AUBURN ALA. — In a way, West Virginia University offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen sees himself as something of an Amarillo Slim with a whistle hanging around his neck and a clipboard instead of pasteboards in his hand.

To him, the green of a football field is nothing more the green felt of a card table and the game being played is no less than high stakes Texas Hold ‘em.

His nature, if it shows through in the way he calls plays, is that of a gambler, a man who might just go all-in with a 7-K in the hole.

When his bluff works, he takes home the money, but when he’s called, well …



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The question before Jeff Mullen was less than an obvious one, for after all, his WVU offense had just gained 509 yards in a road football game. And had put up 30 points, which had been enough to win in 60 of the previous 62 games in which it had scored that many.

To be wondering about the strategy that had been employed certainly seemed to going against the grain, yet on this night the conversation had to turn about what was wrong with a West Virginia offense that turned the football over six times in a 41-30 loss to Auburn than what was right.

Could it be, Mullen was being asked, that this team was being asked to do too much, to rely far too much of gimmicks like hook-and-ladder pass plays and double passes and four receivers to one side? Was it playing that 7-K hand too often and not pressing a pair of queens hard enough?

“We felt we had to do that to win,” Mullen answered, again being as straight forward and honest in his answers as he has been whether his offense wins or losses. “We put our money in the middle and went all in.”

The problem was that the river card turned out to a joker.



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It was Darrell Royal, the Hall of Fame football coach from the University of Texas, who once observed:

“When you pass three things can happen and two of them are bad.”

Considering that he won 184 games and lost 60, with 5 ties, his can be considered words of wisdom.

Football, you see, is a game best played in a conservative manner. It is a game where turnovers, not touchdowns, beat you.

Mullen has put together a truly fun, entertaining offense with this West Virginia team.

It is a team with a lot of speed, a lot of skill and with a certain bravado that gives it a flair that turns it into almost a troupe of dare devils.

The problem is you feel like it is always walking a tightrope without a net, that one misstep

will bring it all crashing to the ground, and when you are flinging the ball around the way WVU does, missteps are sure to happen.

Against Auburn there were six of them — five interceptions and a lost fumble, not to mention a few costly penalties.

Mullen understands the basics of football.

"I said it last week and it's still true: Yards don't matter. Not turning the ball over and scoring is all that matters,'' Mullen said following the Auburn loss on Saturday night."The bottom line is not turning the ball over and we didn't accomplish that.''

And field position is won and lost in the turnover battle.



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Think for a moment of the great coaches in college football. Think of the Woody Hayes and the Darrell Royals and Bo Schembechlers, the long-time consistent winners. To them, risky plays were used only when the return warranted it.

They worked because they were true surprises, not staples of the offense. Why throw, Woody Hayes would ask, when he could give the ball to Archie Griffin?

Well, why throw when you can give the ball to Noel Devine?

Why throw and lateral on the same play to get Devine around left end, where he could go on a simple handoff?

Noel Devine carried the ball 15 times on Saturday night.

Is that enough?

“Probably not,” head coach Bill Stewart admitted.

Jarrett Brown, the quarterback, carried 19 times. True, only five or six were called runs, the rest being the result of Brown running for his life.

He does more scrambling than a short-order cook at Denny’s and Mullen has yet to define whether it is because he is leaving the pocket too quickly, his receivers are taking too long to create separation or the offensive line isn’t giving him enough protection.

The result is a whole lot of risky, on-the-run, sometimes off-the-back-foot throws that seem to be screaming out, “Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!”

In the end, cutting down the number of formations, cutting back on the number of plays, especially through the air, and getting back to beating people with your basic fundamentals of running, blocking and tackling is the answer.

Throwing middle screens to a 5-8 back in a forest of redwoods is only going to leave you screaming “Timber!”

Hand him the ball 25 times and open a hole for him. Noel Devine will take care of the rest.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.