn't practiced, said the coach, for the last few days but should be fine going forward.
n And finally . . .
The Pitt-WVU football "Backyard Brawl" won't be returning until 2022, but count on the rejuvenation of the rivalry's passion if current Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi is still around.
You might know Pitt is now ranked No. 25 after a 5-1 start. That's given Narduzzi a little juice around the Steel City and he's used it to pluck Western Pennsylvania standout linebacker Kaezon Pugh, a cousin of WVU's Dravon Henry and stepbrother to NFL star Darrelle Revis. Narduzzi also received a commitment from another Western Pennsylvania standout in Paris Ford.
But what's caught many folks' attention is Narduzzi's recent comments. When James Franklin was hired to coach Penn State last season, he said his staff wanted to "dominate the state" in recruiting. Narduzzi, who moved from Michigan State to Pittsburgh, countered that he's "been at a state [that the University of Michigan] thought they owned" and finished by saying "they thought."
Then, this week, Narduzzi took another shot at PSU. At his weekly press conference, the Panthers coach was asked about his quarterback's improved accuracy.
"You could have a talented quarterback with a bad play-caller and make him look bad," Narduzzi said. "You see that around the country, some closer than others."
The reference was clearly to Franklin, Nittany Lions' play-caller John Donovan and quarterback Christian Hackenberg.
Narduzzi and WVU's Holgorsen, you might recall, have also gotten into it via Twitter. The two exchanged missives over re-starting the "Brawl" before the pact was signed. Holgorsen ended his last tweet with a #SweetCaroline.
Should be fun going forward.