September 12, 2025 • 29 mins
Mike Asti of WV Sports Now joins the show to preview The Backyard Brawl.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Listen to a recorded version of The Morning Spiel online
at wkmcnews dot com, brought to you by Royal Water.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I encourage you to do that, by the way,
because just yesterday had one of my maybe all time
favorite episodes, and we did. I posted it a little
later than I meant to. Got it up last night.
Aristotle Jones and Jason Young joined the show and we
we we created a supergroup of I know, I'm an
adopted West Virginian, but a supergroup of West Virginia. I
(00:32):
don't know what you would call it. Media personalities. That's
not really that's not really what we are. But I
guess a supergroup of The Morning Spiel contributors.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I don't know what you would call it. The point
being though, is we created West Virginia supergroups using only
West Virginians. And I would just like to say, well,
they created I liked. Aristotle created a like a porch
pickin five piece, and Jason Young created like a like
a rock and soul fusion. I created a movie set
(01:02):
using my West Virginians. Go check that out the Spreaker
app or your preferred podcasting platform.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
The Morning Spiel.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Using entirely what famous West Virginians. We created, our own,
our own little team. You tell us who you thought
the best was the Morningspiel at gmail dot com or
I'll post it on Facebook today. You can share that
with us as well. All right, one of my favorite
adopted West Virginians is on the line with us.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Now I know he doesn't live in West Virginia, but
he has been affiliated with West Virginia in some way
for almost twenty years now, which is a phrase that
I'm sure he doesn't like hearing.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Twenty years, I guess. So.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Actually, I was going to say over a decade, but
I guess we're.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
It's like you're clothes, they get on two decades. Man,
you're clothes, they get on two.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
I was going to say I'm a supergroup of the
Morning Spiel, but I guess I'm not in the supergroup
of Native West Virginians. And I don't live there now
but I did in the past. Yeah, the degree also program.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
And it was an art it was an arts thing.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
So at some point we might have to do a
sports version of that, because that actually, as you say that,
a sports version of that might be kind of fun
to do. To do like it, And I don't know
exactly how we would do it, like whether it would
be you know, because in this case, we built our
own and we were drafting against one another. But I
almost think you'd have to do it by sport and
team up and like come up with the best best NBA,
(02:21):
you know, West Virginians in the NBA. And anyway, I
don't we don't need to do pre production work on
the air, but I as as you as as you
said it to me, it popped in my head was, Oh,
a sports version of this could be kind of fun.
So maybe I'll grab you and I have another person
in mind who.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
We can definitely, Yeah, that would be fun. We can
definitely do something on that. And it's always interesting when
you do a mountaineer or a Best West Virginian or
best Mountaineer list, because we have to decide whether it'd
be people who are actually native West Virginians or our
w alum's mountaineers, especially when you're looking at pro players,
(02:58):
because that would really drastically change the list. As you know,
I mean, obviously Jerry Wesbrow native West Virginian, but Deuce
McBride was not born in the state. Of Virginia. Sure
he played as a mountaineer and now is in the NBA,
for just an example, So that would drastically change the list.
So that is one caveat are decided. And you know
what going in.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
These are rules that we're gonna, we're gonna, We're gonna
do this. I'm mean, obviously we're not gonna do it
during during football season, but I think when we get
to that, when we get to that point, let's let's
just let's be generous and say West Virginia happens to
make a bowl game, or maybe they don't. Either way,
maybe after football season, but with maybe before basketball season
gets into full full form, or maybe a football season
(03:39):
gets bad enough.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
We we do this a little bit, a little bit later.
On that note, it's all on the board, as we'll.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Get into Yeah, on that note, yeah, I last week,
everything's on the board.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
What what I'm not even sure what to ask at
this point. That was the response that I have gotten from.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Did I not tell you to be fair?
Speaker 4 (04:05):
I've been. I've been. I told you I've been saying
this for a while. That look at that, Ohio, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
You were you were very That's right.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You were way ahead of the You were way ahead
of the board, are way ahead of me on that one.
I really didn't think that was going to be an issue.
But the response. Here's the thing, is that I can
rationalize that loss, I think more than someone. I have
had folks. Yeah, sure, I've had folks and I'm sure
you've heard this as well say to me that they
are not like, they're not sure about the Rod era now,
(04:33):
and I think that is a like a crazy overreaction.
But I think folks in the in the heat of
losing to Ohio, boy, that was h that was that
was rough, and they're they're hurting a little bit.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Yes, but fan means fanatic, and that's fans being fanatic
and not always being logical. There's no way, even if
they would have a three and eight two thousand and
one year which included lost the Temple and bad losses
early in that tenure, there's no way that the rod
would be fired or Ren Baker or the program would
feel that way. So you're going to need to give
(05:08):
it more time. It is game two of his first tenure,
and I do get that the eras are very very
different now, which is why I told you that rich
Rod has been very honest that he doesn't feel he
has the leeway to start three and eight and have
such of a slow start even if it pops later.
He's older now, the program's desperate to win. They just
had six years where they weren't ranked, which is just
(05:30):
incredibly historically rare in the history of the program. So
he can't do that again, and he still may not.
We're only two games in. It does not mean he's
only going to win three more games. Even if they
lose the Brawl. They may win, they have one, they
may win at least three in conference play. As you know, Alex,
the conference is completely up in the air and a
coin flip every game. So they certainly could do that,
and not that that would be enough either. We did say,
(05:52):
and I did say going in the season, a bowl
game in the brawl win is kind of where you
need to set this bar off of how much he
talked in the offseason, and obviously the pitch game that
we'll get into soon, it almost needs to be a win,
not only for the emotions but in order to make
that happen. But there's no reason to jump off the
wagon just yet. They did lose Jaheem White and Jaden
Bray in the middle of that game. It's going to
(06:13):
be an issue now obviously against Pitt, but that certainly
was a problem. They were on the road. It was
not home. You can be mad at the scheduling for
playing on the road in a very tough place to
play against the MAC champion. I get that, even though
it's a two for one, they'll come home. But I
get being angry there, Alex. I mean, I know it
would be there only you know, it only was their
only road non conference game. You don't want to have
(06:34):
all home games. There are some similar programs in the
Power for that do have all home games and out
of conference, so it's not against the law. You could
do it. So that was a very tough game going in.
I thought it would be, But most of the annoyances,
they actually played better against Parker Navarro than anybody ever
has his whole career, as insane as that sounds, way
(06:57):
better than Rutgers. He turned it over every other play
in that second half. They forced the three turnovers, the
three picks, and they really made life, you know, difficult
for him, especially in that second half. His offense never
really clicked outside of a driver or two. And the
red zone defense for West Virginia was also very very
(07:17):
overpowering and imposing on him. So you would figure if
you do all of that, your offense would give you
enough to be able to win the game. I do
think even last year's West Virginia offense would have won
that game. That I think the noise, the fans, the
top you know, a top fifteen winning his program all time.
Losing to a MAX school is just a negative stain
that even is on Rich Rod that will forever be
(07:39):
there and is negative even if you dominate Ohio the
next time you play. But you can't jump off the
wagon just yet. And we have seen in recent memory
alex Iowa State lost on the road to Ohio a
couple of years ago. They recuperate and have been a
great program in the Big Twelve. Oklahoma State with Jaden
Bray on the roster, a couple of years ago, lost
(08:00):
to a very middling group of five that was previously
FCS a couple of years earlier, and they ended up
in the Big twelve championship game. Because in this era,
your conference games mean the most. Notre Dame, they lost
to a group of five team and then ended up
in the national championship game because they want enough quality
games after that. This can happen. It can happen if
(08:20):
you beat Pitt, it can be forgiven. If you beat
Pitt and then win the conference games, it can be forgiven.
Will that occur without Jaheim White, Well, I guess we'll
get into now. But no one. Loss to Ohio Wow,
very very bad and I cannot in any way make
an excuse for it. I vocally said this is an
unacceptable loss in earshot of everybody that need to hear
it in the press box. But it does not mean
(08:43):
anyone should get fired towards the end of the world.
And I was not that surprised. I know you thought
it was gonna be a two touchdown romp. I got
replies after our show that Mike, you know, what are
you drinking? It's gonna be a two touchdown romp. And
it was not a two touchdown romp for either side.
But West Virginia did not even win. And the way
(09:03):
the game unfolded, even knowing the weaknesses of the Mountaineers, Alex,
if you watch the game, w should have still won
that game if they would have converted on one of
those late interceptions or god defense, or even taken it
to the house on a defensive score, which almost happened
a couple of times. They would have won that game.
The Ohiowa offense really struggled. That's really the most devastating
(09:25):
part that West Virginia should have still won it.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, what they finished plus two and they were at
one point in the fourth quarter before the Markiell interception.
They were plus three against a MAX school and still
trailing by seven in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Like that just can't happen.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I mean, forty minutes of time of possession of the
Ohio Bobcats against West Virginia's defense is ranked top thirty
in the country. They forced I believe five or six
turnovers already this year, and Zach Alley has said that
if he gets three turnovers a game that his defense
pretty much always wins throughout his career. That trend was
certainly bucked in Athens because they got the three and
(10:01):
they didn't win. I'm sure he didn't figure that his
offense would give him nothing, so basically okay.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
So so the glass half empty approach might be that
was a borderline historically bad offensive performance for the Mountaineers.
Here's the glos mean, let me give you the glass
half full. Let me give you the glass half full.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Because I'm I'm I'm.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I tell folks every time they listen to this show,
I'm really trying hard to keep them in a good mood.
I want this to be. I don't want to I'm
not gonna lie to them, but the you know want this.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I feel like balloons. Yeah, and that's fine, you know what.
That's good. We counterbalance each other.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
This could be this could be the oasis in the
desert though, where there's gonna be a lot of negativity.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
We'll get some positivity in here.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
But here's what here's I say, here's the glass half
full approach, is that you go into this week, it's
still very early in the in the the Rod tenure,
and so a lot of guys are still going to
be trying to impress him. They're still fighting for playing time,
and they know that not just to the program, not
just to the fan base, but also to the coach
because of what happened when he was last here, that
(10:56):
this game, whatever Rod says, is going to have extra
meaning as a result of that. And I think because
of that or perhaps I am assuming, but my glass
have full thought is they are going to come out
with their hair on fire as a result of all
of that. I don't know if it'll be enough, but
I do think the effort is going to be there.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
So you would like to think so, And I don't
disagree because I think that absolutely could be what happens,
and if this game is close, certainly likely that'll be
what happens. I mean to tip my hand here. I
think it probably will be close. And if it's going
to be close, or West Virginia is going to win,
they're going to have to win a rock fight. They're
(11:37):
going to have to force turn of evers. They're going
to have to give the defensive effort in the aggressiveness
they put forth against Ohio in this game. And I
do think, because we've heard from many of the players
Alex even after the loss, that they are very much
a family unit. They very much care about the guy
next to them, and this is not just a football team.
(11:57):
This is a family, which is an ironic phrase because
even the guys that were there last year, and I
don't in any way think they mean to throw shade,
because they still very much like and respect Neil Brown,
but the neo brown Erow was built. It was literally
advertised as a family atmosphere. And I would hear from
recruits the Rodney Gallagher who was there then who is
still now, that I came aboard because I was sold
(12:21):
on it being a family. I wanted it to be
a family. But now, ironically enough, we're hearing from Gallagher,
We're hearing from Nico Markile, We're hearing from players who
even were there before or were on other teams now
that are at West Virginia that this is a family,
maybe even more so. And not only do they want
to win, in are more motivated because of the Ohio
loss and Alex you know Glass at fool again. Could
(12:43):
be maybe the Ohio loss was a blessing in disguise
because it allowed them to get humbled. It allowed them
to realize that you can't just beat anybody because of talent,
no matter what the level it is. That maybe they
got that issue out of their system rather than lose
the brawl obviously beating Pitt and beating Ohio or different
things in the you know the country, and you probably
(13:03):
would endure the pit loss better because it's a power
for But I think most fans would rather take the
Ohio loss and go ahead and be pit than the
reverse because of the emotions of the game. So maybe
all of that is a positive. And I've even heard
others say, and it is true that if ever you're
going to rebound from an Ohio loss, a loss like that,
(13:23):
that is going to always be viewed as unacceptable in
the history of the program, no matter of the season,
that maybe the best thing actually is to have a
rival with an emotional story coming right after that, because
they can't lick their wounds for too long. They got
to get ready and they gotta they gotta get going
and got to win that game. The glass have empty.
Take would be Alex and rich Rod even try to
(13:44):
downplay the two thousand and seven result that this is
not a few years after that game. He said that
if this was a few years later and I was
still the coach, okay, then I could see discussing it
all day, and I could see, you know, the players
got to cry for me, and I'll probably cry, and
it's all about that. This a generation leader, was his
exact phrase. Those players, you know, at that point, aren't
(14:05):
going to get their win back. No matter what we
do now and my players today, many of them weren't
even born. Nika Markiel even was asked, do you want
to have a great year early in the season to
do this for rich Rod because you talked about how
close you've become with him, and he responded by saying,
you know, I think he actually literally said no, I
(14:26):
want to do this for myself and for the team.
And he didn't mean disrespectful. But again, he wasn't watching
in two thousand and seven. He didn't cry, he wasn't
a West Virginia fan. Then he's you know, was born
in Colorado, the lived in Arizona, played high school ball
in Arizona. He may or may not have been alive
at the time. It's not going to be what it
is for the fans for the players, especially not in
(14:47):
a transfer portal era. There might be some players who
are emotionally connected. Again, Rodney Gallagher, I think if you
want to write a Disney movie Rodney Gallagher getting a
game winning touchdown when he was a Western Pa kid,
spurn Pit is a recruit. There's no love loss between
the Gallaghers and the Patent or Doozy family. I will
tell you that would be something we haven't seen, you know,
him fully break through despite the game winning TD against
(15:10):
Kansas last year. But I don't know if the emotions
you're looking for are going to be there, But if
they have a chance to be there, maybe the Ohio
loss helps them get there, because if they want to
play for themselves, they're also desperate to freaking get a
win because of what happened last week. And you know,
maybe game day not being there is also positive because
(15:31):
you know Pat McVie coming big noon kickoff, they thought
they were at least going to be competitive against Penn
State and weren't. There's been examples of West Virginia actually
collapsing when they get a big spotlight. Maybe the spotlight
not being there is actually a blessing in disguise in
a way. You don't hear about thirty nine all day.
It's not going to be a national TV It'll be
a five minute segment. If that instead of all three hours,
(15:55):
mcviee is not going to be there, maybe that's better
in a way.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, it's funny too, and I just I can never
separate this because thirteen to nine is my first true
heartbreak as a Mountaineer fan. I was a freshman in
college and I know you were a year ahead of me.
I believe so you would have been a sophomore. And
that's the first true heartbreak as a Mountaineer fan. So
(16:20):
for me, it's it's very strange. I often compare.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I mean, when we were in school, there weren't too
many others. I mean, that's that heartbreak. Now, I mean
basketball and football from that on. I think people also
don't realize. You see a lot of stories comparing Pitt
in West Virginia since thirteen nine and saying Pitt has
sended in West Virginia was down. That kind of disrespects
the Dane Holgerson tenure. They did win an Orange Bowl
after that.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
For a couple of ten win seasons.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
A couple of ten win seasons. I know it's been
rough the last six years, but certainly, Alex and this
is weird. I looked at this. A colleague wrote this
story that even with taking into account the Brown tenure
in Pitt winning a conference title in the last five
years being better for Pitt since thirteen to nine, West
Virginia has more ten win season, more nine win seasons,
They have more major Bowl victories. Obviously Pitt as the
(17:04):
conference title the Mountaineers, they both actually have won. The
Mountaineers have not one since in the Big East and
since the Orange Bowl year, but that was after thirteen nine,
so they both have one, and obviously the last five
years has been better for Pitt, but in totality overall,
wins actually is still an edge for West Virginia. Wins
in the brawl, still an edge for West Virginia, certainly
wins in Morgantown and edge for West Virginia. It's not
(17:27):
been nearly as bad as I think the fans in
national media want to write the story of thirteen nine
killed the program. Not really accurate. The Brown tenure obviously
was less than what you want, but it's not nearly
what the national narrative is. And actually West Virginia has
had more success in those twenty years than even Pitt.
(17:48):
So we'll see what the future holds and if that
continues and holds true, they got to get this win.
But again, I don't think thirty nine was the death
nail some think. I think just ma the Neil Brown
tenure and some circumstances there were bad and this can
be recuperated. But if it can, if it can be recuperated,
and you can make the Mountaineers, you know, great again.
(18:09):
To steal a phrase, they got to get this win.
They got to get some big wins. They can't have
the bad Ohio loss staring him in the face. And
I don't think the fans are gonna give rich Rod
the time they may have gave him twenty years ago,
whether that's fair or not. They see Kurtzignetti do it
in year one, they see other coaches do it in
year one. Rod has a resume that I do feel
as worthy of the Hall of Fame. If that's the case,
(18:32):
Coach him up, Coach Clay ash up, use Gallagher, stop
jet sweeps. You know you say Vaughn for the most
explosive receiver in the entire country. We see one big
play pass to him every single week and he ends
up catching it. It's a sixty yard burner. He finishes
with a one hundred plus and a touchdown. Let's try
more than one big play to Cam Vaughn and see
what happens. Alex like, I think there are some different
(18:54):
things I'd like to see happen in this game. And
Paton Ardouzi even alluded to in his media sessions that
he thinks rich Rod maybe is holding things back that
he will unleash in this game. We will see if
that's accurate.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I one the quick thing before we get into sort
of I'm going to ask you your thoughts on sort
of the keys to this one matchups that you're you're
kind of gonna be paying close attention to. But one
thing of note I was just thinking about. So there's
a great documentary HBO did on the you know, the
Curse of the Bambino many years ago, and it was
actually made before they won the World Series, and then
(19:27):
I believe they updated it after. But one of the
things I always remember was Dennis Leary describing the city
of Boston after Bill Buckner let that ball go through
his legs in eighty six, and he's like, it was
as if everybody was walking around having been shot in
the stomach. That is how I felt and what the
city of Morgantown felt like to me as folks were
(19:48):
coming back from that game, Like it just felt like
everybody had been shot in the stomach. And that's what
I think. Whatever Rod says, I still think that that's
what they're they're contending with and coping with to some
extent here. So let's look at the matchups in this one.
It's the first time Rich Rod is back coaching West
(20:09):
Virginia facing off with Pitt. It'll be the only time
they meet until twenty twenty nine. Anything pending to change there,
but big matchups in this one that you'll be watching
that could potentially tilt this one way or another.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Yeah, Unfortunately, it's not changing. I don't want to pop
balloons anymore, but it's not changing. They're not playing until
twenty twenty nine. I wish they play every year. They
can't fit it into the schedule, as we talked about,
they would have to lost a home game. It's not
going to travel back to back years. Pitt has other
power forwards that are rumored to be on their schedule
coming up, and so does West Virginia. Not happening but
for this game. And I do think, and I asked
(20:45):
Rod about that, Alex, I do think it brings this
to a different level. If you really are writing a
script here. He didn't come back last year. They didn't
fire Brown last year. Whereas okay, if you have injuries
and you lose to pit, then you have a chance
at a receipt the next year. Was able to get
the receipt in twenty three from twenty two, even though
he'd lose the next year. This is it. Rod loses this,
(21:06):
there may not be a receipt for him because four
years from now, at sixty two, now he'll kind of
be pretty old. He said he's not gonna coach beyond
this contract. At that time he'll be sixty six. And
if they're not winning, I've told you I think gren
Baker would fire him, or whoever the AD is will
fire him. I don't think he has just five years
of just full on cart blanche. And separate from that,
(21:27):
Narduzzi's been at pit forever and if they would not
have any type of season near what twenty twenty one
was for them again and they've just kind of been
floundering three and nine, two years ago, seven and six
last year, if that's pit seasons with a new AD,
they're probably firing Nardozzi at some point, or at least
they're let him walk away, so there will be no receipt.
That adds more pressure to this. But to get this
(21:48):
win number one, they gotta they can't stop. But they
got to hope to contain reed. He could be the
best athlete on this field, especially now Jaheim White not
on this field, and he turned down more money to
stay at Pitt. That's what the Mountaineers need to have
happened for their program. Players need to turn down, you know,
turn down more money elsewhere to stay. It is not
that much better off financially, if at all. They fired
(22:11):
an ad because of money, but they had great players
stay for the culture for Nardoozi to win with Pitt.
West Virginia didn't really get that. I know they had
a coaching change, but players got more money and they
took them more money. So Reid decided to stay. He
is definitely the best player on this field. He gets
big players every week. They need to contain him. One
big play will happened. Probably you can't have two or three,
(22:31):
or it's going to be a really really long day,
especially not early. They have to force turnovers they did
against Ohio. They have to. The offense is not nearly
up to snuff with the Pitt Panthers. They're going to
have to get takeaways. It's a boring analysis, but if
there are no turnovers, West Virginia probably is getting blown out.
That's just the case. They got to force them and
(22:52):
they probably have to try to get something to defensive
scores here, but they at least got to force them
and stop Pitt. That way, they got to bring the
red zone defense they did last week. Pitt sometimes actually
has had problems owning the football and with time of possession.
My colleague, who covers Pitt for Pittsburgh Sports Now, appeared
on our live broadcast last night but still can be
(23:13):
heard on Mountaineer Report everywhere you get your podcasts and
on West Virginia Sports Now, and he said that Pitt
likely will gift wrap the time possession battle and maybe
they'll still win because they score so much. But that's
something that West Virginia better win because Pitt usually gives
it away two to their opponents. They have to try
to compete in the battle of the trenches. That's obviously
an easy thing to say too. But Pitt's defensive line
(23:33):
is very very good. Their offensive line is a question mark.
So can West Virginia win that battle of the trenches.
That'll be a big deal. And who emerges. You gotta
look at this with no Jaheim White, I don't think
clay Ash can be a featured back. It's going to
likely be by committee. You're going to see de or Hubbard.
We haven't really seen him. He's a four star recruit.
(23:53):
They picked him over Andrew Devine. At one point the
legacy player Neil Brown didn't Rich Rod confirm that Hubbard's
the better recruit. Let's see him. Let's see him. Clay
Ash is very, very popular. He becomes a star in
this game. He'll live forever in West Virginia lore. Probably
we'll put him on our list if we're gonna do
an all time West Virginia hero. He wins the brawl,
as you know, a favorite already. I think he'll he'll
(24:16):
go far in the annals of Mountaineer fans. And then
do you use Rodney Gallagher as something I'm really going
to be looking for, Alex to paint this story again.
And I know people sometimes accuse me, even in even
West Virginia media. Greg Hunter, forty years on the beat,
he always calls me the Rodney Gallagher guy. Well, okay,
if I'm the Rodney Gallagher guy, Alex, there's worse people
(24:38):
to be the guy associated for. I mean, this is
a guy who's gonna have a patch on his jersey
to honor his late mother. It is child I want
to try to get this white. It is children Grief
Awareness Day on September thirteenth. He obviously dealt with that,
so did I had a parent die or you know,
(24:58):
when I was young. Gallagher was even young, younger than me,
but when I was young. Has not again been utilized
that much. It's been jet sweeps. It's mostly handoffs. It
hasn't even been passes. He's not even been target yet.
This year, he's in better shape. The coaches said he
can do it. He did catch a game winner last year.
He's in year three, even though year one in this offense.
(25:18):
It's time to unleash him. It's time to give him
a chance. At a moment, this could be a really
really special story. You want somebody to cry after the
game and an interview. It could be Rodney Gallagher, like
he's a four star recruit. Alex that was from Western Pa.
His family grew up West Virginia fans. But they did
consider Pitt for a while. They dropped Pitt early in
the process because of a rough meeting with Nardoozi. They
(25:39):
didn't like what was said. Pitt still kind of salty
on that they thought it was disrespectful to not at
least carry them longer on a graphic that they did
for Penn State despite always really going to go w
this is this is personal for Rodney Gallagher, and I
would hate to see this end with the West Virginia
loss and him have a couple handoffs, a jet sweep
or two, and not even a pass in his direction.
(26:02):
The time is now, if the time is ever gonna
be to use Rodney Gallagher. So West Virginia defense is
gonna have to carry them to this victory, have to
really carry the day here. But can the offense do
enough Kenneka Markill manage the game enough not make the mistakes.
Pitch defense has struggled to create turnovers. They're really gonna
try to start doing that in this game. They do that,
(26:24):
it could be a really long day for the Mountaineers.
And what do we see from Jalen Henderson, because I
do think Nico Markile starts, but we were going to
see both quarterbacks. Ken Henderson complete a freaking pass. Can
he actually be on target? He's been overthrowing receivers and
can he get out and have a big play on
the ground. He had a couple that were called back
with penalties against Ohio. I think he gives you a
(26:47):
better potential to be a burner with his legs, whereas
Markill is a better passer. Do they marry that together?
And what do we see from rich Rod that we've
not seen again? If you have an injury plague team
and you're in year one and your bar is probably
just getting in a bowl game, the kitchen sink needs
(27:07):
thrown in this game. I do think most fans, because
the injuries, would say, okay, even if you don't make
a bowl game with this is a losing year and
you beat Pitt, they'll take it and give rich Rod
and Mulligan for year one. If you have a losing
year and lose to pit then I think even people
that have forgave him for his exit will go off
the wagon because, as you said in the open, there's
also a concern can he win in the power for
(27:28):
winning a jack state is not winning at West Virginia.
It's been a decade since he's done that. Even if
people who forgive him for leaving, they want to win
more than they want to forgive rich Rod I think
he needs to prove something in this game.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Real quick because we're low on time. You have a
prediction for this one.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
So if Pitt wins this by twenty points, same thing
I said last night. If Pitt wins this by twenty points,
I would not be shocked. If anyone's going to blow
out anybody, it would be Pit over West Virginia. I
don't think the Mountaineers can blow out Pitt. However, and
maybe this is speaking as somebody who was in school
at the time of thirteen to nine. Maybe this is
getting too emotional in this and I sometimes you know,
get the history and you know Pennis story. That way,
(28:09):
I think West Virginia somehow finds something in them to
get this w I don't know why. I just somehow
think they somehow do it. And I would go more
of a twenty three to twenty. They have to get
defensive score, so I'm still figuring the offense doesn't score twenty,
but somehow they get this win at home. The whole story,
I do think the players are going to play up
for rich Rod in this game, realizing that this could
(28:31):
kind of be their championship at least for year one,
and they don't play them again. I am going to
pick West Virginia to win this game, and I've been
running the money with my pick so far, so maybe
that streak continues. Conventional wisdom, though, says that Pitch should
win this going away, and that's what the Vegas spread
tells you to.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Very good Mike Ousti of wv Sports. Now, Mike, real quick,
we're down to our last couple seconds. You're just tell
the folks where they can find your work for this weekend.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Yeah, the coverage is at West Virginia Sports now, so
go there. You find all the coverage for this, the
previous show, Mountaineer Port again everywhere you get your podcast.
I also have a national local regional show with Pittsburgh
Sports and beyond Mike drop everywhere you get your podcasts
and do some national writing with Yard Barker as well.
So you can find me a lot of places this weekend.
I will have a lot of content for you and
(29:16):
it'll be an interesting game and weekend no matter what happens.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Very good, Thanks Mike, much appreciated. Folks.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
We are at a time I want to remind you
go and enjoy the game, Go and enjoy everything that
you can and enjoy our shared humanity and love of
Mountaineer football. We'll talk with you all next week, I'm
sure when we're breaking this thing down on Monday.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Clark Spurts News, Talk and Sports Authority one O three
to three WKMZ, Clarksburg, Bridge,
Listen to a recorded version of The Morning Spiel online
at wkmcnews dot com, brought to you by Royal Water.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I encourage you to do that, by the way,
because just yesterday had one of my maybe all time
favorite episodes, and we did. I posted it a little
later than I meant to. Got it up last night.
Aristotle Jones and Jason Young joined the show and we
we we created a supergroup of I know, I'm an
adopted West Virginian, but a supergroup of West Virginia. I
(00:32):
don't know what you would call it. Media personalities. That's
not really that's not really what we are. But I
guess a supergroup of The Morning Spiel contributors.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I don't know what you would call it. The point
being though, is we created West Virginia supergroups using only
West Virginians. And I would just like to say, well,
they created I liked. Aristotle created a like a porch
pickin five piece, and Jason Young created like a like
a rock and soul fusion. I created a movie set
(01:02):
using my West Virginians. Go check that out the Spreaker
app or your preferred podcasting platform.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
The Morning Spiel.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Using entirely what famous West Virginians. We created, our own,
our own little team. You tell us who you thought
the best was the Morningspiel at gmail dot com or
I'll post it on Facebook today. You can share that
with us as well. All right, one of my favorite
adopted West Virginians is on the line with us.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Now I know he doesn't live in West Virginia, but
he has been affiliated with West Virginia in some way
for almost twenty years now, which is a phrase that
I'm sure he doesn't like hearing.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Twenty years, I guess. So.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Actually, I was going to say over a decade, but
I guess we're.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
It's like you're clothes, they get on two decades. Man,
you're clothes, they get on two.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
I was going to say I'm a supergroup of the
Morning Spiel, but I guess I'm not in the supergroup
of Native West Virginians. And I don't live there now
but I did in the past. Yeah, the degree also program.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
And it was an art it was an arts thing.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
So at some point we might have to do a
sports version of that, because that actually, as you say that,
a sports version of that might be kind of fun
to do. To do like it, And I don't know
exactly how we would do it, like whether it would
be you know, because in this case, we built our
own and we were drafting against one another. But I
almost think you'd have to do it by sport and
team up and like come up with the best best NBA,
(02:21):
you know, West Virginians in the NBA. And anyway, I
don't we don't need to do pre production work on
the air, but I as as you as as you
said it to me, it popped in my head was, Oh,
a sports version of this could be kind of fun.
So maybe I'll grab you and I have another person
in mind who.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
We can definitely, Yeah, that would be fun. We can
definitely do something on that. And it's always interesting when
you do a mountaineer or a Best West Virginian or
best Mountaineer list, because we have to decide whether it'd
be people who are actually native West Virginians or our
w alum's mountaineers, especially when you're looking at pro players,
(02:58):
because that would really drastically change the list. As you know,
I mean, obviously Jerry Wesbrow native West Virginian, but Deuce
McBride was not born in the state. Of Virginia. Sure
he played as a mountaineer and now is in the NBA,
for just an example, So that would drastically change the list.
So that is one caveat are decided. And you know
what going in.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
These are rules that we're gonna, we're gonna, We're gonna
do this. I'm mean, obviously we're not gonna do it
during during football season, but I think when we get
to that, when we get to that point, let's let's
just let's be generous and say West Virginia happens to
make a bowl game, or maybe they don't. Either way,
maybe after football season, but with maybe before basketball season
gets into full full form, or maybe a football season
(03:39):
gets bad enough.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
We we do this a little bit, a little bit later.
On that note, it's all on the board, as we'll.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Get into Yeah, on that note, yeah, I last week,
everything's on the board.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
What what I'm not even sure what to ask at
this point. That was the response that I have gotten from.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Did I not tell you to be fair?
Speaker 4 (04:05):
I've been. I've been. I told you I've been saying
this for a while. That look at that, Ohio, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
You were you were very That's right.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You were way ahead of the You were way ahead
of the board, are way ahead of me on that one.
I really didn't think that was going to be an issue.
But the response. Here's the thing, is that I can
rationalize that loss, I think more than someone. I have
had folks. Yeah, sure, I've had folks and I'm sure
you've heard this as well say to me that they
are not like, they're not sure about the Rod era now,
(04:33):
and I think that is a like a crazy overreaction.
But I think folks in the in the heat of
losing to Ohio, boy, that was h that was that
was rough, and they're they're hurting a little bit.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Yes, but fan means fanatic, and that's fans being fanatic
and not always being logical. There's no way, even if
they would have a three and eight two thousand and
one year which included lost the Temple and bad losses
early in that tenure, there's no way that the rod
would be fired or Ren Baker or the program would
feel that way. So you're going to need to give
(05:08):
it more time. It is game two of his first tenure,
and I do get that the eras are very very
different now, which is why I told you that rich
Rod has been very honest that he doesn't feel he
has the leeway to start three and eight and have
such of a slow start even if it pops later.
He's older now, the program's desperate to win. They just
had six years where they weren't ranked, which is just
(05:30):
incredibly historically rare in the history of the program. So
he can't do that again, and he still may not.
We're only two games in. It does not mean he's
only going to win three more games. Even if they
lose the Brawl. They may win, they have one, they
may win at least three in conference play. As you know, Alex,
the conference is completely up in the air and a
coin flip every game. So they certainly could do that,
and not that that would be enough either. We did say,
(05:52):
and I did say going in the season, a bowl
game in the brawl win is kind of where you
need to set this bar off of how much he
talked in the offseason, and obviously the pitch game that
we'll get into soon, it almost needs to be a win,
not only for the emotions but in order to make
that happen. But there's no reason to jump off the
wagon just yet. They did lose Jaheem White and Jaden
Bray in the middle of that game. It's going to
(06:13):
be an issue now obviously against Pitt, but that certainly
was a problem. They were on the road. It was
not home. You can be mad at the scheduling for
playing on the road in a very tough place to
play against the MAC champion. I get that, even though
it's a two for one, they'll come home. But I
get being angry there, Alex. I mean, I know it
would be there only you know, it only was their
only road non conference game. You don't want to have
(06:34):
all home games. There are some similar programs in the
Power for that do have all home games and out
of conference, so it's not against the law. You could
do it. So that was a very tough game going in.
I thought it would be, But most of the annoyances,
they actually played better against Parker Navarro than anybody ever
has his whole career, as insane as that sounds, way
(06:57):
better than Rutgers. He turned it over every other play
in that second half. They forced the three turnovers, the
three picks, and they really made life, you know, difficult
for him, especially in that second half. His offense never
really clicked outside of a driver or two. And the
red zone defense for West Virginia was also very very
(07:17):
overpowering and imposing on him. So you would figure if
you do all of that, your offense would give you
enough to be able to win the game. I do
think even last year's West Virginia offense would have won
that game. That I think the noise, the fans, the
top you know, a top fifteen winning his program all time.
Losing to a MAX school is just a negative stain
that even is on Rich Rod that will forever be
(07:39):
there and is negative even if you dominate Ohio the
next time you play. But you can't jump off the
wagon just yet. And we have seen in recent memory
alex Iowa State lost on the road to Ohio a
couple of years ago. They recuperate and have been a
great program in the Big Twelve. Oklahoma State with Jaden
Bray on the roster, a couple of years ago, lost
(08:00):
to a very middling group of five that was previously
FCS a couple of years earlier, and they ended up
in the Big twelve championship game. Because in this era,
your conference games mean the most. Notre Dame, they lost
to a group of five team and then ended up
in the national championship game because they want enough quality
games after that. This can happen. It can happen if
(08:20):
you beat Pitt, it can be forgiven. If you beat
Pitt and then win the conference games, it can be forgiven.
Will that occur without Jaheim White, Well, I guess we'll
get into now. But no one. Loss to Ohio Wow,
very very bad and I cannot in any way make
an excuse for it. I vocally said this is an
unacceptable loss in earshot of everybody that need to hear
it in the press box. But it does not mean
(08:43):
anyone should get fired towards the end of the world.
And I was not that surprised. I know you thought
it was gonna be a two touchdown romp. I got
replies after our show that Mike, you know, what are
you drinking? It's gonna be a two touchdown romp. And
it was not a two touchdown romp for either side.
But West Virginia did not even win. And the way
(09:03):
the game unfolded, even knowing the weaknesses of the Mountaineers, Alex,
if you watch the game, w should have still won
that game if they would have converted on one of
those late interceptions or god defense, or even taken it
to the house on a defensive score, which almost happened
a couple of times. They would have won that game.
The Ohiowa offense really struggled. That's really the most devastating
(09:25):
part that West Virginia should have still won it.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, what they finished plus two and they were at
one point in the fourth quarter before the Markiell interception.
They were plus three against a MAX school and still
trailing by seven in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Like that just can't happen.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I mean, forty minutes of time of possession of the
Ohio Bobcats against West Virginia's defense is ranked top thirty
in the country. They forced I believe five or six
turnovers already this year, and Zach Alley has said that
if he gets three turnovers a game that his defense
pretty much always wins throughout his career. That trend was
certainly bucked in Athens because they got the three and
(10:01):
they didn't win. I'm sure he didn't figure that his
offense would give him nothing, so basically okay.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
So so the glass half empty approach might be that
was a borderline historically bad offensive performance for the Mountaineers.
Here's the glos mean, let me give you the glass
half full. Let me give you the glass half full.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Because I'm I'm I'm.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I tell folks every time they listen to this show,
I'm really trying hard to keep them in a good mood.
I want this to be. I don't want to I'm
not gonna lie to them, but the you know want this.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I feel like balloons. Yeah, and that's fine, you know what.
That's good. We counterbalance each other.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
This could be this could be the oasis in the
desert though, where there's gonna be a lot of negativity.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
We'll get some positivity in here.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
But here's what here's I say, here's the glass half
full approach, is that you go into this week, it's
still very early in the in the the Rod tenure,
and so a lot of guys are still going to
be trying to impress him. They're still fighting for playing time,
and they know that not just to the program, not
just to the fan base, but also to the coach
because of what happened when he was last here, that
(10:56):
this game, whatever Rod says, is going to have extra
meaning as a result of that. And I think because
of that or perhaps I am assuming, but my glass
have full thought is they are going to come out
with their hair on fire as a result of all
of that. I don't know if it'll be enough, but
I do think the effort is going to be there.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
So you would like to think so, And I don't
disagree because I think that absolutely could be what happens,
and if this game is close, certainly likely that'll be
what happens. I mean to tip my hand here. I
think it probably will be close. And if it's going
to be close, or West Virginia is going to win,
they're going to have to win a rock fight. They're
(11:37):
going to have to force turn of evers. They're going
to have to give the defensive effort in the aggressiveness
they put forth against Ohio in this game. And I
do think, because we've heard from many of the players
Alex even after the loss, that they are very much
a family unit. They very much care about the guy
next to them, and this is not just a football team.
(11:57):
This is a family, which is an ironic phrase because
even the guys that were there last year, and I
don't in any way think they mean to throw shade,
because they still very much like and respect Neil Brown,
but the neo brown Erow was built. It was literally
advertised as a family atmosphere. And I would hear from
recruits the Rodney Gallagher who was there then who is
still now, that I came aboard because I was sold
(12:21):
on it being a family. I wanted it to be
a family. But now, ironically enough, we're hearing from Gallagher,
We're hearing from Nico Markile, We're hearing from players who
even were there before or were on other teams now
that are at West Virginia that this is a family,
maybe even more so. And not only do they want
to win, in are more motivated because of the Ohio
loss and Alex you know Glass at fool again. Could
(12:43):
be maybe the Ohio loss was a blessing in disguise
because it allowed them to get humbled. It allowed them
to realize that you can't just beat anybody because of talent,
no matter what the level it is. That maybe they
got that issue out of their system rather than lose
the brawl obviously beating Pitt and beating Ohio or different
things in the you know the country, and you probably
(13:03):
would endure the pit loss better because it's a power
for But I think most fans would rather take the
Ohio loss and go ahead and be pit than the
reverse because of the emotions of the game. So maybe
all of that is a positive. And I've even heard
others say, and it is true that if ever you're
going to rebound from an Ohio loss, a loss like that,
(13:23):
that is going to always be viewed as unacceptable in
the history of the program, no matter of the season,
that maybe the best thing actually is to have a
rival with an emotional story coming right after that, because
they can't lick their wounds for too long. They got
to get ready and they gotta they gotta get going
and got to win that game. The glass have empty.
Take would be Alex and rich Rod even try to
(13:44):
downplay the two thousand and seven result that this is
not a few years after that game. He said that
if this was a few years later and I was
still the coach, okay, then I could see discussing it
all day, and I could see, you know, the players
got to cry for me, and I'll probably cry, and
it's all about that. This a generation leader, was his
exact phrase. Those players, you know, at that point, aren't
(14:05):
going to get their win back. No matter what we
do now and my players today, many of them weren't
even born. Nika Markiel even was asked, do you want
to have a great year early in the season to
do this for rich Rod because you talked about how
close you've become with him, and he responded by saying,
you know, I think he actually literally said no, I
(14:26):
want to do this for myself and for the team.
And he didn't mean disrespectful. But again, he wasn't watching
in two thousand and seven. He didn't cry, he wasn't
a West Virginia fan. Then he's you know, was born
in Colorado, the lived in Arizona, played high school ball
in Arizona. He may or may not have been alive
at the time. It's not going to be what it
is for the fans for the players, especially not in
(14:47):
a transfer portal era. There might be some players who
are emotionally connected. Again, Rodney Gallagher, I think if you
want to write a Disney movie Rodney Gallagher getting a
game winning touchdown when he was a Western Pa kid,
spurn Pit is a recruit. There's no love loss between
the Gallaghers and the Patent or Doozy family. I will
tell you that would be something we haven't seen, you know,
him fully break through despite the game winning TD against
(15:10):
Kansas last year. But I don't know if the emotions
you're looking for are going to be there, But if
they have a chance to be there, maybe the Ohio
loss helps them get there, because if they want to
play for themselves, they're also desperate to freaking get a
win because of what happened last week. And you know,
maybe game day not being there is also positive because
(15:31):
you know Pat McVie coming big noon kickoff, they thought
they were at least going to be competitive against Penn
State and weren't. There's been examples of West Virginia actually
collapsing when they get a big spotlight. Maybe the spotlight
not being there is actually a blessing in disguise in
a way. You don't hear about thirty nine all day.
It's not going to be a national TV It'll be
a five minute segment. If that instead of all three hours,
(15:55):
mcviee is not going to be there, maybe that's better
in a way.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, it's funny too, and I just I can never
separate this because thirteen to nine is my first true
heartbreak as a Mountaineer fan. I was a freshman in
college and I know you were a year ahead of me.
I believe so you would have been a sophomore. And
that's the first true heartbreak as a Mountaineer fan. So
(16:20):
for me, it's it's very strange. I often compare.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I mean, when we were in school, there weren't too
many others. I mean, that's that heartbreak. Now, I mean
basketball and football from that on. I think people also
don't realize. You see a lot of stories comparing Pitt
in West Virginia since thirteen nine and saying Pitt has
sended in West Virginia was down. That kind of disrespects
the Dane Holgerson tenure. They did win an Orange Bowl
after that.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
For a couple of ten win seasons.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
A couple of ten win seasons. I know it's been
rough the last six years, but certainly, Alex and this
is weird. I looked at this. A colleague wrote this
story that even with taking into account the Brown tenure
in Pitt winning a conference title in the last five
years being better for Pitt since thirteen to nine, West
Virginia has more ten win season, more nine win seasons,
They have more major Bowl victories. Obviously Pitt as the
(17:04):
conference title the Mountaineers, they both actually have won. The
Mountaineers have not one since in the Big East and
since the Orange Bowl year, but that was after thirteen nine,
so they both have one, and obviously the last five
years has been better for Pitt, but in totality overall,
wins actually is still an edge for West Virginia. Wins
in the brawl, still an edge for West Virginia, certainly
wins in Morgantown and edge for West Virginia. It's not
(17:27):
been nearly as bad as I think the fans in
national media want to write the story of thirteen nine
killed the program. Not really accurate. The Brown tenure obviously
was less than what you want, but it's not nearly
what the national narrative is. And actually West Virginia has
had more success in those twenty years than even Pitt.
(17:48):
So we'll see what the future holds and if that
continues and holds true, they got to get this win.
But again, I don't think thirty nine was the death
nail some think. I think just ma the Neil Brown
tenure and some circumstances there were bad and this can
be recuperated. But if it can, if it can be recuperated,
and you can make the Mountaineers, you know, great again.
(18:09):
To steal a phrase, they got to get this win.
They got to get some big wins. They can't have
the bad Ohio loss staring him in the face. And
I don't think the fans are gonna give rich Rod
the time they may have gave him twenty years ago,
whether that's fair or not. They see Kurtzignetti do it
in year one, they see other coaches do it in
year one. Rod has a resume that I do feel
as worthy of the Hall of Fame. If that's the case,
(18:32):
Coach him up, Coach Clay ash up, use Gallagher, stop
jet sweeps. You know you say Vaughn for the most
explosive receiver in the entire country. We see one big
play pass to him every single week and he ends
up catching it. It's a sixty yard burner. He finishes
with a one hundred plus and a touchdown. Let's try
more than one big play to Cam Vaughn and see
what happens. Alex like, I think there are some different
(18:54):
things I'd like to see happen in this game. And
Paton Ardouzi even alluded to in his media sessions that
he thinks rich Rod maybe is holding things back that
he will unleash in this game. We will see if
that's accurate.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I one the quick thing before we get into sort
of I'm going to ask you your thoughts on sort
of the keys to this one matchups that you're you're
kind of gonna be paying close attention to. But one
thing of note I was just thinking about. So there's
a great documentary HBO did on the you know, the
Curse of the Bambino many years ago, and it was
actually made before they won the World Series, and then
(19:27):
I believe they updated it after. But one of the
things I always remember was Dennis Leary describing the city
of Boston after Bill Buckner let that ball go through
his legs in eighty six, and he's like, it was
as if everybody was walking around having been shot in
the stomach. That is how I felt and what the
city of Morgantown felt like to me as folks were
(19:48):
coming back from that game, Like it just felt like
everybody had been shot in the stomach. And that's what
I think. Whatever Rod says, I still think that that's
what they're they're contending with and coping with to some
extent here. So let's look at the matchups in this one.
It's the first time Rich Rod is back coaching West
(20:09):
Virginia facing off with Pitt. It'll be the only time
they meet until twenty twenty nine. Anything pending to change there,
but big matchups in this one that you'll be watching
that could potentially tilt this one way or another.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Yeah, Unfortunately, it's not changing. I don't want to pop
balloons anymore, but it's not changing. They're not playing until
twenty twenty nine. I wish they play every year. They
can't fit it into the schedule, as we talked about,
they would have to lost a home game. It's not
going to travel back to back years. Pitt has other
power forwards that are rumored to be on their schedule
coming up, and so does West Virginia. Not happening but
for this game. And I do think, and I asked
(20:45):
Rod about that, Alex, I do think it brings this
to a different level. If you really are writing a
script here. He didn't come back last year. They didn't
fire Brown last year. Whereas okay, if you have injuries
and you lose to pit, then you have a chance
at a receipt the next year. Was able to get
the receipt in twenty three from twenty two, even though
he'd lose the next year. This is it. Rod loses this,
(21:06):
there may not be a receipt for him because four
years from now, at sixty two, now he'll kind of
be pretty old. He said he's not gonna coach beyond
this contract. At that time he'll be sixty six. And
if they're not winning, I've told you I think gren
Baker would fire him, or whoever the AD is will
fire him. I don't think he has just five years
of just full on cart blanche. And separate from that,
(21:27):
Narduzzi's been at pit forever and if they would not
have any type of season near what twenty twenty one
was for them again and they've just kind of been
floundering three and nine, two years ago, seven and six
last year, if that's pit seasons with a new AD,
they're probably firing Nardozzi at some point, or at least
they're let him walk away, so there will be no receipt.
That adds more pressure to this. But to get this
(21:48):
win number one, they gotta they can't stop. But they
got to hope to contain reed. He could be the
best athlete on this field, especially now Jaheim White not
on this field, and he turned down more money to
stay at Pitt. That's what the Mountaineers need to have
happened for their program. Players need to turn down, you know,
turn down more money elsewhere to stay. It is not
that much better off financially, if at all. They fired
(22:11):
an ad because of money, but they had great players
stay for the culture for Nardoozi to win with Pitt.
West Virginia didn't really get that. I know they had
a coaching change, but players got more money and they
took them more money. So Reid decided to stay. He
is definitely the best player on this field. He gets
big players every week. They need to contain him. One
big play will happened. Probably you can't have two or three,
(22:31):
or it's going to be a really really long day,
especially not early. They have to force turnovers they did
against Ohio. They have to. The offense is not nearly
up to snuff with the Pitt Panthers. They're going to
have to get takeaways. It's a boring analysis, but if
there are no turnovers, West Virginia probably is getting blown out.
That's just the case. They got to force them and
(22:52):
they probably have to try to get something to defensive
scores here, but they at least got to force them
and stop Pitt. That way, they got to bring the
red zone defense they did last week. Pitt sometimes actually
has had problems owning the football and with time of possession.
My colleague, who covers Pitt for Pittsburgh Sports Now, appeared
on our live broadcast last night but still can be
(23:13):
heard on Mountaineer Report everywhere you get your podcasts and
on West Virginia Sports Now, and he said that Pitt
likely will gift wrap the time possession battle and maybe
they'll still win because they score so much. But that's
something that West Virginia better win because Pitt usually gives
it away two to their opponents. They have to try
to compete in the battle of the trenches. That's obviously
an easy thing to say too. But Pitt's defensive line
(23:33):
is very very good. Their offensive line is a question mark.
So can West Virginia win that battle of the trenches.
That'll be a big deal. And who emerges. You gotta
look at this with no Jaheim White, I don't think
clay Ash can be a featured back. It's going to
likely be by committee. You're going to see de or Hubbard.
We haven't really seen him. He's a four star recruit.
(23:53):
They picked him over Andrew Devine. At one point the
legacy player Neil Brown didn't Rich Rod confirm that Hubbard's
the better recruit. Let's see him. Let's see him. Clay
Ash is very, very popular. He becomes a star in
this game. He'll live forever in West Virginia lore. Probably
we'll put him on our list if we're gonna do
an all time West Virginia hero. He wins the brawl,
as you know, a favorite already. I think he'll he'll
(24:16):
go far in the annals of Mountaineer fans. And then
do you use Rodney Gallagher as something I'm really going
to be looking for, Alex to paint this story again.
And I know people sometimes accuse me, even in even
West Virginia media. Greg Hunter, forty years on the beat,
he always calls me the Rodney Gallagher guy. Well, okay,
if I'm the Rodney Gallagher guy, Alex, there's worse people
(24:38):
to be the guy associated for. I mean, this is
a guy who's gonna have a patch on his jersey
to honor his late mother. It is child I want
to try to get this white. It is children Grief
Awareness Day on September thirteenth. He obviously dealt with that,
so did I had a parent die or you know,
(24:58):
when I was young. Gallagher was even young, younger than me,
but when I was young. Has not again been utilized
that much. It's been jet sweeps. It's mostly handoffs. It
hasn't even been passes. He's not even been target yet.
This year, he's in better shape. The coaches said he
can do it. He did catch a game winner last year.
He's in year three, even though year one in this offense.
(25:18):
It's time to unleash him. It's time to give him
a chance. At a moment, this could be a really
really special story. You want somebody to cry after the
game and an interview. It could be Rodney Gallagher, like
he's a four star recruit. Alex that was from Western Pa.
His family grew up West Virginia fans. But they did
consider Pitt for a while. They dropped Pitt early in
the process because of a rough meeting with Nardoozi. They
(25:39):
didn't like what was said. Pitt still kind of salty
on that they thought it was disrespectful to not at
least carry them longer on a graphic that they did
for Penn State despite always really going to go w
this is this is personal for Rodney Gallagher, and I
would hate to see this end with the West Virginia
loss and him have a couple handoffs, a jet sweep
or two, and not even a pass in his direction.
(26:02):
The time is now, if the time is ever gonna
be to use Rodney Gallagher. So West Virginia defense is
gonna have to carry them to this victory, have to
really carry the day here. But can the offense do
enough Kenneka Markill manage the game enough not make the mistakes.
Pitch defense has struggled to create turnovers. They're really gonna
try to start doing that in this game. They do that,
(26:24):
it could be a really long day for the Mountaineers.
And what do we see from Jalen Henderson, because I
do think Nico Markile starts, but we were going to
see both quarterbacks. Ken Henderson complete a freaking pass. Can
he actually be on target? He's been overthrowing receivers and
can he get out and have a big play on
the ground. He had a couple that were called back
with penalties against Ohio. I think he gives you a
(26:47):
better potential to be a burner with his legs, whereas
Markill is a better passer. Do they marry that together?
And what do we see from rich Rod that we've
not seen again? If you have an injury plague team
and you're in year one and your bar is probably
just getting in a bowl game, the kitchen sink needs
(27:07):
thrown in this game. I do think most fans, because
the injuries, would say, okay, even if you don't make
a bowl game with this is a losing year and
you beat Pitt, they'll take it and give rich Rod
and Mulligan for year one. If you have a losing
year and lose to pit then I think even people
that have forgave him for his exit will go off
the wagon because, as you said in the open, there's
also a concern can he win in the power for
(27:28):
winning a jack state is not winning at West Virginia.
It's been a decade since he's done that. Even if
people who forgive him for leaving, they want to win
more than they want to forgive rich Rod I think
he needs to prove something in this game.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Real quick because we're low on time. You have a
prediction for this one.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
So if Pitt wins this by twenty points, same thing
I said last night. If Pitt wins this by twenty points,
I would not be shocked. If anyone's going to blow
out anybody, it would be Pit over West Virginia. I
don't think the Mountaineers can blow out Pitt. However, and
maybe this is speaking as somebody who was in school
at the time of thirteen to nine. Maybe this is
getting too emotional in this and I sometimes you know,
get the history and you know Pennis story. That way,
(28:09):
I think West Virginia somehow finds something in them to
get this w I don't know why. I just somehow
think they somehow do it. And I would go more
of a twenty three to twenty. They have to get
defensive score, so I'm still figuring the offense doesn't score twenty,
but somehow they get this win at home. The whole story,
I do think the players are going to play up
for rich Rod in this game, realizing that this could
(28:31):
kind of be their championship at least for year one,
and they don't play them again. I am going to
pick West Virginia to win this game, and I've been
running the money with my pick so far, so maybe
that streak continues. Conventional wisdom, though, says that Pitch should
win this going away, and that's what the Vegas spread
tells you to.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Very good Mike Ousti of wv Sports. Now, Mike, real quick,
we're down to our last couple seconds. You're just tell
the folks where they can find your work for this weekend.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Yeah, the coverage is at West Virginia Sports now, so
go there. You find all the coverage for this, the
previous show, Mountaineer Port again everywhere you get your podcast.
I also have a national local regional show with Pittsburgh
Sports and beyond Mike drop everywhere you get your podcasts
and do some national writing with Yard Barker as well.
So you can find me a lot of places this weekend.
I will have a lot of content for you and
(29:16):
it'll be an interesting game and weekend no matter what happens.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Very good, Thanks Mike, much appreciated. Folks.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
We are at a time I want to remind you
go and enjoy the game, Go and enjoy everything that
you can and enjoy our shared humanity and love of
Mountaineer football. We'll talk with you all next week, I'm
sure when we're breaking this thing down on Monday.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Clark Spurts News, Talk and Sports Authority one O three
to three WKMZ, Clarksburg, Bridge,
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