Jeff Casteel and Jeff Mullen have perhaps the most important jobs in devising a winning game plan for West Virginia to use against Florida State, in the Gator Bowl. Head coach Bill Stewart hands the reigns over to Casteel in every game, allowing him to dial in all the defensive play calls. And on offense, nearly the same responsibilities are relegated to Mullen, who in certain situations gets play calling assistance from running backs coach Chris Beatty, along with Stewart.
In most cases during the regular season, teams have one week to prepare for the upcoming opponent by devouring film and trying to locate weaknesses or match-ups they will look to exploit on game day.

But bowl preparation is a different task to tackle.

By the time WVU (9-3) kicks off the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl against FSU (6-6), both teams will have had nearly a month go by without playing a game.

“That’s the problem with a bowl game -- a month off,” Casteel said. “There’s a lot of anticipation in a bowl game. They’re excited to play. Hopefully they don’t get caught up in that.”

“They don’t have as many responsibilities academically off the field,” said Mullen. “We’ve gotten back into camp mode and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Once the plan is mapped out and relayed to the players, it is up to them to make plays after the coaches found ways to get them in position to do so. For WVU and most teams, bowl practices are made up of a different regimen compared to typical practices.

“I think sometimes bowl practice can become drudgery,” said Mullen. “We don’t want it to be another spring ball mentality where we’re out there beating the dog out of these guys. Coach [Stewart] does a great job of making this a reward. We want them to enjoy the process and so far so good.”

Considering the time off, some bowl games are saddled with penalties and missed assignments, but are often highlighted with trick plays out of completely new schemes.

The theme: expect the unexpected.

“It shows up in their film,” Casteel said of trick plays that coach Bobby Bowden may have up his sleeve. “It’s hard to say what they’re going to come up with, with a month off. We don’t know what we’re going to see.”

FSU finished the regular season ranked No. 27 in the NCAA in total offense after averaging 421.9 yards a game and 29.8 points. The Seminoles rank No. 16 in passing offense, but will be without quarterback Christian Ponder, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that sidelined him during FSU’s last three games.

E.J. Manuel will quarterback the Seminoles against WVU, but will have a tough job backing up Ponder, who threw for more than 2,700 yards and 14 touchdowns this year.

So considering the continued transition to Manuel, the Mountaineers will have to be ready to adjust to what FSU will try to do offensively.

“They have great athletes throughout their lineup,” said Casteel. “They have the ability to put it in the end zone with their running back and any of their wide receivers.”

Based on film analysis so far, Casteel sees some similarities between the Mountaineers and Seminoles offenses. “It is the same stuff with the read-zone and option off of it,” he said, and added that FSU will likely show multiple looks with reverses, screens, pre-snap motion and throws vertically downfield.

In order to counter FSU’s offensive attack, Casteel could only divulge, “The way we’re going to be successful is with team defense.”

On the offensive side, Mullen explained how WVU has implemented its specific game plan for FSU during practices taking place in Morgantown. He said once the team arrives in Jacksonville, practices will be basic bread-and-butter walk-throughs. Simply enough, there’s no need to let wandering eyes get a glimpse of what the Mountaineers plan to use.

Like Casteel, Mullen remained coy in dropping hints of what the Mountaineers may try in the bowl game, but he was able to explain how WVU’s offense may look a bit different than it did throughout the season.

“We always tend to morph our schemes into some numbers or angle advantages each game,” said Mullen. “We don’t change our schemes. They do tend to blend into something that looks a little bit different each week and clearly that will be the case again here in the bowl game.”

However, whichever area of the FSU defense Mullen plans to attack, he should have options because the Seminoles have struggled stopping teams virtually all season. FSU ranks No. 110 in total defense, allowing 443.5 yards on average, and ranks No. 98 in scoring defense, giving up just over 30 points a game.