3 Guys Before The Game - Cougars Clawed - Hodge Hoops Tips Off (Episode 671)

It was a weekend to remember for West Virginia football.

The Mountaineers snapped a five-game losing streak — and did it in style — knocking off No. 22 Houston on the road, 45-35.

True freshman quarterback Scotty Fox, making just his third career start, delivered a breakout performance. He threw for one touchdown, ran for two more, and led WVU to its first road victory over a ranked team since 2018. 

In this episode, the “Guys” break down how it happened — and dig into the analytics that made the upset possible.

Brad and Tony also turn their attention to hoops, previewing Tuesday’s regular-season opener between the Mountaineers and Mount St. Mary’s.

Listener questions and comments wrap up the show with another round of Textual Healing.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome one and welcome all. It is time for Three
Guys Before the game. This is episode number six and
seventy one. The title Houger's Claude Hodge Hoops tips a
lot of stuff going on.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
He is it busy, busy, busy, busy busy.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Oh. By the way, Kellogg also tips off wv's women's
basketball team. They put the ball in the air Monday,
which is tomorrow as we record, and Mark Kellogg will
begin his third season as wlev's women's coach. We'll get
into all of this stuff and more textual healings, spreads
on stats, that's all coming your way. Did you get

(00:52):
a final on that football game?

Speaker 2 (00:54):
It's nice.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
That was really nice.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
That was nice.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
That was really nice. I mean, I don't want to
say as first reported here on Three Guys, but we
will go to spreads on stats and look back at
what the senators said. We're the keys to the game
and some potentially sneaking numbers that could help West Virginia.

(01:18):
We'll get into that first. Let's get into this. Three
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(01:40):
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an answer. And by Conley CPA Group providing value beyond numbers.

(02:05):
All right, let's jump in. The losing streak is over
for the Mountaineers. A bunch of firsts happened Saturday afternoon
in Houston. Let's see Rich Rodriguez got his first Big
twelve Conference victory. Rich Rodriguez got his first Big twelve
Conference road victory. Scottie Fox got his first victory as

(02:30):
a starting quarterback, and a bunch of other things. Forty
five thirty five the final score. West Virginia went in
as a double digit underdog. Houston went in as number
twenty two in the nation. Cougar's had just won at
Arizona State, and you walked into this one, and you said, hmm,

(02:54):
this is going to be difficult mountaineers dealing with yet
more injuries. And nevertheless, they started strong, they finished strong,
and they put together a template of what a Rich
Rodriguez offensive performance looks like. Why did it happen? Oh,

(03:18):
by the way, sorry about this. I failed to bring
this up. The third guy's not here. I didn't bring
it up. It was kind of he's he's he's in absentia,
he's currently on assignment for three guys, and he'll be
back within the next nine or ten months. I would

(03:38):
think he'll be back. Maybe hopefully there's a next next
nine or ten months. All right, So forty five to
thirty five pretty wild. West Virginia goes in situationally. Situationally,
it was kind of interesting. You could have made a
case for Houston saying they were coming back home, floating
on air after a huge win, playing a te that

(04:00):
they were favored to beat by double digits, playing in
honor of their strength coach Kurt Hester, who passed away
last week, and dedicating the game to him. So situationally,
a lot of things there on the other side for
West Virginia, let's be honest, you had to search to
try to find some real things to make this team

(04:23):
go out there and play well. Right, you hadn't won
a league game. You battled, but you didn't beat TCU
at home. What are you supposed to do when you
go on the road against Houston surprise team of the
Big Twelve, right, won four games last year seven to
one overall going into yesterday's game, and yet they found
a way to win.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Why, Well, I think start, I think flip the situation.
I'll read, I'll read directly from what we said Thursday.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
No, no, not what we said. What you said. Go ahead,
pat yourself on the back, go ahead.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Houston off its biggest win under Willie Fritz on the
road last week at Arizona State. I mean that right there,
full stop. That's definition of a letdown spot. One of
the hardest things, if not the hardest thing, in college sports,
is what consistency right, especially for teams where there's some
balance within it. This isn't a Houston team, and quite frankly,

(05:12):
really nobody with him. The Big Twelve is so far
ahead of the other teams physically or athletically that you
just can walk through each week. So number one. The
letdown spot was real off their biggest win over Arizona State,
had to return home and try and gather number two.
We said, playing in their six straight game, would that
be a factor. I don't know if it was or wasn't,

(05:32):
but that's a lot of games right in a row
number three, early kickoff, that was a factor.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
I think.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
I thought Houston came out sluggish and slow, and what
was the crowd like you looked at it, what was
the crowd non existent? Non existent? Right? So that was
that and then the last thing we said, Houston was
seven and one and they've had an unbelievable season. And
I think Willie Fritz is a terrific coach and that's
documented documented how he's won everywhere he's been. Your two's
always a good year for him. We talked about that,

(06:00):
but that team probably shouldn't have been seven to one.
We literally said the words, are they due for some
regression here? That was a team that if you looked
at the schedule, strength, you looked at some underlying numbers,
you could build the case that some regression was coming
for Houston. So I thought situationally, West Virginia was actually
in a pretty good spot. West Virginia was off one

(06:20):
of its better performances of the year. Certainly it was
in a loss, I get it, but West Virginia had
shown a little life. They'd found a little something with
Scotty Fox in that offense, and that carried over into
that Houston game. And to your point about starting quickly,
I thought it was evident right from play number one, Tony,
that offensive line for West Virginia got push, and it
got pushed right away, and it was physical and it

(06:43):
was attacking the defensive line, and I thought that bode
well for the rest of the game, that West Virginia
started so quickly then had that early success. Now West
Virginia had to hold on there. It had to battle
through some adversity because Houston got it together a little bit,
they started doing some things well. That's led to their
seven and one record got back in it. But West
Virginia stepped up and made some big plays. But overall,

(07:04):
the situation was good. The start was really good, and
I think that gave you the momentum to carry it through.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah, the offensive line push was the single biggest differentiator
in the game than any other thing that West Virginia
has done. All season, and I give a ton of
credit to everyone involved in the program because these are
the moments right in the month of November when things
aren't going well that you just kind of drop off.

(07:32):
Give a ton of credit to this coaching staff. They
are unrelenting in their demands. And if you listen to
postgame interviews yesterday from Deor Hubbard and others, they just said,
like the coaches would not stop this week about being physical.
And not only was the offensive line physical, those jet
sweeps that West Virginia ran with great success, incredibly well

(07:55):
blocked on the perimeter.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
And that was early. Yes, the perimeter had some really
good blocks early. And if you're looking at that, you went, uh, okay,
those guys are engaged. That's gonna bode well to your right.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah. So a ton of credit to the staff and
then for the players to accept what they were being
asked to do. I mean, let's face it, the seminal
moment of the game, and perhaps it'll become a seminal
moment in this transition as West Virginia looks to turn

(08:24):
this and really put this new Rich Rodriguez team together.
Was a penalty. It was Donovan Haslim assisting deor Hubbard
down the field right, so so real quick.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
You can assist from behind, correct, but you can't carry.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
No, can't pick him up and walk it.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
It's a heck of a nuanced rule.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yes it is.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
You can play by Donna. He just picked him up
and lugged him forward.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
So that in itself as cute and as funny as
it is, right, you have this massive guy picking up
as funny as that is, like, that is what has
to happen. That is what needed to happen for West
Virginia to gain a personality on that offensive line. To
this point it has been faceless. It needs to have

(09:13):
the next generation of Dan Moses. It needs to have
the next generation of Ryan Stanchek, nasty mean, pound you
into the field. Haslm is that guy. Haslam is that
guy that now you can look at and go like,
he's just a big dude and technically he's got a
lot of room for improvement, but just his massive girth,

(09:36):
he just like bowls over people. It might not be
the right guy to block, but he's going to hit
somebody and this is going to give this this this line.
And also Nick Cray, I don't know if you did
you just pff him on his grade.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
We'll get to him.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, Like we called Nick Cray's name constantly through the game.
They're pulling him and like you're finally starting to get
some teeth into this offensive line. So really really encouraged
by all of that. And then Zach Ally Jordan Scruggs
had the interception. Scruggs says after the game, Coach Allie
checked into that defense because he saw their formation. He said,

(10:11):
we worked on the formation, so I knew what was coming.
They try to throw it to Amari Thomas, he jumps
it massive.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
Also, along with credit for the staff for signing, you
got to give a ton of credit to players. This
is a team filled with a lot of guys that
are only here for one year. It is. It would
be very easy at this point to check out, to
lay down, to worry about what's next. And the fact
that they stayed engaged and played better against TCU and
then bounce back here, I give a heck a lot
of credit. I've been on losing teams before. It is

(10:40):
it is hard to stay in there. It is hard
to stay in with your focus when you're getting beat
each week, and this team is not so that locker
room deciding it's got to stay in there and it's
got to get better. And oh, by the way, hashtag
you're allowed to get better. Yes, hashtag you're allowed to
get better. And I think we're seeing that this team
is playing better now and starting to put some some
pieces together.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
And some of the young guys are doing it right.
So Cray is still a young guy. Landon Livingston at
center is a young guy. Haslam has eligibility that is remaining.
Scotti Fox obviously is a quarterback, a young guy. He's
a baby.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
Huh.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
Think about that now, true freshman, as we said when
he started a couple of weeks ago for the first time,
first starting QB at West Virginia is a true freshman
since Freddie Wyan in the nineteen fifties. Think about the
significance to say that he was able to get better,
to bounce back after the two picks that he threw
against Pitt. Sometimes that leaves a scar. And just little

(11:34):
by little, they kept bringing him along, bringing him along,
and now he's put eight quarters together of big boy
football and now he probably goes back out there Saturday
against Colorado and feels totally different mentally than he had
in the previous appearance.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
I would agree quarterback, what fourth, fourth starting quarterback? Only
FBS team to do that most in the FBS four
different starters. De Or Hubbard wasn't even a thought in
the first game of the seasons travel correct now busts
out one hundred yards rushing. Again, a lot of credits
are aligned for that, but credit di or Hubbard. So you're
down there running back four whatever that is, four or

(12:11):
five and he's coming in producing. So a lot of
credit all the way around for these guys to hang
in there on the back third of the season to
be producing when it's been such a struggle up to
this point.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
Saturday, West Virginia will play its second to last game
at home. They've got Colorado and Texas Tech left, and
then in between that a trip to Arizona State. See
what Arizona State's.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
Don give him most impressive with? No? Well, they almost
have to no Levitt in that game yesterday and you
beat Iowa State. That's an impressive win for them.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
How about that, dude, Jeff Simms, their quarterback, who has
played a lot of years, like six, has been around.
You know, he's been around he goes for two hundred
plus on the ground, adds a whole dimension and Arizona State. Afterward,
they said, guess what, man, we're off this week. We're

(12:59):
taking off this week like we're not like that often.
We're off this week like go away. So they will
be incredibly well rested for the Mountaineers when West Virginia
goes out there and all right, now you're playing you
just whatever.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
Now you play, And if you're West Virginia's you said,
not only with Fox, that team has a little confidence, right,
You're going to practice this week, all right, maybe listening
a little bit more. You're engaged a little bit because
you've got a chance. Now you're playing well.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
And again, not to make this that they just won
the world championship, but you beat a ranked team on
the road. This wasn't just hey, we got a road
win against a team that was out there struggling. They
were seven and one. However they got there. They were
seven and one.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
In contention for a big twelve title game of correct.
I mean that team had a lot to play.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
For, absolutely, and you got it done. So we'll get
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(15:32):
but in absentia, I will not do it. Let's jump
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CPA group. Here we go numbers.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
We'll just go right to the numbers.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
Here, let's jump into the analytics worship of the show.
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Speaker 2 (16:51):
Well, I just thought from this was one of those
games where nearly everything we talked about Thursday in terms
of keys came to fruition. And by the way, when
that happens, that leads you to some wins. So let's
dive right into these one of the things we talked
about Thursday. We'll start where we always do. Review what
we said Thursday. What hit wouldn't we said? Houston came

(17:11):
in with some outstanding defensive metrics. This has been a
team that had been performing exceptionally well on that side
of the ball, Butt, Big Butt. The one that gave
you hope from a mountaineer perspective was that their defensive
success rate versus the run wasn't as gaudy as some
other numbers. They were just ninety second nationally in that category.
So we thought West Virginia might be able to run

(17:34):
it well in this game. And what do we just
say a little bit ago, you started early with that.
You saw the push up front from the offensive line.
You saw the really really good perimeter blocks led to
two hundred and forty six yards on the ground five
yards per carry. But here's the number that directly ties
to what we were talking about. West Virginia had a
nearly seventy percent success rate on the ground in the

(17:54):
first quarter. That's a remarkable number. Forty is the number
that's kind of like average the West with seventy percent
success rate on the ground in the first quarter when
that line of scrimmage was kind of established. So right away,
early Tony, I think you could say, like, okay, there
was a number that we talked about that maybe showed
there was some cracks in that Houston defense. Boom came

(18:14):
to fruition. We talked about the past defense numbers for Houston,
same thing, very good raw numbers, but the one part
that wasn't good for Houston. Their pass rush grade just
twelve out of sixteen in the Big Twelve. We thought
that might mean Fox would have some time to throw
and that would be good. You know, given his arm strength,
you give him a clean pocket and let him go

(18:35):
to work. And you saw that big play to Whimer
was huge. With some time. Houston finishes with zero sacks
and only three total pressures on the day, so that
number came to fruition. Flip over to the defensive side
because I thought this was where the numbers from Thursday
really told the story. We pointed out on Thursday Houston
was the worst pass blocking grade in the Big twelve

(18:57):
and said, if West Virginia gets pressure on the quarterback,
it generally bodes well for that defense. Again, I know
that's a standard rule in football, but West Virginia's defense
has really been contingent on its ability to get to
the quarterback. I thought that really showed up. West Virginia
was good in its pressure game. Four sacks on the day,
and how many of those led to turnovers or near turnovers,

(19:19):
which leads us into the next numbers that came to fruition.
Houston quarterback Connor Wegman. Let's talk about him for a second.
Raw stats looked really good. He was having a heck
of a year for them Houston as a team. Raw
stats looked really good. Hadn't actually turned the ball over
too much. But what do we say, Tony, You peel
back that onion and you looked at those underlying numbers

(19:40):
that were.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
Over worthy play.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
There were a lot of turnover worthy plays for Connor Wegman.
We said on the show Thursday, there should be a
pick or two coming in this game. Get a little
bit of pressure and he was liable to throw you
a couple. Boy was there. Jordan Scruggs not only got
the one, but he took it to the house for
a huge, biggest play of the game game pick six.
I'll quantify that coming up here in just a little bit.

(20:04):
So he threw two on the day. Derek Carter also
had one. And what's interesting, Tony is it's a Houston
offense that had run it sixty percent of the time
coming into the game. They threw it fifty four percent.
Of the time in this game. So West Virginia's run
defense was good enough to force them into a different
game plan. Ultimately, you take a quarterback who's prone to

(20:24):
turnover worthy plays and force them to do something they
hadn't done all year, and it was going to benefit you.
It did. The other part of Wegman we mentioned coming
into the game. It wasn't just the passing turnover worthy plays.
It was his fumbles. He had fumbled six times on
the year. Well, we talked about.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
That back, but they were the most bizarre that was.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
He had done that in those games that he had
lost them all. They hadn't turned into actual turnovers. It's
why you get a look at that second.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
But would check a number? Would you admit that his
grip on the ball was bizarrely loose? Had you seen that?
I mean there were times there weren't even people buzz
in by him when the ball scored it out? Well,
what is up?

Speaker 2 (21:03):
That's why we talked about it.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
You think he's got small hands.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
I don't know that, But he fumbles a lot, and
it started right away. If they hadn't called that an
incomplete pass, you would have had one right away. That's
probably the right call, but man, that was close. Then
you very nearly got to pick six on the next play.
Then you got in with pressure and he did cough
it up. So he fumbled three times on the day.
Lost one, should have lost more, lost two. Whatever he
lost should have lost more. So four total turnovers on

(21:27):
the day. Should have had more, should have lost another
fumbl or two. Wegman was credited with four turnover worthy
plays just on the passing plays. So that was the one,
Tony is we'd try and find these numbers that may
tell the story. That one, to me was the biggest
one that jumped out because if you just looked at
Houston and Wigman's ross stats, you wouldn't have seen that
that was coming. But it was lurking right under the

(21:49):
surface there that fumbles and picks were available in this game,
and you got him.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
I thought that was massive, Oh exactly right, and that
it decided the game right.

Speaker 2 (21:59):
Turn team points off those four turnovers. You didn't give
any back ballgameame. That was massive. So yeah, that was
the game. Lastly, we talked about field position. Houston came
in really good in this category, two fifteenth nationally in
starting field position's field position. Given that West Virginia was
near the bottom of the country in that category, we said,
if those numbers held, West Virginia was at a distinct disadvantage,

(22:22):
not just because of those numbers, but because it led
to an entirely additional one additional drive per game was
scoring opportunity for Houston that didn't come to fruition. Those
numbers did not hold, West Virginia hung right in there.
Houston had the field position advantage, but it was only
one yard. West Virginia ended the game with an average

(22:42):
starting field position on its own thirty six yard line,
much better than its average up ten plus yards from
where it normally starts, so that one came out in
West Virginia's favor as well some other numbers that jumped
out to me on the day. West Virginia had a
positive EPA on both run and pass plays, first time
all season that's happened, And again that number backs up

(23:05):
what you saw in the field. Wes Virginia had success
throwing it, they were certainly running it really well, had
more explosive plays than Houston did, and six of those
explosives explosives came on the ground. Also impressive as We've
said many times, if a rich Rodriguez team is going
to run it on you and run it for explosive plays,
you're probably in some trouble. You mix in Scotti Fox,

(23:26):
who can really throw it. Hence the forty five points
follow four for four on fourth down. West Virginia was
so not great on third, but you're really converted on fourth,
including that big pass to Whimer. Get back to that
in a minute. Defensively, West Virginia created twice as many
havoc plays than Houston. Remember how it can be TfL sacks, turnovers,

(23:48):
pass breakups. Should have had more save for the officiating.
Get into that maybe here in a minute.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
Yeah, I might bring that up.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
When probability added, Let's look at these plays that were
game changing. What plays this game added the most win
probability to West Virginia's numbers. First and foremost, the Scrubs
pick six added a thirty seven percent win probability to
West Virginia's game. You get those pick six man game changer.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
It was twenty four to twenty one. Am I correct?
When he threw that pick, they were going in. They
would have taken the lead with points there.

Speaker 2 (24:19):
I'll check it Fox's fourth down touchdown run added twenty
one percent to the win probability. Carter's interception of Weigman
added another twelve point seven win probability, and then finally,
the fourth down pass from Fox to Wimer for fifty
three yards added eleven percent win probability. So some massive

(24:42):
big plays. I mean, look at those four big plays
right there. Two of them offensively, both on fourth down,
two of them defensively in terms of turnovers and interceptions.
Just massive swings in the games.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Right there, it was twenty four to twenty one. West
Virginia had hit a fifty yard field goal, so they
get the ball and they're deep inside West Virginia territory.
It's fourteen point swing.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah, that hence the almost forty percent change and win probability.
All right, let's look at some PFF grades real quick,
back to back weeks. Now, with the best offensive grades
of the season versus an FBS team. You had your
best run grade of the season. You had your second
best defensive grade against an FBS team. You had your
second best run defensive grade versus an FBS team, And

(25:24):
two of your three best this season have come in
the last two games. We mentioned Houston ran it for
just two point six yards per carry, and your run
defense forced them into doing something that they hadn't done
all year through it a lot more than they normally
had on the year. Ultimately, that led to two interceptions
and the mistakes that got you the win. That was
the best pass rush grade since Pitt, So again it

(25:46):
showed that they didn't have a great offensive line in
terms of pass protection. West Virginia exploited that it's going
to some individual numbers offensively, no surprise, your highest graded
offensive player was di Or Hubbard. He goes for a
career high one hundred and eight yard on the ground
and ran for seven first downs himself. Ryan Ward and
Jacob Barrick nineteen and thirty six snaps, so not not

(26:08):
the full sixty eight to seventy snaps. They were two
and three in that game. So Barrett continues to be
up there when it comes to run blocking in particular.
Scotty Fox highly graded as well, right up near the
top of the charts. You mentioned some of the offensive linemen.
Livingston and Haslam in particular, both put up pass blocking
grades in the eighties, So sixty five is really good.

(26:29):
You can get sixty five grades. You're doing pretty well.
Eighties for both of those guys. In the pass blocking.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
Area, Livingston had a great block on the Scotty Fox
touchdown run on fourth down at four, got second level
and smashed this guy out. Boom opened up the door.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
Sorry, I was checking something else, sir. Let's go to
defense for a second. No surprise. Scrugs leads the way
with the best overall defensive grade. It was a ninety
in the nineties. Devin Grant Nasani Redwood two and three.
Grant back to back weeks, has had really good games.
Redwood in there as well. Say hello to Jamori Robinson.
Haven't called his name much.

Speaker 1 (27:04):
She joined the squad this week.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
Did join the squad, had led the team with three
quarterback pressures, had that sack. And how about one Fred Perry.
Fred Perry, you called his name a bunch Frederick, Yeah,
you called him a bunch. Team high eleven tackles, added
three assists. He had a team high six stops. That's
at PFF stat that constitutes its definition is a play
that constitutes a failure for the offense. Perry was six

(27:26):
of those by himself.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
On the sack that he had did you think they
were might have called hands to the head there. I
got a little nervous there. He came flying in. I
went on and don't do that. But yeah, that worked
out well, that worked out well, really good. Here's some
other numbers.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
There's the book real quick. You mentioned you mentioned Nick
Krae blocking numbers. He was really good against the pass
in particular as well. Seventy one grade.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
So West Virginia pressure. Yeah, West Virginia ends the game
attempting twenty two passes. Rich we talked Friday afternoon what
we got there, and he thought they would definitely have
to pass it thirty or more times. And had they
thrown at thirty or more times, it would be the
first time that a Rich Rodriguez offense passed it thirty

(28:11):
or more times in back to back games since twenty sixteen.
So you understand. And so he probably had to be
the most surprised guy that he didn't have to. Why
didn't he have to? Obviously they were running the ball.
Each team had thirteen drives.

Speaker 2 (28:26):
Now you should have just told Rich that their success
rate against the run wasn't very good.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
Yeah, Well, at this point I think he wanted to
wait and see West Virginia had thirteen drives. Four of
those were seventy or more yards in length. They had
two drives of ten or more plays. They had a
drive success rate of seventy six percent and TD rate

(28:51):
of thirty eight percent. Both teams had a TD rate
of thirty eight percent. West Virginia had four to three
and outs, Houston had won three and out. Just efficient.
It's complimentary football, right, your defense, your special teams, right,
that was important at the end on the ball that
hit the Weltman's leg on you. So you made the

(29:12):
special teams check mark there.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
We'll see it too. Really, I mean you got you
not only got the turnover off special teams, which is
a double bonus, but you had the fifty yard field
goal you mentioned earlier.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
And we just kind of take that in pass huge. Yeah,
absolutely right. Ali Straw averaged forty six on six punts
with a long of fifty five. Two of his punts
were fifty or more.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
And he had the one where he had to go
out of the back of the end zone with a
shorter drop than North. Those are always those making nervous.
I didn't see his dad, Oh you didn't see Anthony,
didn't see he was there.

Speaker 1 (29:40):
He was there, I know, I know. I didn't we
got in there early. I didn't at the stadium early
and didn't see him. But he was there. Probably in
Bangkok now.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah, and then probably back for Colorado.

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah, he's probably staying around for Colorado, probably staying around.
I'll probably be here. I hope he is. We'll talk
about that coming up. Meanwhile, basketball games that count begin
tomorrow inside Hope Coliseum. West Virginia's women's team will take
Indiana Fort Wayne, Correct Indiana Purdue Fort.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
Wayn Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, ipfw.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
IPFW Mark Kellogg tips off season number three and the
wv women again picked for a fine finish within the
Big Twelve Conference. So that game is inside the Hope Coliseum.
Ball goes in the air at seven. Then they'll play
again on Friday inside Hope Coliseum. Meanwhile, Ross Hodge will

(30:37):
coach his very first regular season game Tuesday evening at
the coliseum against the visiting Mount Saint Mary's Mountaineers from Emmettsburg, Maryland.
A year ago, they won the MAC not the Mid
American but the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference won their tournament,

(30:58):
got into the NCAA Tournament and beat American University in
the first four game, then unfortunately had to meet up
against the Blue Devils of Duke and that's where their
season came to an end. But they were a really
good team, not picked great this year, like they're like
thirteen maybe thirteen in the metro. So the mac I

(31:24):
should say, so, we'll see what they've got. They've obviously
got a lot of new.

Speaker 2 (31:28):
Personal history of their better players off that NCAA tournament team,
so they come in a rebuild mode. They'll probably shoot
a few more threes against West Virginia than they will
in the regular season. There that length probably should bother
West Virginia. They'll give you some pressure, a little man pressure,
do a little diamond formation pressure in West Virginia. We'll
have to handle that, but it's one of those If
West Virginia handles that pressure, it will get open shots

(31:51):
in the lane, and it will spread them out so
much you'll have some open looks from the perimeter as well.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
Yeah, they shot a ton of threes in their exhibition game. Again,
Hood against Hood put it up a lot. If I
just looked at it this morning. But do I want
to say over forty.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
Also. Yeah, and they also played Richmond and got beat
in one of their exhibitions as well.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah, So anyway, it'll be fun inside the Hope Coliseum.
Tip off a seven and super busy start because you're
gonna go with the man's team. You're gonna go Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday.
This week West Virginia with three in a row at home,
and on Thursday, the Campbell's from Campbell will come in

(32:31):
and Joe Yesfu, who won some games for the Mountaineers
last season, is now an assistant coach at Campbell, So
that'll be neat.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
It'll be great. Yeah, welcome him back in the coliseum
one year after he was here. I had Joe last year.
Every bit of at least four games you don't win
if he hadn't done what he did in those individual games.
Colorado was won at Cincinnati if you remember both on Sundays.
He was outstanding. So fun to see him come back
in with the Campbels.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
How soon do we see Jackson Fields.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
Be a handful of games here? You think we be
a handful of games by next Sunday? What do you
think that'd be? It? That'd be optimistic, but not not
out of the realm by Pitt.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Probably closer, getting closer right around it. Yeah, obviously West
Virginia has to play the first five games without Saint
Bonaventure transfer chance More. Now, it's okay, it's okay to
play in the G League, get paid, it's okay, But
you certainly couldn't play, Certainly couldn't play five games for

(33:37):
Arkansas ninety two years ago.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Just a handful of minutes in those five games. It
wasn't five complete games.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
Certainly, certainly, certainly wouldn't want to do that. So anyway,
chance More will have to be a spectator in tomorrow's
game and will be ineligible for the first five games,
but he will be eligible and jackson Field should be
good to go by the time West Virginia heads down
to Charleston, South Carolina for that event. We're gonna open

(34:04):
it up against Clemson, and Xavier is also there and
Georgia is also there, so that should be good. And
obviously we're having that massive three guys event in Charleston
on the off day, which is Saturday. Efforting is that
I can say that right?

Speaker 2 (34:21):
Well, I mean you have said it. I don't know
that you can say it. Yeah, well, we'll get into
that also this weekend. I'll tell you here in a second.
This weekend for the home game against Colorado. By the way,
weather's gonna be decent, right, I think so. Yeah, it's
supposed to be prior right, what's it say?

Speaker 1 (34:40):
Looked Saturday fifty three for a high, forty five for
a low. Perfect. It's November football weather. Yeah, it's football weather.
So we'll see. They'll change five times by the time
by the time the game is played. But we do
have some information on the food court for this weekend
Friday seven.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
By the way, that's nice shirt you got on. Speaking
of food court.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah, Revkev. Revkev's biscuit and barbecue, brisket and barbecue. They
will Okay, I'll tell you that in a second. I'll
just tell you that. Now.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
What the heck.

Speaker 1 (35:12):
Here's what we're doing this week. Got this high level
information from Homeless Dave A couple of things. We will
not be doing a show at Buffalo Wild Wings this
coming week. We did have some folks show up last
Thursday before a home game, but we weren't there. This
is what we are going to do. We will have
one more event with Buffalo Wild Wings before Christmas, and

(35:36):
we are efforting on a date now, so maybe packaging
around basketball. So nothing there Buffalo Wilde, but you can
still go. They will be open. They'll be open.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
You can go get some wings.

Speaker 1 (35:45):
They have chicken there. They got chicken. You want to
go to Buffalo Wild Wings. No official three Guys food
court this weekend, but there will be people there. We're
teaming up with the Live Like Brent crew giving them
the space next to Daniel's Men's Wear for their annual tailgate.
The food court area will be open Friday and the

(36:08):
Live Like Brent folks will be out in full force
Saturday morning, probably also there for postgame and all of
money raise goes to theu WVU Cancer Institute. We encourage
you to stop by and visit. Food court will have
its normal vibe, music, fire pit, et cetera, but we
have conflicts and won't be as visible. You know, We've
got some stuff going on.

Speaker 2 (36:28):
Stuff.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
We will not be selling Connection three oh four, but
just hang out there. This is the group that we
partnered with and went to Stonewall Resort during the summer.
Lived Like Brent is a fund which honors a former
WVU student who died of a blood disease, a blood cancer,
and the money will go to that. This is who
will be there this week, rebkevs Barbecue, he'd be there,

(36:51):
the lemonade stand, lemon will be there and grateful Bread
will all be set up. So we encourage you to
stop on over great people and you'll like. On the
merchandise front, getting close to our three guys Christmas Shopping Guide.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
The holiday shopping season about to begin.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
The Elves are positioning in Martinsburg and in Shepherdstown. The
first production of our popcorn Mountaineer Munch will start and
goes in this week with our friends at Mountaineer popcoh
very good. Not that's addictive. It's absolutely addictive, So do
check that out. Three guys before the game. Brought to
us by the fine folks at lou Wendell Marine Sales.

(37:29):
How good are they? They went awards like every single year.
They've been in business for forty years. Located in Saint Albans.
As you bring your boat in if it needs service,
these are the folks that do it every single day
and have ben Ford literally decades. Or if you want
to take advantage perhaps of some great season ending deals
by all means. Check them out. You can visit in

(37:52):
Saint Albans or or on the website at lou wendellmarnesales
dot com. Silo's avalon pontoons try Tunes made one hundred
percent in the United States. G three John Bulls. I
just kind of suggest you walk in there or make
a call and just say hey, looking for a little
something something. As the season comes to an end, visit

(38:12):
Lowndelmarine at sales dot com. And as you know, we're
heading into party seasons, things are gonna get ramped up.
Thanksgivings coming quickly. People get together. We have our functions,
we have get togethers. If you're looking for someone to
cater your next event, whether it be a party or
a tailgate. The folks at Tutors they got you covered.
All you have to do is put in an order

(38:32):
and they will get you set up. Tutors Biscuit World
is so much more than biscuits. They've got a full
menu of cater items, catered items. Just call into Tutors,
get on their website, take a look at what you
would like, and all you gotta do is walk in
pick it. Up lay it out and you are in
business offering catering at Tutors Biscuit World. The Textual Healing

(38:59):
line was busy, a lot coming in, Yeah, a lot
of people coming in. Obviously there was a lot of healing.
Though don't need healing. I think we need some What
we're getting is we're getting a lot of chest bumping,
the little chest pound and stuff. That's fine, it's fine.
We've had, we've had, we've healed, and now we're gonna
kind of walk it through a little bit. Textual Healing

(39:21):
is brought to us by episode eight hundred dot com.
You can contact us whenever you would like with a
text three oh four four oh four forty eighty three.
Three oh four, four oh four, forty eighty three, love
to hear from you. This is a big weekend for
the football game with Steve Slayton coming back to Morgantown.

(39:45):
He is going to be honored for his upcoming enshrinement
into the College Football Hall of Fame, which is just
an unbelievable, incredible honor. So Steve Slayton will be back.
In fact, saw him yesterday. He lives in Houston. He
was in the director of Athletics's box which is right
next door to us, and he has great family there,

(40:06):
his kids front row seats watching there and say good luck,
charm Steve. He wass say Dad, is this what you
used to do? And say, yeah, that's exactly what I
used to do. There is an opportunity if you would
like to get something autographed by Steve. He's coming to
town and it's coming up Friday between four thirty and
six thirty inside Kegler's Clubhouse, Dale Sparks. The Eye of

(40:31):
the Mountaineers will be there and he will be selling
photos from the Dale Sparks collection. So all you have
to do is make a purchase and Steve will be
there to sign. Four point thirty to six thirty this
coming Friday, Steve Slayton on his way into the College

(40:51):
Football Hall of Fame. Check it out four thirty to
six thirty at Kegler's Clubhouse. Check it out. From the
text line, Texter writes, Chip in Saint Albans, the fox
is in the Henhouse. Coin it now, that's not bad.
That's not bad. Josh from outside of Knoxville, formerly Josh

(41:15):
from Josh from Audre State Park.

Speaker 2 (41:17):
Josh move He moves.

Speaker 1 (41:19):
She's in Knoxville. Now there are the volunteers, he writes
in Donovan Haslam now has my favorite mountaineer penalty of
all time? Can someone get him? And assisting the runner
T shirt? That is what the official called that, assisting
the runner Texter. Hey fellas, it's Dougie Fresher from murals

(41:40):
Inlet in South Carolina. Yeah, pretty good, great win, hopefully
a sign of better days ahead. A few questions regarding officiating.
How do they assign the crews for each game? Do
teams have the opportunity to provide input on who gets
a signed to their game? The crew yesterday seemed to

(42:01):
get a signed to us on a regular basis, and
to be blunt, they are consistently awful. Second, how do
teams provide input postgame? So you have no say whatsoever
and who gets assigned to your games? And that particular crew,
I think that's the second time we've had those guys

(42:22):
and you really don't get any say. And I'll tell
you about more about that in a second. How do
teams provide input postgame? You would take the plays that
you have in question, you would put them together and
you would submit them to the supervisor of officials in
the conference and say, could you please give us an
explanation on this? And there were several penalties interference calls

(42:51):
that obviously have grown. They drew great ire from fans
and from members of the coaching staff as well.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
And I think I have no earthly idea what pass
interference is anymore. I agree it is. You talk about
block charge being called inconsistently by people. Pass interference is
absolutely a debacle across college football.

Speaker 1 (43:19):
No question, one hundred percent agree. I think the the
the buddy back there had a bad day. I would
think when he gets his report.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
Card, I think his PFF grade is not good.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
I think when he gets his report card, they're going
to say, eh, now, exactly sure what you do. So
that's how they provide their input. And in regard to
like getting guys off of a crew, the only way
that really truly happens is that you have to get
in my view, you have to get a number of

(43:49):
coaches like you got to get a posse, and then
the off season, when you get together for your coaches meetings,
you say, hey, you know, this guy consistently is bad
and we as a group of coaches here all are
in agreement that this guy is bad, don't want them.

(44:11):
That would be the way you get rid of guys.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
And it's an incredibly difficult job. I get it, just
like basketball officiating with all the contact going, but with
all the hand fighting that is allowed. I just don't
understand when things get called. I'll give you another one.
How can Scotty Fox be picked up in the air
slammed to the turf and that's not excessive personal foul?
But sometimes when you hit the quarterback and it's boom boom,

(44:36):
that is called don't disagree. Now, Okay, he's outside the pocket,
he's become a runner. But you can't pick people up
and slam them with no call. Sometimes that's called. Sometimes
it's not the inconsistency, Man makes you crazy.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
That's the word. It's the inconsistency on the interference calls.
They just make it consistent so you look at it
and go, yeah it is or no it isn't. Texter,
Thanks for all you do. I hope to see you
in South Carolina Low Country in a few weeks. Have
that big shebang, that thing that's getting bigger. But I'm
telling you it's gonna be a limited number of people
that are going to it's only about two fifty that

(45:08):
play seats that seafood place we're going to. It's gonna
be but you better get your tickets early on that one.

Speaker 2 (45:13):
You don't get the tickets aren't on sell you No,
Now you.

Speaker 1 (45:15):
Might not even be able to go and me that
tight Now I'll bring Brad, But if we're gonna bump
anyone out, it's gonna be hoppy. Charleston Blair of Memphis,
Tennessee rights. I send this before the game has concluded,
but I'm excited. This is a rich Rod offensive football team.
Love the Zach Alley defense. Texter is the defender not

(45:37):
allowed an equal shot at the ball. The defensive pass
interferences are ridiculous. The one that's set up forty five
thirty five was the worst. I thought the official with
the better view would overrule that one, but no. Texter
walked into Houston and said, thanks for having us. The
sound of those sweet words from John Denver never sounded

(45:58):
so good. Let's go out here those good Thanks for
having us, Texter. Hey, guys, I began crying when I
was listening to your story about the homemade device that
Joan and your wife was prevented from purchasing because it
reminded me of a time that a Lowe's associate would
not scan my items at the register. Because I had
gathered the materials to build a device to chug apple

(46:22):
juice beer bong, I had to walk out in shame
as a twenty one year old. Of course, those people
at Low's are very very vigilant on it. Mean, heck,
they're putting things together. They're at Lowe's check I wait
a second, you can't buy those items together, build those
cannons and things. Texter As bad as a game Scottie

(46:43):
Fox had against Pitt, his mid season turnaround has been
amazing as a true freshman. So as the Senator would say,
you are allowed to improve from game one to game nine,
Eric in mineral.

Speaker 2 (46:54):
Count aloud, to get better, as we often say, and again,
I think you always have to remember that Scott he fought.
So you're telling me Fox is playing better now that
he's got some real game reps and he's got games
on top of games, and he's gotten better. Imagine that, Yes,
imagine how that works.

Speaker 1 (47:09):
Yeah, you went to think about putting into perspective. I mean,
last November, he's running around there at Mentor High School
in Ohio right probably getting ready for the playoffs. And
like one year later he's on national TV beating a
ranked team on the road. That's pretty good, very impressive.
You know what I say, If you're good when you're young,

(47:30):
you're going to be good. And he's showing good. So
let's just keep putting it together and hopefully he can,
as they say, stack these performances together. A jesse in
and I love the name of this place, the Woodlands
in Texas. Metre Kerchi will look that up. Give us
the whole breakdown much more than I wanted to know. Wow,

(47:51):
we looked so bad and starting oning four in the league,
I was worried rich would lose the team. Last week
we competed against the talent the TCU team. Today we
knock off seven on Houston. Brad is correct. You are
allowed to get better, Richard Staff can coach. Thank you
for making my Monday so much better. Let's go pitt
still sucks. Oh my snuck that in there at the end.
Jeff and Scott Depot. I believe it's time. Thanks for

(48:14):
having us. That was a classic. Thanks for having us.
Wasn't it good to see you?

Speaker 2 (48:19):
Those red winds are always good. They're over ranked teams.
That's a double good. Thanks for having us.

Speaker 1 (48:24):
I would agree with that. Just got a text while
we're recording here from Homeless Dave, So he must have
forgot something. What's he got going on?

Speaker 2 (48:32):
Says lives that works.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
I mean if Dave text in show, No, it's just
wasn't urgent. See.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
No, that's from last week about our thing in South
Carolina coming up, or Mountaineer Munch popcorn that goes on sales.

Speaker 1 (48:51):
Soon, or the event in Charleston, West Virginia before the
night before the Wake Forest game.

Speaker 2 (48:56):
I talk about that too, that's going to be It
was about game day grind over there at near roasting.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
No, we're going to have a special night in Charleston.
We're going the Charlestons are getting to get hit big.
We're going to do a big event in South Carolina, Charleston.
We're going Charlie South and Charlie Weston and we're going
to have a big story. Don't want to get ahead
of my skis.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
You're I'm just gonna say that you don't know details
on that yet, efforting, don't want.

Speaker 1 (49:18):
To get ahead of my skis here on the Charleston,
West Virginia event. Got a chance to be really special.
I'll just leave it with that. What are you laughing about?

Speaker 2 (49:29):
That's fine.

Speaker 1 (49:31):
I don't understand why you're laughing.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
I mean it does have a chance to be really fun.
Now just move on. There's one guess that they see.
Just leave it until it's done. It's not done.

Speaker 1 (49:39):
There's one guess that might be there that would be
a game changer. That would be great. He says he
wants to come. So if he's there, it's going to
be real nice. Clark. Hey, guess what Gomart Marty is back.
You ready for this thing?

Speaker 2 (49:57):
Yeah? Probably something holiday related.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
Right, he's got This is what you need to do.
Marty's Mary Spin is underway. The Gomart people they're going like, hey, yeah,
Thanksgivings coming, We're going into Christmas. Here's what you need
to do. Get your Gomart app, go to a go Mart.
You walk in and you scan the in store QR
code and you get to spin. You're with me. You

(50:21):
can do this now through December the nineteenth. So you
spin and you get sweet treats, awesome prizes or bonus
rewards points. No matter what, it's guaranteed to add some
fun and build up your point total. Marty's Mary's Spin
is underway now all the way to December the nineteenth.

(50:44):
Check it out by visiting a Gomart near you.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
Here's the other thing. If you go on the app,
there's an instructional video there for that game, so you
don't have to try and guess how to play it.
Just click, says right there, instructional video.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
Marty's a Gopher.

Speaker 2 (50:56):
Yes, go for good times. Get it for good times.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Knew that text her. It wasn't coffee.

Speaker 2 (51:03):
You see how that works. Yeah, go for Gopher, go
go for good times. Yeah, pretty creative.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
Is there a physical Marty, like a real Marty.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
I don't know that. I've not seen that. I think
there's stuffed Marty's. Yeah, you think there's a big mask,
full sized mask I walks around.

Speaker 1 (51:21):
I love that there's a little one.

Speaker 2 (51:24):
I'm not can probably fill in and help them out.
You know, I have experience doing that.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
Of course, you were the Connecticut Husky for one day. Yeah. Like,
I love making. One of the things I would love
to do is go into a bar at about midnight
on a Friday or Saturday when everyone is really in
a good, good vibe, wearing a gorilla suit kind of fun.

(51:47):
I think people would.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
Love that, like things that go on in your brain.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
I mean, seriously, would you like to do that? Like
you're just sitting there, like you know, everything's chilled out,
music's playing, God Walk Gorilla walks in.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
By the way. In case you're wondering, you were probably
ann ask man. I did hit Saturday triple reward points again,
three weeks in a nice winning streak going.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
You'll be on in one of those go marchin.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
It's two weeks to our lineup too, and now hit
it perfectly on Saturdays.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
Texter wasn't perfect or pretty, but that was the most
complete game of the season. Took the whole team to
win that one. Games like that give you hope for
the future. Time to beat the Buffs. Colorado had a
bad night struggling.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
Last two weeks have been really a big struggle for
the Buffs.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
So they're at a point of they're either gonna pack
it or they're going to bounce up. Dion wouldn't let
them talk to the media. Players were not allowed to
talk to the media after the ball game.

Speaker 2 (52:39):
Instructed people to come after him, not the players, So
you're right, it will be. It's an interesting mindset. They
could be cooked and done, or they might just say,
all right, that's not we got one last bit of
fight left in.

Speaker 1 (52:49):
This here are you watching the end? No, Juju Lewis
hurt his hand. He was the third quarterback that they used. Unbelievably,
highly touted freshman quarterback hurt his hand. I don't know
how bad it is.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Yeah, they've had something. They've had a weird quarterback situation too.
They've been rotating three different guys in there. Highly were created,
a huge transfer in Salter and then the third stringer.

Speaker 1 (53:09):
Yeah, hey, guys, shout out to de or Hrbard. I
didn't see him being a work horse on my bingo card,
but he was tough as td Roumans. The Thing of
Beauty signed by Grateful in Washington State Sean.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
Yeah, congratulations to him. Nice game, This is funny. Next one,
big Rob from Montgomery Rights. Did Scotty Fox dress up
as Pat White for Halloween?

Speaker 1 (53:32):
Yeah? On the fourth and four he honked it up
in there, didn't he a little more than four?

Speaker 2 (53:37):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (53:38):
Brandon from Herndon, Virginia. Great, All around whin. I think
they got a little luck from this little moth man
that did some trick or treating last night for all
big candy. We go to our photos. Now we take
a look at Sparky out there. He got a little
mothman's suit going and to easily identify with those very

(54:00):
fluorescent shoes that he's wearing, so he dressed up as
the mothmn Herndon, Virginia. Hello Texter, Joe from Barbersville. Great
weekend in Houston. Mountaineers looked like a totally different team.
Great wind Friday as well. Mountain your soccers. Soccer players
beat the herd Marshall three zip lined up beat them. Okay.

(54:25):
He also adds this, when you're back in town for basketball,
can I suggest a dinner for you in Houston at
ishtiya I s h t I A. I've never heard
of this? Eighteen course dinner? What eighteen course dinner? Fantastic food.
Here are some pictures and hold it right there.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
On the eighteen egging.

Speaker 1 (54:48):
No, we do so. I looked on the wet So
that's something that you would be uncomfortable with.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
That is it?

Speaker 1 (54:54):
It's art? So like that eating the art?

Speaker 2 (54:58):
Yeah? What is it what you've said four things about it.
You haven't told me what kind of food it is?
Do you know?

Speaker 1 (55:03):
No, I don't know, have zero idea. But what that
is is so that thing's almost like a dome that
they make. And seriously, that's like a dome over the
food and then inside of that stuff. I mean, this
is the highest level of foody food. Can you show
me another picture here? Take a look at this meat
perfectly executed and cooked, and then look at that dessert.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
That's what you would I know what that is? Like,
give me some of that.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
Yeah, So I looked it up, went to their website
early this morning, and so they do private seatings. That's
how you order it this place. They'll do fifteen to
twenty courses when you sit down, and it costs you
about two fitty too fitty a person. And it's an

(55:46):
indigenous cooking restaurant and it's been named one of the
top restaurants in the United States. Now I would say
this to you, I am a food but like I'm
a blue collar foodie and like the foams and the
gels and like the weird stuff, Like I'm not into that.

(56:09):
Like my nephew is a big time chef, and that's
what he does. A lot of a lot of the phones,
that stuff, that stuff, he can do that stuff. That's
what he does. And I'm going, like chicken palm, you know,
pretty blue collar in my thing. But thank you very much,
I would eat there, would eat there. Of course you
knew that Texter Jim from Clarksburg. Didn't Houston fans realize

(56:33):
their team was ranked in seven to one. A lot
of empty seats Saturday, Yeah, there was, And that opens
up a whole conversation point. So to me, they're a paradox, right,
there are a paradox in the sense that they have
an incredible amount of available players that they can win

(56:54):
with right in their city. It is the fourth biggest
city in the United States, so they're just players all
over there.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
Willie Fritz has said he gets in a car to
go recruiting, not a plane, correct.

Speaker 1 (57:07):
Right, So they've got that going there. Here's the problem,
as you probably have figured out, the interest level has
never been great, has never been great, from the days
of Andrea Ware and David Klingler and like it's never
caught on. And you're absolutely right. They are seven and one,

(57:31):
they're ranked twenty two in a country they beat Arizona State.
The stadium seats like thirty thousand, and the upper level
was completely devoid of human beings. So there's the paradox. Yes,
you can get great players, I don't think. I asked
someone who lives there, what would it take. He said,

(57:54):
they would have to be constantly in the top ten
for people to come out to Pro Sports City Pro Sports, Right,
Astros and you know the whole deal, right, Astros rockets Texans.
Everything is there, and you got a ton of Texas
A and m alums that are there and from the
other schools. Now, they said when TCU comes in, it'll

(58:16):
be fifty to fifty TCU fans, and West Virginia had
a good turnout, you know. So that is the thing.
Now you look at West Virginia and you say, well,
how does West Virginia compete with Houston. Houston's got all
these available players. So West Virginia doesn't have all of
the players that they could use in their home state.
But what do recruits get when they come here. They

(58:38):
get this tremendous understanding really quick that it matters here.

Speaker 2 (58:44):
Energy support. I mean, you put fifty four in there,
last week for a team that hadn't won a big
twelve game.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
Correct, and this week I would think should be good.
And the reality of this week is this, for many
Mountaineer fans, this will be the last time they come
to a game this season for a lot of them,
because the next weekend is Thanksgiving weekend and deer hunting
is going to be going on, so and the students
are going to be gone. Right, that's just the reality
of it. If there's one of two games that they're

(59:10):
gonna go to before the season ends, there's a stronger
probability they're gonna go to the game against Colorado than
they are the Texas Tech. And that's just what it is.
Every single year. There's just that weekend's tough. Not that
you can't get a good crowd, but I'm just saying
that weekend's tough. So West Virginia can sell. Hey, this matters,
and you will get some kids because of that. But

(59:32):
Houston's always going to be I mean, think about it.
Think about it. They had a Heisman winner, right, They
had a Heisman winner the same time West Virginia was
running around with Major Harris. They win the Heisman, and
that's always going to be difficult, kind of like Pitt.
Similar to Pitt, like when West Virginia goes up there,

(59:54):
it locks out. Notre Dame goes up there, it locks out.
But other than that, you Tech, Boston College, Clemson come in.
Ain't that big of a deal.

Speaker 2 (01:00:04):
Here's the other thing though, too, and right, that's the
overarching that's correct, that's the issue they fight. Maryland goes
through that as well. Right, When it's when you're dealing
with the pro sports city, it's hard. But here's the
other thing. And we've talked about this a bunch Tony.
The TV times in this league for some teams, Man
eleven am Central doesn't do any favors. Noon's hard enough

(01:00:25):
to draw people here at eleven am. We've seen Utah
kick off at ten am local. We've talked about West
Virginia having to kick off at ten thirty Eastern time.
So there is some residual effect from the TV money
that the schools are getting to setting up some non
traditional times to start your games. If Houston had to pick,
where would eleven o'clock Central be on their card of

(01:00:46):
lists of when we want to start a football last
dead last Right, that's brutal. Sure, it is one of
the biggest games of this conference season, Utah hosting Texas
Tech earlier this season, kicked at ten am Utah time. Outrageous, Sure, outrageous.

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
Because this whole thing is stupid. It's the fundamental issue
is this thing is stupid, and they shouldn't have done
what they've done. And that's why you got these crazy
games going to the West coast to the East coast,
because the whole thing is bizarrely stupid, and all it's
doing is satisfying the television inventory. And we have sold
out the entire concept of regional play for college sports

(01:01:22):
for one reason, so the TV networks can have money.
Not even to get into the fact that ESPN's not
on YouTube TV anymore, which is a whole story unto itself.
This weekend, I don't care. Let them eat themselves, cannibalize themselves,
don't matter, doesn't matter. All right, we've done enough damage.

(01:01:44):
We appreciate you guys tuning in. So here's a program note.
Because we've got the basketballers basketballing on Thursday, we are
not going to do our preview show for West Virginia
Colorado Onday. We will do it early Friday morning so
that we can bring you two basketball game recaps and

(01:02:08):
a preview of West Virginia and Colorado. And who knows
what's gonna happen at Colorado this week. You know, when
they get into their press conference, as though it's Deon,
you know you've been a little colorful, right, he might
come out with something totally bizarre and we'll see.

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
See where that team goes. You just never know.

Speaker 1 (01:02:25):
Yeah, will West Virginia be favored?

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
Yes, there's some books dk off the board right now
as we're recording DraftKings, but there are some others out
there that have West Virginia as a slight favor.

Speaker 1 (01:02:34):
Well how many couple three?

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
Yeah? Yeah, many is five in one spot.

Speaker 1 (01:02:38):
That's good, go with it. Special thanks to our producers
Braden and Jake for coming in. We'll be back again.
As I said, Friday, we will drop so it'll be
available to you before noon on a Friday, Three guys
before the game. Brought to us by Gomarket. A Gomont
rewards card. Good that Marty spin thing, that's a heck
of a deal. Go in there and spin win prizes.

(01:03:02):
It's a good deal. Big candy might be on sale
as well, since Halloween's al right, get some reduced deals.

Speaker 2 (01:03:09):
I also noticed the other day when I was in
there some of those donets like little holiday themednets already. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:03:16):
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Conley CPA. All right, very good, We're done and back

(01:03:58):
with you on Friday. Have a good week. A lot
to talk about when we return. A couple of basketball
in Preview, Colorado. See y'all,