ITG 110 - Big Daddy Kicks Off BYU Week
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 In the gun, episode number 110 here
00:07 of your new favorite WVU football podcast.
00:09 I am Wesley Uler with the best teammates in the business.
00:13 We got the runaway beer truck down the sideline,
00:16 big Owen Schmidt, and of course,
00:19 the signal caller Jed Drenning.
00:22 You already know that this episode of ITG
00:23 is brought to you in part by our friends at BetOnline,
00:25 where the game starts.
00:27 And gentlemen, speaking of starts,
00:29 the college football playoff gonna start to heat up tonight.
00:33 We recording this, it's Monday evening,
00:36 but Tuesday, the first college football playoff
00:38 rankings will come out.
00:40 And I don't know guys, part of me thinks
00:43 this won't be quite as dramatic in the future.
00:46 You know, when the field's gonna be expanded
00:48 and at least the parameters are still not crystal clear,
00:51 but more clear than they at least are now
00:54 in the 14 playoff of how you qualify
00:56 and all these different things.
00:58 But this year is shaping up to be a,
01:00 I mean, you could have a lot of one loss teams.
01:03 There's gonna be a lot of debate here.
01:05 You know, who's got Oklahoma or Texas?
01:08 Will Oklahoma beat Texas head to head?
01:09 Will Texas has the better loss?
01:11 'Cause it's the Oklahoma, you know,
01:13 all these one loss teams.
01:15 What happens if, you know,
01:16 someone like Florida State drops a game?
01:18 There's the SEC factor in this as well too.
01:22 Penn State has one loss, Ohio State, Michigan,
01:25 what happens there down the stretch?
01:27 - For the last year of it being a 14 playoff, gentlemen,
01:30 this one has the chance to go out with a bang
01:33 and a lot of attention and a lot of debate
01:35 around these rankings every single week.
01:37 - Yeah, I think that- - Oh man, yeah.
01:42 - First of all, we talked last week-
01:43 - You guys were both doing the polite thing there
01:45 and waiting for the other person to get-
01:46 - That's right, we were.
01:48 We talked last week about the goings on at Michigan
01:51 and boy, it felt like something
01:53 was going to happen last week.
01:56 But it sounds like this black cloud
01:58 is going to hover over Ann Arbor for quite some time.
02:01 I mean, now we're out of the bye week for Michigan,
02:04 into game week, they might have this thing hanging over them
02:08 for the duration of the season.
02:10 And there's a fair to middling chance
02:13 they come out number one in this debut CFP poll.
02:16 I mean, we'll see, right?
02:17 But- - Good chance, yeah.
02:19 - We kind of know who the top four are going to be
02:21 in this initial poll, outside of some surprise.
02:24 I don't know that Washington is going to slip in.
02:28 Washington had that performance
02:31 where they didn't score a touchdown,
02:33 the 15 to seven win when they were heavily favored.
02:35 So I think that's going to be held against them.
02:37 But it's one of those deals that really,
02:40 nobody has a long list of big wins.
02:43 I mean, you could argue that the highest quality win
02:46 was perhaps Ohio State over Penn State
02:50 by the nature of the way that it unfolded.
02:52 But I think you know your top four in Georgia,
02:55 Michigan, Ohio State, and Florida State.
02:57 But as you touched on, Wes, as this plays out,
03:01 oh, and some of these teams are going to beat each other.
03:03 But it's interesting to see how the poll starts,
03:06 who's in the first top four.
03:07 - Yeah, absolutely.
03:10 I mean, right now I was just kind of looking it up
03:13 on my phone or whatnot.
03:15 And it seems, you know,
03:20 oh man, pretty good little playoff here.
03:23 And then the expansion is going to 12 teams, correct?
03:25 Next year? - Correct.
03:26 - Next year. - Correct.
03:28 - Yep.
03:29 - So like Wes, we were kind of chatting about it
03:32 a little bit just earlier there.
03:33 It'll be a lot more kind of easy going next year.
03:37 But this year, it just seems like
03:39 there's just so much kind of, who knows.
03:42 - You've got the four--
03:43 - I mean, Georgia, Michigan, TCU, Ohio State,
03:45 is that what you're seeing?
03:47 - No, that was last year, right?
03:51 - Yeah, last year's fine.
03:52 - Are you looking at the one from last year's final four?
03:54 - I looked at the wrong one.
03:55 - Yeah, no, so as Jed pointed out, right,
03:57 there's the four undefeated teams,
03:59 Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, and Florida State.
04:02 But Ohio State and Michigan have to play each other.
04:06 So one of those teams is going to lose at least a game.
04:08 And then again, what if Florida State drops one?
04:12 What if Georgia runs the table
04:14 and then loses in the SEC championship game by three points?
04:17 What if Florida State loses to Duke?
04:21 That's where it gets interesting to me,
04:23 because I think you'll have one or two undefeated teams.
04:27 Like I think either Michigan or Ohio State
04:29 will finish undefeated.
04:30 Did they beat Duke?
04:33 Then who's the, you're right, is it UN?
04:35 They've got one, they've got Florida left on their schedule.
04:38 They've actually got a pretty easy schedule.
04:39 There goes my thumbs up thing going again
04:41 on the Zoom screen here.
04:44 They've got-
04:44 - Florida State has a, yeah, read it off for me.
04:46 I know they still play Florida.
04:47 - The most dangerous one left is maybe this Saturday
04:50 against a team that loves to destroy
04:52 whatever conference it's in.
04:53 You can count on Pitt for one thing,
04:56 and that's to hurt whatever conference.
04:57 - That's for their head coach
04:58 to be a big old baby about everything.
05:00 Oh wait, sorry.
05:01 - Even when they win the ACC,
05:02 they have to first lose to a Mack school
05:04 and then embarrass the ACC by winning it.
05:06 They can't just win the ACC.
05:08 They have to lose the Western Michigan
05:10 and then win it so they can embarrass their conference.
05:12 So what would be more Pitt
05:14 than knocking Florida State out of the playoffs?
05:16 Now I can't for the life of me see that happening,
05:19 but that's who they got this week.
05:21 They got Pitt, and then they host Miami,
05:23 and then North Alabama, the playoff game,
05:26 and then they've got Florida.
05:27 - They got two rivalry games here with Miami and Florida.
05:30 Crazy things can happen.
05:32 - And do you really think Washington's gonna be on a spade
05:35 in the Pac-12, you know what I'm saying?
05:36 Washington's sitting there ready to clean up
05:38 if somebody else was in front of them,
05:40 but do you really think they're not gonna lose a game?
05:42 The rest of that, that's gonna be a challenge.
05:44 - That is gonna be a challenge.
05:46 - Yeah, Pac-12's good.
05:47 I mean, it's a deep conference.
05:48 You know, it really is.
05:49 - It's been fun watching them actually this year.
05:51 - It has, it has.
05:53 Yeah, so it'll be interesting.
05:54 We'll obviously keep an eye on this, you know,
05:55 starting going forward as we roll along.
05:58 - Florida State has beaten LSU.
06:00 They won at Clemson.
06:02 That doesn't look as impressive
06:03 against a four and four Clemson team, though.
06:05 But LSU is their biggest win.
06:07 But again, nobody really has this long list
06:10 of accomplished wins.
06:11 They just don't.
06:12 - No.
06:13 - Nobody really has that.
06:14 It's one of those-
06:15 - Now, I mean, Ohio State could, right?
06:17 Ohio State beats Michigan,
06:19 then all of a sudden they've got Michigan,
06:20 Penn State, Notre Dame, you know?
06:22 - Yeah, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame.
06:25 I mean, right now they have Notre Dame and Penn State,
06:28 and even Notre Dame blowing out USC
06:31 doesn't look as impressive.
06:33 Now, it's still impressive, but anyway,
06:35 everybody has blemishes.
06:37 It's one of those things I keep hearing everybody say, guys.
06:39 Everybody sucks.
06:40 Everybody sucks.
06:41 You got a couple of really good teams at the top,
06:44 couple of really bad teams at the bottom,
06:45 and everybody else gets in the middle.
06:46 Everybody sucks.
06:47 - I mean, most years it feels like there's five,
06:50 maybe six teams in the conversation
06:52 for those four playoff spots.
06:55 This year, I feel like you could argue eight different teams,
06:57 maybe nine different teams.
06:58 So I'm excited to watch it play out down the stretch.
07:01 I am, particularly if-
07:01 - Wes, would you say it's more even that way now?
07:04 'Cause usually I feel like there's always those
07:08 kind of programs that blow everybody out,
07:09 like you were saying.
07:11 I don't know.
07:12 Is it getting more even?
07:13 - Georgia was kind of a shoe-in the last couple of years,
07:16 but I don't think it would shock anybody if they,
07:18 you know, they're undefeated and they're great,
07:20 but, excuse me, their lofty standards, of course,
07:23 that they've set for the last two years,
07:25 they're 29 and one with two national champion, right?
07:29 Or 30 something and one with two national championships,
07:33 but it doesn't feel like there's that inevitable force
07:37 that's, like the last two years,
07:38 Georgia kind of felt inevitable.
07:39 I don't know if they feel that way this year.
07:42 - Well, and you know-
07:43 - In Michigan, not anymore
07:44 with everything going on with them.
07:46 - And this is the weakest schedule Georgia's had.
07:48 I mean, shame on them if they don't go unblemished, right?
07:51 - Right, right.
07:52 - When you look at the one lost teams
07:54 that are gonna be part of the conversation,
07:56 here they are, there's not a lot.
07:58 Oregon is seven and one.
07:59 These teams are all seven and one.
08:00 Oregon, Texas, Bama, Penn State, Oklahoma,
08:05 and then you're down to Ole Miss,
08:06 which has quietly climbed to seven and one.
08:08 So, and again, those teams are gonna suffer more losses,
08:12 most of those teams, but the truth of this is-
08:16 - Is Missouri still seven and one?
08:18 - Missouri's still seven and one.
08:20 - They play Georgia this weekend.
08:21 - So is Louisville, but you see what I'm saying?
08:23 I don't know if those two-
08:24 - Just the strength of schedule?
08:26 - Yeah, well, I just don't-
08:27 - Damn it, Air Force is getting in, baby.
08:29 Air Force, dog, come on.
08:30 (laughing)
08:31 - I'd go for it.
08:32 I would go for it.
08:33 - They'd be in line for it if it was next year, right?
08:36 - This is the portal.
08:36 - Oh, hell yeah.
08:37 - Year two early, boys, sorry about it.
08:39 - This is the portal, this is NIL.
08:41 The biggest point we can make,
08:43 this parody, even at the top,
08:45 I mean, did you think you lived to see a day
08:49 where Alabama has one of the worst offensive lines
08:52 in the SEC?
08:53 - No.
08:55 - This is the era of the portal and the era of NIL.
08:57 You can't harvest all the talent anymore.
09:00 You can get a lot of it, most of it.
09:03 But they're still good.
09:05 - I feel like when I see Nick's press conferences too,
09:08 you can kind of sense his frustration with-
09:12 - Oh, he's a little cantankerous, old boy.
09:13 - Dude, he is a salty dog, which I understand,
09:17 but I mean, I get it.
09:19 I mean, you're used to being that guy
09:21 and now it's like-
09:22 - You know who's the worst with that big O is Dabo.
09:26 I mean, Dabo, he refuses to embrace
09:30 this new era of college football
09:32 and he openly hates the portal
09:34 and we're not gonna do that
09:35 and we're still gonna recruit and develop kids
09:37 and hey, good luck.
09:39 Haven't quite been the same that you were a few years ago.
09:42 - Alabama has allowed the most sacks
09:45 in the entire SEC at 35.
09:48 And then if you're to go, keep talking,
09:49 I'm gonna look nationally.
09:51 - That's crazy.
09:52 It's like Alabama's giving up more sacks than Vanderbilt?
09:56 - Yes, they are 128th in the country in sacks allowed.
10:00 - You're lying, quit lying.
10:01 - Alabama is 128th in the country in sacks allowed.
10:05 If you look at-
10:06 - You got me standing in the backfield?
10:08 Geez.
10:09 - Why do you think they made such a hard push
10:10 for Zach Frazier in the off season?
10:12 - Well, there you go.
10:14 - Here we go, I'll give you the numbers.
10:15 Sacks allowed.
10:17 Alabama, Vanderbilt has allowed 19.
10:19 Alabama has allowed 35.
10:21 - Can you imagine if Zach would have went to Alabama?
10:25 Can you imagine?
10:26 - One, we'd be in a lot of trouble right now.
10:30 - Yeah.
10:31 - Two, I wouldn't be able to go to the combine
10:33 in Indianapolis in February
10:34 and tell everybody where Zach Frazier is.
10:36 - Georgia has allowed six sacks.
10:38 - It's quite a discrepancy.
10:41 - Anyway, you never thought you'd see that
10:43 out of an Alabama offensive line.
10:45 I mean, what's made-
10:46 - Do you think eventually, here's my thing.
10:49 I still think you need to still develop some,
10:52 it's gotta be, what is it, 60/40 NIL development?
10:57 You know what I mean?
10:58 You're gonna have to still-
10:58 - What's the goal?
10:59 - Huh?
11:00 - Maybe even 70/30.
11:01 - I don't think most people say something like that
11:02 is the goal.
11:04 You know what I mean?
11:05 - Yeah.
11:05 - 70/30, whatever.
11:06 - It's crazy.
11:07 It's crazy.
11:09 Well, gentlemen, the goal of this past week
11:12 as we transition here was to beat UCF.
11:15 And mission accomplished, 41 to 28.
11:17 The Mountaineers go down to Orlando
11:20 and get 'er done on the road.
11:23 A hell of a performance by Garrett Green.
11:25 A hell of a opportunistic afternoon for our defense
11:29 and four turnovers.
11:32 Gentlemen, it's funny, you know,
11:33 I did that quick little 15 minute or so
11:36 instant reaction episode on Saturday
11:38 'cause I'd had a couple cold ones and I was fired up
11:40 and I just couldn't wait.
11:42 I can't wait a few days to talk about the win.
11:44 I gotta do it now.
11:45 - I liked it.
11:46 That was great. - Thank you.
11:47 I appreciate that.
11:48 Thank you.
11:49 - It's probably about real fast.
11:50 - Yeah, it's up on our YouTube page
11:54 and wherever you get your podcasts.
11:55 It's episode 109, the episode before this.
11:57 It was just me, happy, a couple beers,
12:00 15, 16 minutes after the UCF win on Saturday.
12:04 I actually had a rare Saturday where I was at home.
12:06 You know, wasn't traveling with the Steelers.
12:08 I wasn't at the game 'cause it wasn't in Morgantown.
12:11 My wife and my mom took the girls
12:13 to like a trunk or treat Halloween costume thing.
12:16 So I just had the basement and the TV
12:18 and the Mountaineers and a couple of cold ones.
12:20 And as soon as it was over, I thought, you know what?
12:22 I'm gonna talk about this for a few minutes.
12:24 And I just, what I said in that was kind of,
12:27 it felt like our day.
12:29 And that's really weird to say as a WVU fan
12:32 because it never feels like our day, right?
12:34 I mean, it just, it never feels,
12:36 it always feels like something happens,
12:38 a disaster strikes or this happens or a bad call here.
12:42 We shoot ourselves in the foot there.
12:44 The ball doesn't bounce our way.
12:46 'Cause we know the ball's not round, right?
12:48 It bounces all different crazy ways.
12:49 Man, you just, you found a way to get it done.
12:55 You were pretty fortunate.
12:56 I think, listen, all credit to the defense
12:58 and being opportunistic, right?
12:59 But I laid this out on that instant reaction.
13:02 You also had two fumbles that you recovered.
13:04 You know, they threw three interceptions,
13:06 their quarterback put it on the ground, we got it back.
13:09 Garrett put it on the ground,
13:10 or their quarterback put it on the ground, we got it.
13:13 Garrett put it on the ground, we got it back.
13:16 Pac-Man Fox put it on the ground in the red zone,
13:18 we got it back in what could have been a huge moment.
13:21 So credit to the guys, credit to the offense.
13:23 I mean, we ran for 286 yards and five touchdowns.
13:26 We had four takeaways.
13:27 Like, I don't wanna downplay what they did,
13:30 but there were just also some elements in there.
13:32 For me, it felt like it was our day.
13:34 And I'm like, I'm saying that as a positive
13:36 because I think this team was owed that
13:38 because they haven't had that yet this season.
13:40 It went the opposite against Houston.
13:42 It went the opposite against Oklahoma State.
13:45 So I was glad to see the full team performance
13:48 and I was glad to see the boys.
13:49 You know, maybe you still hold on to win
13:51 if a couple of those bounces don't,
13:52 you know, maybe Garrett loses that ball
13:54 and UCF recovers and you still end up winning.
13:57 Maybe Pac-Man Fox, you don't get to jump on that ball.
14:00 I think it was Thomas Remack who grabbed the fumble
14:02 and you still end up winning.
14:04 But maybe it's not a comfortable, you know,
14:06 two score win, something like that.
14:09 But credit to the guys, they came to play.
14:11 They got a little, you know,
14:12 a little good juju from the universe as well too.
14:15 And I think that made for a fun afternoon down in Orlando.
14:18 - Yeah, looked like a fun crowd too.
14:22 Looked like a cool place to go play a game.
14:25 It seemed like it was full at least at the beginning
14:28 to halftime, wasn't that Jed?
14:31 - Yeah, it was a good crowd.
14:32 - Good amount of Mountaineers there too,
14:34 it sounded like and looked like.
14:35 - Yeah, I had a lot of people down there, had a good time.
14:40 - Man, there was something that you said to me, Jed.
14:43 I'm glad we finally have,
14:48 or I never thought we were gonna have
14:49 another good running backs coach.
14:51 You know, and then obviously you kind of gave,
14:56 can you describe what you mean when you say that?
15:01 - You mean with Jaheim?
15:04 - Yeah.
15:06 - Yeah, I said, I didn't think we could find
15:08 a better running back coach than Chad Scott,
15:09 but next thing you know,
15:12 Jaheim White's popping off a 32 yarder
15:14 and watch CJ go, because it was almost like
15:18 that room just needs to push each other
15:20 and you recognize, welcome back CJ.
15:23 - He had a beautiful bounce read,
15:24 well, it wasn't even a, I don't even think it was,
15:28 maybe it was the inside zone play,
15:30 but he bounced out to the outside
15:31 and broke a real nice run.
15:33 He's, you know, from what just,
15:37 all I can say is from what you say,
15:39 you know, if he does get, you know,
15:43 take it a little more serious
15:45 or whatever he's doing at practice,
15:46 I mean, some guys are like that.
15:47 Some guys like to just have fun on the practice field
15:50 or wherever, whatever, you know what I mean?
15:52 They're not gonna be that like,
15:54 always like, you know, I'm the hard-nosed serious guy
15:58 or whatever, but I'm a hundred percent with you.
16:01 I mean, those guys just need to push each other
16:03 and understand it's gonna be a,
16:05 it's gonna be a running back by committee deal.
16:08 Everyone's kind of got their own little strengths.
16:10 I don't think we have one guy who's the Swiss army knife
16:14 for everything we do,
16:16 but I think the guys that we do have
16:19 do really well at what they're good at.
16:22 - Yeah, I think so too.
16:24 And it's nice to have CJ for a lot of circumstances,
16:28 but certainly in those short yardage circumstances.
16:31 - Oh, for sure.
16:32 And then it's fun to watch Jaheim.
16:36 Man, you talk about when you run that stretch play,
16:39 Owen, whether you bounce it, you bend it, or you bang it,
16:42 he has such electricity and explosiveness.
16:45 - Yeah, he's quick.
16:46 - He bounces that thing, he sees it, and they can't,
16:49 but you know, it was an interesting venue, okay?
16:52 It was our first trip to the bounce house.
16:56 You know, previous trips playing in Orlando,
16:58 we were always in the Citrus Bowl,
16:59 whether it was for bowl games or against UCF,
17:02 but it has very much a G5 feel,
17:07 but here's what's interesting about it.
17:08 The bones are there for something really cool,
17:11 and they're about to make a massive investment
17:14 in that facility.
17:15 And as you're approaching the field,
17:16 it's kind of neat, guys.
17:18 It's like there's a village with a bunch of shops
17:20 that Tony and Dwight and I were driving through
17:23 approaching the stadium.
17:24 It's just a neat layout.
17:26 And they have, unlike when you're sitting in Suncrest,
17:30 nothing but flat ground to build on.
17:32 So just take your shoes down,
17:34 you have all kinds of flat surface, you can get creative.
17:37 But we talked about this in the pregame
17:39 because we were talking to their play-by-play guy,
17:41 and he was walking us through this.
17:43 A lot of these places have some sort of sugar daddy.
17:45 Well, the sugar daddy in Orlando is Disney, okay?
17:49 The tourist dollars in Orlando, there's a tourist tax.
17:53 And that tourist tax-
17:53 - Yeah, they put that extra $1
17:55 if they want to build something.
17:57 - Well, it's like $1.5 billion a year.
18:00 - Are generated.
18:01 - Oh my God, or sorry, one penny.
18:03 That's what I was hearing from the Myrtle Beach crew.
18:06 - Yeah, and that adds up to that.
18:07 So for the first time in quite some time,
18:10 UCF has positioned themselves
18:13 to be the beneficiary of some of that money.
18:16 So what they're about to do in that facility,
18:19 again, the facility, far and away,
18:21 it doesn't blow you away at all.
18:23 It has steel bleachers, it has a G5 look,
18:26 but it's just where it sits, what's surrounding it,
18:29 they're gonna invest 90 some odd million dollars
18:31 in the next three to five years to upgrade that facility.
18:35 Like the press box, I don't know if I told you or not, Wes,
18:38 it was more of a cockpit, it really was, it was too deep.
18:41 - It was a broom closet.
18:42 - So I sat behind Tony and Dwight
18:43 like a pharmacist up top looking down.
18:46 Yeah, and there just wasn't much room.
18:48 It was G5 in a lot of ways, but the bones are there.
18:52 And you could see they're sitting on something really cool
18:56 once they take some of this big 12 money
18:58 from this 40 plus million dollar TV deal, right?
19:01 So once they can do some of that,
19:03 once they work their way up to a full payout,
19:06 it's already gonna be far more than what they've been getting
19:09 but that combined with this resource of tapping
19:12 into some of those tourist dollars, that tourist tax,
19:15 I just think they could be sitting on,
19:16 that's a diamond in the rough in my opinion.
19:18 It's a neat place to build something like that.
19:21 Now, right now, not at all.
19:23 Again, it could really, really stand to improve
19:26 in a hundred different ways,
19:26 but the infrastructure's there
19:28 and I wanna see it in five years
19:30 and you're surrounded by such recruiting,
19:32 fertile recruiting ground.
19:33 - Yeah.
19:35 - Yeah, a lot of things to consider when we went in there.
19:38 We saw what they played like against Oklahoma.
19:40 We figured we were gonna take their best shot.
19:42 It was a homecoming crowd.
19:44 Tickets were a lot more than people thought they'd be
19:47 based on what people tell me
19:48 off the StubHub secondary market.
19:50 And it kind of played out like that.
19:52 It wasn't entirely a sellout, but it was a good crowd.
19:54 But I'll say this, you mentioned the Mountaineer fans.
19:58 I had people on the elevator even commenting,
20:00 you know, they weren't commenting to me,
20:01 they were commenting to each other.
20:03 We've never seen a visiting team travel like this.
20:06 - Yeah.
20:06 - Well, part of it's traveling,
20:07 but part of it's we come out of the woodwork
20:09 'cause West Virginians are everywhere, right?
20:11 But yeah, we turned out and turned out in great numbers.
20:13 So yeah, the fans made a difference for us,
20:16 but I think it did all start with the run game.
20:20 It was fun to get Omos back,
20:22 even though it was short-lived
20:24 to have that whole unit in its entirety
20:26 until we lost Doug.
20:28 I mean, those five guys just haven't played together
20:30 much this year.
20:31 That's the nature of the beast
20:32 when you play with that physical style of football.
20:36 So, you know, Nick Malone had to pop back in
20:38 and do some things for us, but we did.
20:41 Tomas started off, I don't know if you guys can see this,
20:43 or we're paying attention to this level of detail,
20:46 but he wasn't playing every snap in the first half.
20:49 And what was happening is where they were being
20:50 very measured with his snaps.
20:52 He was rotating in and out
20:53 because he was coming back from that injury, right?
20:55 Well, once Nick went out,
20:57 he was more regularly inserted in there,
20:59 and we kind of got started leaning,
21:01 especially with wide at left tackle,
21:03 leaning on them on that left side a little bit.
21:06 And they had, it was interesting,
21:08 the construction of that defense,
21:11 that Central Florida UCF defense.
21:13 They had three, I thought, really good edge rushers.
21:17 Not just two, but three really explosive,
21:19 talented long edge rushers.
21:21 They had solid corners.
21:22 Matter of fact, I think they had two exceptional corners,
21:25 but when you mix in the nickelback,
21:27 they play four corners quite a bit, so they stay fresh.
21:32 So they were very athletic and strong
21:34 on the outside of that defense.
21:36 But we thought there were some opportunities
21:38 there on the interior,
21:40 and we had some, obviously, some success running the football.
21:43 We tried to take some shots
21:45 and make more out of the past game.
21:47 I think that's why we tried to start the game with that.
21:49 I even asked Garrett about it in the post game.
21:51 It's the first time we started a game,
21:53 first snap of the game, with a shot play to EJ.
21:55 And that's something- - I liked it.
21:58 - We got the coverage we saw.
21:59 I mean, Garrett put that on himself.
22:01 But we're now in position
22:04 to be able to do those types of things.
22:05 I mean, one of the things we'll talk about
22:07 as the week progresses and later shows, guys,
22:09 Garrett now is tied for the Big 12 lead
22:12 in completions of 20-plus yard pass attempts.
22:15 So that's the dimension to this offense
22:17 that that's been lacking, okay?
22:19 - Question, Jed, real quick. - Yes, sir.
22:21 - Is, in my opinion,
22:24 is Chad getting a little more say in play calls?
22:28 - I don't know if it's play calls
22:29 as much as it is the configuration of the game plan.
22:31 I know- - Okay.
22:32 - Heels definitely- - 'Cause I'm just,
22:34 like I'm seeing, it just seems a little bit,
22:39 I don't know, more everybody.
22:42 - Yeah.
22:44 - You know what I mean?
22:44 Everybody's kind of getting some love.
22:46 - The biggest difference that I see, Owen,
22:49 it's kind of what we said coming out of the Houston game
22:53 with what Garrett did.
22:54 That Houston game is, to some extent,
22:57 when you talk to the staff leading up to the pick game,
23:00 what we were expecting out of Garrett in the pick game
23:02 from a game planning standpoint,
23:05 that was when we were gonna unveil the offense
23:08 as we want it to be.
23:09 Garrett making true reads, Garrett doing zone read,
23:12 Garrett doing RPO, using all three of the backs,
23:15 pushing the football vertical,
23:18 but Garrett gets knocked out of the game,
23:20 you know, handful snaps in, different animal.
23:22 - Yeah. - So it didn't come
23:23 until later, but I think it's a function
23:25 more so than anything of you're seeing,
23:29 now they kind of took the training wheels off Garrett
23:31 at full speed, and they're saying,
23:32 "Hey, we're gonna let you actually run the entire offense."
23:35 - Yeah. - That's gonna be deep balls,
23:37 that's gonna be you making critical reads and RPOs
23:39 and in zone reads.
23:41 You're now a critical part of the run game
23:42 and true keep it type reads.
23:44 So I think in the last three weeks,
23:47 more and more that's what you've seen,
23:49 and probably to a much larger extent,
23:51 even against UCF and against Oklahoma State or Houston.
23:54 - He's a hell of a competitor and he is tough as nails.
23:57 - Dude. - I love watching him play, man.
23:59 He is-- - He got the hell
24:00 knocked out of him.
24:01 - I know, but he is tough as hell, man.
24:03 - And a lot of it, he'll admit, that's on me.
24:06 You know, it's not like Neil's not trying to protect him
24:08 with the coach. - Yeah, oh yeah.
24:09 - Sometimes he is, but Garrett's just--
24:11 - Trying to make stuff happen, man.
24:13 - He thinks he's bulletproof, like that last shot
24:15 that he took late in the fourth quarter.
24:16 - Dude, get the football.
24:18 - Buddy, Jed, you've put a helmet on before.
24:21 It does something to you, okay?
24:23 - Yeah, it does.
24:25 I mean, I think I texted you guys a picture
24:26 when he was under the quarterback tent.
24:28 He was sitting there and he's trying to talk to Sean
24:30 on the phone.
24:32 And meanwhile, the trainers are coming up to him
24:34 'cause he's bleeding from like six different places.
24:36 His knee, his hip, his elbow, his arm.
24:39 I mean, he just plays a physical brand of football.
24:42 You know, he needs to be careful and protect himself.
24:45 That's my biggest concern.
24:47 He needs to be smart and judicious
24:49 with the shots that he takes.
24:50 - Yeah.
24:51 - Protect himself.
24:52 But when you talk about on the defensive side
24:56 of the football, the difference that the turnovers can make.
25:00 First of all, it's the first time we've had four turnovers
25:02 or four takeaways since Neil got here.
25:06 How much of a difference can that make?
25:07 Well, they converted, UCF converted 75% on third down.
25:13 Now, when's the last time we won a game
25:15 allowing the opposition to convert 75% on third down?
25:18 I'll answer that.
25:19 - Oh, I got an idea.
25:20 I got an idea.
25:21 I got a guess.
25:22 The first Big 12 Conference game,
25:24 the 70 to 63 Geno eight touchdowns against Baylor, 2012.
25:29 - No, but I'll tell you real quick what that was.
25:32 - That was a good guess though, right?
25:33 That was a pretty good guess off the top of my head.
25:35 Not bad.
25:35 - Well, I'll tell you what that was.
25:37 It was, they were 69%.
25:42 - Nice.
25:43 - They were 69% of the game.
25:43 They were 11 of 16.
25:44 This database that I have at CFBstats.com,
25:48 it goes back to 2009.
25:51 Not only can I not find a game we won
25:54 allowing 75% conversion rate on third down,
25:57 I can't find a game at all in which we allowed 75%
26:01 on third down.
26:02 Now, if you're gonna do that,
26:03 what do you have to do to offset it?
26:05 Force turnovers.
26:07 - Yeah.
26:08 - That's what you gotta do.
26:08 And a compelling case can be made
26:10 that all four of those turnovers
26:12 were the direct results of our defensive efforts,
26:15 not UCF giving us the football.
26:17 I mean, there's a narrative behind each one of those four.
26:20 - The one, the first-
26:23 - The first interception.
26:24 - The first interception was like,
26:25 that was a hustle play though.
26:27 - Yeah.
26:27 - Benny had to stay with it.
26:28 - Yeah, it was a hustle play.
26:29 - Yeah, Benny had to stay with it.
26:30 But I mean, also, did you guys hear the announcer
26:33 on that one?
26:34 - Yes.
26:35 Yes.
26:36 - I think he said funky,
26:37 but it sounded like he said the other F word.
26:39 - What a interception.
26:43 - So here's the impact that had.
26:45 To me, the most critical stat coming out of that game
26:49 and what most directly led to that score
26:51 was average starting field position.
26:55 This is a pretty strong indicator,
26:56 oftentimes in terms of your chance
27:00 of winning a football game.
27:01 If you start at a better spot on average
27:04 than the opposition, that serves you very well.
27:09 And usually it can be a difference of a handful of yards
27:11 or five or six yards.
27:13 Guys in that game, our average starting field position
27:17 was West Virginia's average was our own 41 yard line.
27:21 - Wow.
27:22 - UCF's average was their own 23 yard line.
27:25 Okay, now you want to talk about-
27:27 - That's huge.
27:28 - That's massive.
27:29 - That's huge, man.
27:31 - How did that happen?
27:32 How did that happen?
27:33 I mean, they had almost 500 yards.
27:34 They had 75% on third down.
27:36 Isn't that impacting field position
27:39 after you give the football up and do this and do that?
27:41 Well, here's how that happened.
27:44 We had 11 possessions in the game.
27:45 Four of those possessions were acquired by turnover.
27:49 On those four possessions acquired by turnover,
27:53 guess what our starting field position was?
27:55 - About the 40 yard line.
27:57 - Our own 46.
27:58 - Yep.
27:59 - That is how you win starting field position.
28:02 - Beanie averaged, Beanie's two interceptions,
28:05 he had what, 51 return yards on those two?
28:08 So 25 and a half yards each interception.
28:10 I mean, he's stealing two and a half first downs
28:12 for the offense going the other way each time.
28:14 That's massive.
28:15 - I heard you say that, Wes, on instant reaction.
28:17 First two things, you entertained me
28:19 on the way home from the airport,
28:20 you and Pat Narduzzi's post-game press conference,
28:23 'cause I listened to both on my way home.
28:24 - For two completely different reasons.
28:26 - Yes, yes.
28:27 But I'm glad you said that.
28:29 I put something on Twitter.
28:30 As I was watching game tape yesterday, I noticed something.
28:35 When Beanie picked that football off,
28:37 the deflected F ball interception down by the end zone.
28:40 - The funky interception.
28:42 - I couldn't help but notice how quickly the defense
28:45 assembled to build the convoy
28:48 and up the sidelines for him.
28:49 - Oh man, teams that are good at that, man.
28:52 - You had Jared Bartlett, Anthony Wilson, Lee Koba.
28:55 I mean, it was like a punt return unit.
28:57 It was incredible.
28:58 I mean, how quickly, that shows you how well drilled
29:00 and how well coached, that circumstance,
29:02 they've gone through it in practice.
29:04 - That's reactions.
29:05 - Boom, that's exactly right.
29:06 I mean, that was a thing of beauty.
29:07 Go on to my Twitter feed and you'll see,
29:10 I circled the three guys setting up that wall.
29:12 And that's an extra, like you talked about, Wes,
29:14 15, 20 yards right there.
29:16 That's the hidden yardage that helps you win football games.
29:19 When you're starting at your own 41 yard line on average,
29:23 you don't do that in a football game without defenders
29:27 rallying to set up a convoy on returns like that.
29:31 So all these little things add together,
29:34 but guys, I was just impressed.
29:36 Even with, let's talk about the strip sack fumble.
29:40 Jalen Thornton recovered it, yes.
29:43 But what was more impressive when you break down the video,
29:46 Jalen Thornton engaging that guard in that center
29:49 to allow Lee to be a free runner,
29:53 to hit quarterback the way that he did.
29:55 So Jalen Thornton, first of all,
29:56 he was a troublemaker up front,
29:58 occupied both those big daddies.
30:00 And then here comes Lee, boom.
30:03 And now Jalen becomes the beneficiary of the fumble.
30:06 So again, when you start getting those turnovers
30:09 in bunches like that, and sometimes that's what,
30:12 it's contagious, right?
30:13 Sometimes that's how these things play out and unfold.
30:16 Let's just keep playing that card.
30:18 But it just makes such an instrumental difference
30:21 in so many different ways.
30:22 Like, I remember thinking,
30:24 even at some point in the third quarter,
30:26 we really haven't stopped them
30:28 outside of these critical plays
30:30 we're making on these turnovers.
30:31 I said, well, that's fine so long as you continue to do that
30:34 and we still did a couple more times.
30:36 And that turned out to be the difference in the game.
30:38 But also from a special team standpoint,
30:42 we're just, with Michael Hayes,
30:44 we're just taking this kid for granted.
30:46 I mean, we really are.
30:47 I mean, it's so easy to not stop and consider.
30:49 I mean, we were spoiled with Casey Lake, right?
30:52 And now here comes Michael Hayes,
30:54 stepping right in to assume the duties
30:56 that Casey Lake held down last year.
30:58 He's, Michael Hayes is nine for 10 on field goals
31:02 and he hasn't missed under 50.
31:04 The only miss that he had, you probably remember it.
31:06 It was 50 plus at TCU in which he made it
31:10 and then there was a penalty and made him do it again
31:12 and then he missed it.
31:13 So he has been absolutely reliable.
31:16 Ollie Straw is dropping dimes.
31:19 Here's a fascinating and fun one we'll talk about,
31:22 again, as the week goes on.
31:24 Ollie Straw is one of two power five punters.
31:26 You talk about accuracy and dropping dimes
31:29 and being a sniper.
31:30 He's one of two punters in all of power five,
31:33 the other kid, one being the kid from Ohio State,
31:35 to pin five punts inside the 10 this year
31:39 and have no touchbacks, none.
31:41 So it's amazing that he's doing it.
31:43 He's not just throwing mudder to wall,
31:45 enough mudder to wall and hope something sticks
31:47 with these ones inside the 20, inside the 10.
31:48 No, he's accurate.
31:50 So all these things come together
31:52 and it truly was a three phase win.
31:55 I mean, guys, it really was.
31:56 And you talked about it, Wes.
31:57 Even making the most of our bad situations,
32:01 if Tomas doesn't hustle and get on that football,
32:04 that's an ugly situation.
32:05 We mentioned this last week.
32:07 It's not as though we came out 41 to 28
32:11 and now, wow, we're the most disciplined team in America.
32:13 No, I'm telling you,
32:15 if we'd have found a way to lose that game,
32:16 there's half a dozen things we'd be talking about
32:18 about how bunkheaded we are.
32:19 - Call the holding on the Jaheim White touchdown.
32:22 - But because we won, now we're resilient
32:24 and we're good enough to overcome those boneheaded things.
32:27 You see what I mean?
32:28 So just make sure that you're the most disciplined
32:31 and least boneheaded team on the field.
32:34 And that's what we were.
32:35 That's what we were.
32:36 We made mistakes.
32:38 We made timely mistakes, but not as many mistakes
32:40 or certainly not as many timely mistakes as UCF made.
32:44 So it's hard to win.
32:46 It's even harder to win on the road,
32:48 irrespective of who you're playing.
32:51 That was a team, guys, that led the Big 12
32:53 in total offense going into the game,
32:55 led the Big 12 in explosive plays going into the game.
32:58 They have athletes across the board.
33:00 They just haven't found a way to get it done
33:04 for the balance of 60 minutes in one of these league games.
33:06 They've been troublemakers against K-State.
33:08 They scared them.
33:09 Against Oklahoma, they scared them.
33:10 They've been troublemakers at certain times,
33:13 obviously against us.
33:15 This was a ball game until we separated the fourth quarter,
33:17 but just not for the balance of 60 minutes.
33:20 So great team road win to go down there
33:24 and take care of business as 7.00 dogs the way we did.
33:29 Got to love it.
33:29 Got that dog back in us.
33:31 Before we go to break and get to our buddy Big Daddy here,
33:34 listen, I know, Jed, you're old school,
33:36 even though you were a little bit of an air raid
33:39 guy there at Glenville State.
33:41 I know you're old school.
33:42 Right, Chief.
33:43 Run and shoot.
33:44 That's right.
33:44 Pardon me.
33:45 Pardon me.
33:46 Same church, different pew a little bit, OK?
33:49 And Big O, of course, obviously, fullback,
33:52 the last of a dying breed, one of the last iconic fullbacks,
33:55 if I do say so myself.
33:57 This will tickle and warm all of our run the dang ball hearts,
34:03 OK?
34:04 286 yards on the ground on 50 attempts.
34:09 That's an average of 5.7 yards per carry,
34:13 and we possess the ball for over 36 minutes.
34:16 You do that and you're plus 3 in the turnover margin,
34:19 you're not going to lose very many football games.
34:21 In fact, you're going to win most of them by double digits
34:24 like you did on Saturday.
34:25 Fourth in the country in time of possession now.
34:27 In other words, here's what's amazing, Wes.
34:29 The style of football that we're playing,
34:32 Central Florida had the ball for 13 or so fewer minutes
34:36 than we did and ran more plays.
34:38 And ran more plays.
34:40 We're methodical.
34:41 That's true.
34:42 We're methodical.
34:43 We're out there to protect our defense.
34:46 That's what we're helping.
34:47 When we run the football and do what we did,
34:50 286 yards rushing the most by West Virginia
34:54 against an FBS team in six years.
34:56 So these are the types of things.
34:58 When we saw the depth of this running background,
35:01 and we recognized what Garrett can do at his best
35:03 as a key and instrumental part in the run game,
35:06 making you play 11 on 11 football defensively
35:09 toward the end of last year, we saw spurts of it.
35:11 This is what we envision.
35:13 Now, just sprinkle in, maybe he hits
35:15 EJ the next time on that shot play.
35:18 That's coming.
35:19 Which, another downside, Devin, come on.
35:22 Come on, Devin, what are you doing?
35:24 I know.
35:24 Man, he had a case of the drop skis at times.
35:27 He did.
35:28 Just getting those eyes up field trying
35:30 to make something happen to secure the catch.
35:32 And let's knock on wood that hasn't been an issue for us.
35:35 And in previous seasons, it sometimes was.
35:37 We're dropping them on the other side
35:39 now, which is just fine because we get PBUs instead of picks.
35:42 But I'll take the PBUs.
35:44 You talk about PBUs, one of the things
35:47 we were discussing on the trip home
35:49 was even going into the game, Beanie
35:53 was already among the national leaders
35:54 in all those critical categories.
35:56 He now leads the nation in PBUs and passes defended.
35:59 It's just amazing what he's doing.
36:00 When you look at how far we've already
36:02 exceeded last year's totals in picks, pass breakups,
36:05 passes defended, we're playing the football in flight.
36:08 And as a result, this is something
36:10 we'll get into with preview BYU.
36:12 But as a result, a lot more incompletions,
36:14 which set the table for more manageable situations
36:17 defensively on third now.
36:20 Absolutely.
36:21 That's well said.
36:22 All right, let's get to a break here.
36:23 Our buddy Big Daddy's been waiting in the lobby.
36:27 He's been waiting outside of the studio,
36:28 peeking in the window to see when we go to break here
36:32 so he can slide on in.
36:33 We'll get to Big Daddy on the other side.
36:36 And continue to recap this big win down in Orlando
36:38 over the Knights.
36:40 You are in the gun.
36:41 Nobody supports the blue and gold Mountaineers
36:43 like Toothman Ford.
36:45 With over 20 NIL deals and counting,
36:47 Toothman Ford continues to rally behind our student athletes.
36:50 And it's time we rally and support the dealer that
36:52 supports the Mountaineers.
36:54 Not only does Toothman Ford offer the best prices
36:56 in the state on pre-owned, their never over MSRP campaign
36:59 on new Fords guaranteed to save you thousands.
37:02 Drive with pride all season long,
37:04 knowing you're supporting the dealer that
37:05 fuels our Mountaineers.
37:07 Toothman Ford, where cars cost less, in Grafton,
37:10 and at toothmanford.com.
37:13 For more West Virginia Mountaineer football content,
37:16 be sure to follow us on Twitter @inthegunpodcast.
37:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]
37:23 For nearly 20 years, Fortis has been the nation's leader
37:26 in providing guaranteed roof performance programs
37:28 for commercial buildings.
37:30 Fortis offers roof performance solutions
37:31 that feature extensive initial and ongoing reconditioning
37:35 for commercial buildings as an alternative
37:37 to traditional replacement, with long-term performance
37:39 guarantees that are backed by global leader, Lloyds of London.
37:43 Fortis offers a comprehensive range
37:44 of roof performance management programs
37:46 that provide financial security, extend
37:48 the life of our customers' roofs,
37:50 and make a significant impact on ROI.
37:52 Fortis is currently improving performance and increasing
37:54 ROI for customers at more than 4,800 locations,
37:58 with more than 140 million square feet protected,
38:01 including many Fortune 500 companies that
38:03 have turned to Fortis to save money,
38:05 gain financial certainty, and extend the life
38:07 of their existing roofs.
38:09 Fortis has helped customers save more than $520 million
38:12 in capital roof replacement costs for an average ROI
38:15 of over 250%.
38:17 To learn more, visit fortis.us.com.
38:20 Fortis, roof performance and financial certainty guaranteed.
38:26 Let's go, Mountaineer fans.
38:28 You're tuned in to In the Gun with Wes, the runaway beer
38:32 truck, and the signal caller.
38:37 Back in the gun here, you know what time it is.
38:39 It is our day one, our good friend of the show,
38:41 Mr. Sean "Big Daddy" Mariner here
38:43 to join us and cap off this UCF recap, a much needed
38:48 win for the guys, Sean.
38:49 And I tell you what, I always enjoy--
38:53 I mean, I enjoy doing this with you every week,
38:55 but particularly when it's coming off of a road game.
38:58 Because at home, you're up pulling the strings,
39:02 and this and that, and with the videos, and the music,
39:04 and all that you and Chris O, and all
39:05 the different responsibilities that you have.
39:07 But on the road, I see you on television three dozen times.
39:10 In fact, I find myself losing my train of thought
39:13 while I'm watching a play, because I go, oh, there's Sean.
39:16 Oh, there's Sean.
39:17 CJ's celebrating on the sideline.
39:19 Oh, there's Sean.
39:21 They're showing Neil.
39:22 Oh, there's Sean walking behind on the sideline.
39:25 So how was it down there in Orlando?
39:28 Nice weather for late October, I would imagine.
39:30 Hot.
39:30 Now listen, when the clouds were out,
39:32 when it got a little cloudy, it was perfect.
39:34 There was a light breeze.
39:35 It was wonderful.
39:35 That sun came out, and your fat buddy was baking.
39:38 Thank God.
39:39 One of the cheerleaders who let me
39:41 borrow her wipe-on sunscreen for my forehead and my cheeks.
39:45 Like, I was begging everybody.
39:46 I did not pack it, because I'm a moron.
39:48 I had some, but you should have said some.
39:50 Oh, I was toast, dude.
39:51 I was so--
39:52 I gave Matt Horn some, yeah.
39:53 Yeah.
39:54 What was the temperature?
39:55 What was the temperature at kick?
39:56 Was it pushing 80s?
39:57 87, 86 was like the high that day.
39:59 So--
40:00 Holy cow.
40:01 Well, like he said, guys, when the clouds were out,
40:03 it didn't feel--
40:04 Oh, it was--
40:04 --hotter in Houston.
40:05 Yeah.
40:06 Clouds were out in Orlando.
40:07 I mean, that was also like three, four weeks ago, too,
40:10 though, right?
40:11 Yeah.
40:11 Yeah, and that was night.
40:12 What I-- so I obviously love when we score.
40:16 It's amazing.
40:17 I go-- I love getting reactions from the guys on the sidelines.
40:20 But then I can feel my phone going up,
40:23 and I know that I've looked like a moron at some point.
40:27 So it's not great.
40:29 That's why I never text you.
40:30 Morgan is always like, do you text Sean
40:32 and tell him you saw him on TV?
40:33 I'm like, babe, 700 people just saw Sean on TV
40:37 that are texting him right now.
40:39 Here's the thing.
40:40 It'd be one thing if it's like I'm filming Garrett,
40:43 and then we both turn to the up camera.
40:45 We're like, yeah, this is great.
40:46 No, it's always like a side profile.
40:49 You can see my man jugs, my belly's hanging out.
40:51 I just look like an idiot because I--
40:53 Holding the camera all serious.
40:54 I look over my glasses like I'm a 73-year-old divorcee trying
40:58 to figure out how to work this camera for my kids.
41:01 Like, it's brutal.
41:02 It's brutal.
41:03 It's never me looking good on camera on the sidelines.
41:06 Daddy, let me ask you something.
41:07 I had the headsets on, and even like I had half an ear out.
41:11 When you were talking to Garrett,
41:14 and I ended up with you and Garrett,
41:15 what were you guys talking about when you said,
41:17 oh, you quarterbacks, you do that?
41:18 When you told me--
41:20 So I try to shoot the play, get the touchdown if I can.
41:23 But Ross and Andrew, our video guys,
41:25 normally do a great job.
41:26 And then I just get to where they're going to come off
41:29 and follow them and just go.
41:30 And follow, follow, follow, joy, joy, joy, everything.
41:33 And at some point, I've filmed for two minutes straight.
41:35 Like, I've got all we're going to do,
41:37 but I'll just roll just in case.
41:39 And Garrett is going up and just random people on the sideline,
41:42 he's like hugging and saying hi to and like getting
41:45 congratulations from.
41:46 And I stopped recording.
41:47 I was like, you know what's great?
41:49 I'm on every trip with you, and I don't even
41:51 get like a smile, a thumbs up, or anything.
41:54 And so then he starts giving me hell back,
41:56 and then here comes Jed over.
41:58 And that's my number one.
41:59 And I'm like, great, so now I'm going to get crushed even more.
42:02 That makes sense now.
42:03 OK, you quarterback, stick together.
42:05 OK.
42:05 I get it.
42:06 I look like an offensive lineman.
42:07 I didn't play quarterback.
42:08 Wonderful.
42:10 I was coming to the tail end of it.
42:11 I didn't hear all that.
42:12 I was like, what did that mean?
42:13 You guys can talk breakdowns and stuff, and I'm just--
42:16 I got you.
42:17 I got you.
42:18 Sean, let's stay there for a second.
42:21 Anybody that puts on the old gold and blue we like, right?
42:24 We cheer for, we root for those guys.
42:26 We want to see them do well, both in their personal lives
42:31 and professional lives and what they do
42:32 in the arena of athletics, whether it's
42:35 on the grass or the court or the pitch or whatever it might be.
42:40 But every once in a while--
42:41 not every once in a while, fairly often.
42:43 It's part of one of the joys, honestly, of college athletics
42:46 if I'm going to really dig deep here.
42:48 You get guys, you get kids, man, that are just so easy to root
42:51 for, that you just fall in love with them real quick.
42:54 Again, we like all these guys.
42:55 We love all these guys.
42:56 We want to see them succeed.
42:57 We root for all of them.
42:59 But man number six is just one of those guys
43:02 that is just so easy to be a fan of, so easy to root for.
43:06 I feel like we talk about it so much on here, too.
43:08 After the Houston thing, him and Zach go to the hospital.
43:12 That's not just for show.
43:13 That's who they are.
43:14 Thursday night, track or treat here in Morgantown.
43:17 I take the little guy.
43:19 He's excited to show up.
43:20 You said what?
43:21 Track or treat?
43:22 Track or treat at the WG--
43:24 Not trunk or treat.
43:25 Track or treat.
43:26 They had all the WVU student organizations at the track.
43:30 And then the athletes come, too.
43:32 The women's basketball, they sponsored the event.
43:34 So they were signing autographs.
43:35 You could play basketball, all that stuff.
43:37 Big guys running around.
43:38 He met a bunch of friends from daycare and everything.
43:41 It slammed.
43:41 It's a huge event.
43:42 There are so many people there.
43:44 We go up.
43:45 He goes and sees the basketball players.
43:47 And as we're standing there, there's
43:48 a few of the football players there.
43:50 Grayson Malasiewicz there, Sonny Redwood's there,
43:52 Tora Simmons, a couple of the other guys.
43:54 And there's Gigi just standing there in an average Joe's
43:57 dodgeball outfit, handing out candy, signing autographs,
44:01 and taking a picture with thousands of kids.
44:04 It's Thursday before we leave the next day to go to Orlando.
44:08 He doesn't need to be there.
44:09 He should be at home resting, kicking his feet up.
44:12 And he's out there handing out candy.
44:13 Nobody that walked by, he didn't stop, grab, talk to, high five.
44:18 And I mean, all the guys were doing that.
44:20 All the guys.
44:21 But I mean, that's your QB1, just out there doing it
44:26 and not complaining, loving it.
44:28 In the post-game press conference--
44:31 I don't know if you saw this, but he
44:33 walks in holding a football.
44:35 And so he's asked, who's the football for?
44:38 Is that the game ball?
44:39 What's going on with that?
44:40 It made me think of the sign your grandma made for you
44:44 that you had hanging in last year's episode and fell down.
44:47 Big Daddy, tell him what he said about his grandma.
44:49 So somebody asked him about the ball and everything.
44:52 And he said, well, my grandma didn't let my dad play football
44:56 and hasn't been able to come see any of my games.
44:58 And so since I'm home in Florida, I'm keeping this ball
45:01 and I'm giving it to grandma.
45:02 And you can tell the whole room is just like, oh my gosh.
45:05 You can teach her in Miami.
45:06 Hasn't been a day off forever.
45:08 And years.
45:08 Asked for Friday off.
45:09 Yeah.
45:11 Asked for Friday off to drive up, watches her grandson
45:14 score three touchdowns, and grandma gets the game ball.
45:16 I was like, that's just awesome.
45:18 That is a Disney story right there, gentlemen.
45:22 That was awesome.
45:23 It was cool hearing that in a press conference, man.
45:26 And you know he had some extra sauce going in that game,
45:29 knowing his granny was going to be there.
45:31 Yeah, absolutely did.
45:33 That's awesome.
45:34 Well, you know what we should have done is we should have got
45:36 granny to Toothman Ford before she made the drive.
45:39 Because we all know cars cost less in Grafton.
45:41 Maybe that's the next move for JR and company.
45:44 Let's get grandma green in a vehicle from Toothman Ford.
45:49 But oh, one more thing I knew I wanted to ask you, Sean.
45:51 The crowd.
45:53 Jed spoke about this a little.
45:54 And I know it's tough for both of you guys.
45:56 Like, you guys are there working.
45:57 You got a job to do.
45:58 I relate to that, right?
46:00 It's different than just being there.
46:01 And wow, look at all the old gold and blue in the stands.
46:04 But from the pictures I saw, from the video that I saw,
46:08 it looked like there were a lot of--
46:09 I mean, one whole corner of the stadium, I mean,
46:12 a couple sections looked like it was all people in gold and blue.
46:16 And I mean, that makes sense, right?
46:18 Because I mean, we got a large contingent of fans in Florida
46:22 and down South and people who retire and move to better weather.
46:25 And those people don't ever have the Mountaineers come.
46:29 That's what it looked like to me.
46:30 A large group of West Virginians who live in an area, Florida,
46:35 where they don't ever get to see their team play and haven't for--
46:38 since Miami was in the Big East.
46:41 Or I should say the USF days, to be fair, in Tampa.
46:45 But it looked like there was a response there of, hey, man,
46:48 this is the first time we've been able to drive and see
46:50 our Mountaineers play a couple hours away in a decade.
46:53 No question.
46:54 So one of the things I always do try to do,
46:57 since I run stuff at home games, music, video, all that,
47:01 when I go to a place like this, I do want to--
47:03 I try to pay attention to stuff they do on the video board,
47:06 music they play, how do the fans react to that.
47:08 So I do take a couple moments and soak it in.
47:10 And it was their homecoming, so the Ducks were out.
47:12 They did a lot of Duck interaction with the fans.
47:15 There was a pretty good crowd there.
47:16 And if you were just to look, I don't know what's
47:19 with the Ducks, for the record.
47:20 OK, I was just--
47:21 I kept seeing--
47:22 I saw the deflated Duck graphic.
47:24 I don't know.
47:24 What's with the Ducks?
47:25 It's a thing they do for homecoming.
47:27 Are they organ?
47:27 That's a specific homecoming thing for them.
47:29 I don't know the story behind it.
47:31 I just know that.
47:33 But so I would look, and the place is packed.
47:36 And some of their fans are wearing gold, too,
47:38 so it was hard for me to parse out.
47:40 But I would turn around and look.
47:41 And I got a couple messages of me walking and lumbering
47:45 on the field from people I haven't seen in years that
47:47 are down in Florida.
47:48 And then as the game started to go,
47:50 you could see the UCF fans whittling away.
47:53 And there were still a ton of fans still there.
47:55 And they were all wearing old gold and blue.
47:58 And it was packed.
48:00 It was crazy.
48:02 That's one of the best road showings
48:03 I've seen in quite a while.
48:05 Big Daddy, did you see Shaq?
48:06 See, I didn't-- there was a point
48:09 in the first quarter where he was on camera.
48:12 Yeah.
48:13 Big Diesel's there, huh?
48:14 Shaq Diesel, he DJed pregame, Owen.
48:16 He did DJ pregame.
48:18 And I was thinking, should I go track him down
48:19 and get a picture?
48:20 I'm like--
48:20 The Diesel.
48:21 --I like him, but I'm busy.
48:22 So I just--
48:22 I would have been jealous.
48:23 But did you see him?
48:24 I didn't get to get close to him.
48:26 So Ross, our video guy, went to his--
48:29 they had a big DJ setup.
48:31 They had a guy earlier doing stuff.
48:33 And then Shaq got there like 10.30,
48:34 I think, and DJed a little bit.
48:36 But then they had him in the UCF corner end zone.
48:39 And I had been there earlier just doing a lap around.
48:42 So I knew where he was, and I could see him.
48:44 But I didn't get close enough because they
48:45 did a couple of promotions with him and everything.
48:47 But yeah, DJ Shaq Diesel in the house.
48:50 Hi, it's the Diesel, Shaquille O'Neal,
48:53 here to tell you that the Mountaineers just
48:55 ran for 286 yards.
48:57 I don't know why I morphed Shaq in Stone Cold there.
48:59 You went hard Stone Cold.
49:00 Sorry.
49:01 Yeah.
49:02 It's Shaquille O'Neal.
49:03 You don't let West Virginia run for 286 yards on you,
49:06 you big dummy.
49:07 That's how you lose a game.
49:08 I apologize.
49:09 I'm not familiar with your game.
49:11 Might need to work on that, Wes.
49:13 I know.
49:13 I'll workshop it.
49:14 I know.
49:14 It's a tough scene.
49:15 It's a tough scene.
49:16 It's not my best impression.
49:17 I'm sorry.
49:18 Can we-- you know what, Skyler, can we
49:19 strike that one from the record?
49:20 I'm just-- no, I'm just kidding.
49:22 I'll wear it.
49:22 Wes, you're a terrible away from Barkley right there.
49:25 Yeah, that was close.
49:26 Come on, come on.
49:27 He busted the terrible.
49:29 Come on, Gus Malzone, that was terrible.
49:31 How you going to let them run for 500 yards?
49:33 The UCF duck tradition, OK, gentlemen?
49:37 Homecoming week, as it started in 1997
49:40 to get the students fired up to have some things to celebrate
49:43 during homecoming week, one of the festivities
49:44 was they would put a couple yellow rubber duckies--
49:49 they've got that big pond--
49:51 pond's not the right word-- big fountain on campus.
49:54 That's the word I'm looking for.
49:55 And they would put a few rubber duckies in the fountain,
49:59 and all the students would go rushing in.
50:02 And it was a big deal if you were
50:03 one of the people who found-- it's almost like an Easter egg
50:06 hunt, but with rubber ducks in the fountain,
50:08 if that makes sense.
50:08 So it started in 1997, and it's become a big deal.
50:12 There's an interview here with their student newspaper
50:15 with some alumni who has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
50:20 13, 14 different ducks from over the years.
50:24 So this person is pretty serious and goes back every year
50:26 and has a strategy, clearly, that works.
50:29 But they're all dressed up differently,
50:31 these little yellow rubber ducks that they dress up differently
50:35 and throw in the fountain, I guess, every single year.
50:37 And it becomes a mad rush to run down there.
50:40 You know what surprised me, Big Daddy?
50:42 So many-- and I understand their school colors--
50:45 but in that kind of heat, did you
50:48 notice how many of their fans had black shirts on?
50:51 Yes.
50:52 Black Polo.
50:53 You really have the wrong shirt.
50:55 I felt really bad for--
50:56 They're used to that, though.
50:58 Their mascot, Nitro, in full night regalia.
51:02 Even though it's a foam suit, it's still a human image.
51:05 And I'm just like, oh my god.
51:06 They live in Florida.
51:08 They're not pasty--
51:09 Don't care.
51:09 They're not pasty Northeast boys like we are.
51:11 Don't care.
51:12 86 degrees is nothing.
51:14 Nobody gets close to your legs sticking together with sweat.
51:16 I'm sure you've got a little AU unit in there.
51:19 I could have shaken my arm.
51:20 That's like us.
51:21 When it's 40 degrees outside here, you go outside in shorts.
51:24 It ain't nothing.
51:25 But if you bring somebody from Florida up here,
51:27 they'll be like, oh my god, how are you doing that?
51:29 Bring me a pot of your boiling pasta water.
51:31 I could have shaken my arm and salted it for you.
51:34 All the sun just sucked the salt out of my body post-game.
51:39 It was insane.
51:41 I felt bad.
51:42 Neil is at the podium.
51:43 I'm recording.
51:44 And I turned around to edit something.
51:46 And Chick-fil-A was our post-game meal.
51:48 And I'm shoving chicken in my mouth while Neil's talking.
51:50 And I'm supposed to be working.
51:52 I'm going to go down.
51:53 And no one in this room is going to be able to get me up.
51:56 Well, what's funny is after the game was over,
52:00 I'm asking the two mics, how do I
52:02 get to the press room for the post-game press conference?
52:06 And of course, I'm coming from the locker room.
52:09 So they kept pointing, go that way, go that way, go that way.
52:13 And I kept going.
52:13 I'm like, there's only two doors here.
52:15 And one of them goes nowhere.
52:16 And the other one goes into the coach's locker room.
52:18 So I had to go through the coaches changing post-game.
52:22 And then finally, I found a door in the back,
52:24 which I could barely get to.
52:25 And boom, right into the room.
52:27 I was like, OK, that wasn't the main entrance.
52:30 But--
52:30 No, but we were there.
52:32 All these places that we'd never been before,
52:35 that's the kind of little things we got to learn, right?
52:37 That's why I get there.
52:38 We left the hotel at 6:30 in the morning.
52:41 And your fat buddy was just roaming around the stadium
52:43 at 7 AM trying to find the lay of the land
52:45 so that I didn't get lost and smoked out post-game.
52:49 Wes, you said it earlier.
52:50 It's funny.
52:51 When we do these now, this has ruined me.
52:54 A, because there are people on staff with the team
52:57 that I did not know listened and who will be like--
53:00 we get back to the airport.
53:01 And they're like, hey, can't wait to hear you guys Monday.
53:04 I'm like, oh, no.
53:05 You listened?
53:06 I'm sorry.
53:07 But then also, as things happen, I clock them in my head now.
53:11 I'm like, there's a story for everybody to go to.
53:13 Jed, I don't know if you noticed.
53:15 I said something to Coach Mike Joseph afterwards.
53:19 He was into the game in a way that I
53:21 haven't seen him in a while.
53:24 Cole Taylor caught a pass and tried to jump stop and keep
53:27 going.
53:28 And Mike Joseph's over there doing moves on the sideline.
53:31 I'm like, I haven't seen that in a while.
53:32 And I said it to him post-game.
53:34 And he just smiled and goes, there's
53:37 smoothies over there.
53:38 Get one.
53:38 I was like, oh, that sounds good.
53:40 And he goes, that wasn't a recommendation.
53:42 Like, yes, sir.
53:42 I'm sorry.
53:43 I didn't joke about you.
53:44 So now I will follow whatever you say.
53:46 Immediately.
53:47 Well, I have guys on the sideline,
53:49 like the other day, Big Daddy.
53:50 Somebody was asking me, in the second half,
53:53 is when we get cranked, and hey, did you pick us for rushing
53:55 offense this week?
53:56 And I was like, first of all, you watched that?
53:59 Yep.
54:00 Second of all, I suck at it.
54:01 So I don't like that you watched it.
54:04 I was hoping you didn't see that.
54:06 And you should know that Owen's picking the rushing offense.
54:08 I'm not.
54:09 Yeah, and then you were like, yeah, dumb-dumb didn't pick us.
54:12 Yeah, dumb-dumb, Owen didn't pick us.
54:15 I can't say it enough.
54:16 I have been a fan all my life.
54:18 I've been around it all my life.
54:20 I've picked up some stuff.
54:21 I'm never going to know one quarter of what Jed knows.
54:24 But it's fourth down, late in the game.
54:26 We're still driving.
54:27 And I just go over to Jed, and I just do the tap here
54:29 so he can pull it off.
54:30 And I go, what do you do here?
54:32 And then everything he said, I would just try to go, oh, yeah,
54:35 yeah, yeah.
54:35 No, yeah, yeah, yeah.
54:36 Because he immediately goes like, well,
54:37 you could run this boundary, this, and this.
54:39 But you've got to watch out, because the backer's
54:40 going to scrape.
54:41 I'm like, yeah, backer's-- he's going to scrape.
54:43 He's definitely going to scrape.
54:44 You said it, and I thought it.
54:46 So yeah.
54:47 Or the two plays they ran after we talked.
54:50 We were two for two.
54:51 I do have to give you credit.
54:53 Well, it's good to know that Jed's better
54:55 with his in-game predictions than he
54:57 is with his signal caller of the week.
54:59 Situational awareness, Jed's still high.
55:02 Looking ahead, no thank you.
55:04 No thank you.
55:05 Forget it.
55:05 I'm going to be in the moment.
55:06 [LAUGHS]
55:08 OK, this has been fun.
55:12 There's fireworks there, dog.
55:15 Jed, I'm sorry.
55:17 If it makes you feel better, I filled in for Jed on Phil
55:19 Steel Friday last week, and I laid an absolute goose egg
55:23 in my predictions there.
55:24 So Jed will get his shots back at me
55:27 when him and Skylar record with Phil later in the week.
55:30 I'm setting myself up.
55:31 I'm laughing now, but Jed's going
55:33 to laugh last, which is always way more dangerous.
55:36 That last one you just did with the thumbs, like Owen said,
55:39 the fireworks there.
55:40 That almost looks like the Thomas volunteer fire
55:43 department's fireworks on the 4th of July.
55:45 I mean, that went for a while, didn't it, Owen?
55:48 Yeah, it did.
55:48 [LAUGHS]
55:49 I know.
55:50 When you're just dropping hits here on the program,
55:53 the fireworks just keep coming.
55:55 OK, this has been a lot of fun.
55:56 We got to wrap this up.
55:57 We got to get Sean out of here.
55:59 But Sean, obviously, we'll have our BYU preview here later
56:02 in the week in a couple of days.
56:04 So I'll give my impassioned plea to get a rowdy crowd.
56:08 I'll give my dissertation on why we should all
56:12 want blood from Keaton Slovis on Mountaineer Field Saturday
56:16 night.
56:17 But since this is the last we'll talk to you this week,
56:19 I want you to look into that camera, all right?
56:21 And I want you to tell everybody why
56:23 they got to get their butts to Mountaineer
56:24 Field on Saturday night.
56:26 Everybody in the building still remembers
56:29 and/or has the Keaton Slovis speech from last year saved.
56:35 That's it.
56:36 That's all you got to know.
56:37 He might have changed teams.
56:39 It might not have to do anything with that team from last year.
56:42 It still exists.
56:43 He still said it.
56:44 He still has to come here.
56:46 And Big Daddy, it's a good thing we have a villain.
56:49 Yes.
56:51 If there's two ends of the spectrum in terms
56:53 of how easy someone is to dislike,
56:57 one end of the spectrum is Pat Narduzzi.
56:59 Which could be either.
57:00 The other end of the spectrum, I really
57:02 don't think I can dislike Kalani Sataki.
57:04 I just don't.
57:05 I don't.
57:07 Did you see what he said today?
57:09 Yeah, I did.
57:10 The angel on this earth about country roads.
57:12 Like, sir, I understand you might not know,
57:14 but I love that you love this song.
57:16 I love it.
57:16 Yeah, we sing it after wins, though,
57:18 so you should hope you don't hear it.
57:20 But thanks for speaking it into-- he is.
57:23 I tell you what, too, though.
57:24 I am very excited to see the Chuck Howley.
57:29 Yes.
57:31 I got to be a part of the Cowboys.
57:33 Did a huge documentary on him.
57:35 And they brought down Doug Huff, a writer from my parts
57:39 in "Wheel Him."
57:40 They brought him down to Morgantown.
57:41 And me and my two co-workers, one of my bosses,
57:43 got the pleasure of shooting it for the Cowboys through Zoom.
57:47 And hearing those stories and hearing--
57:50 I knew of him, obviously, but that was my dad's generation.
57:54 And so hearing the stories from Doug,
57:56 who got to cover him and everything, was just like,
57:58 dude, this is incredible.
58:00 And getting to see that Saturday is going to be really,
58:03 really awesome, too.
58:03 And I mean, come on, night game in Morgantown, 7 PM kickoff.
58:06 Let's get weird.
58:07 Doug Huff's a legend in his own right.
58:09 Oh, big time.
58:09 He's like a great himself.
58:11 Yeah.
58:13 7 o'clock, let's get weird.
58:15 Let's get weird.
58:16 In the Peach Lot.
58:17 We'll talk more about that.
58:18 We got the BYU preview later in the week.
58:21 But just know, the dogs are coming, all right, baby?
58:25 Sean, thanks as always, buddy, for your time.
58:27 We appreciate it.
58:28 A final thank you before we go to our friends
58:32 at Fortis and Rick Lewis, the best commercial roofing
58:35 business in the country for roof performance
58:37 and financial certainty guaranteed.
58:39 Make sure you visit fortis.us.com.
58:42 For Big Daddy, Sean Mariner.
58:44 For the signal caller, Jed Drenning.
58:45 For the runaway beer truck, Owen Schmidt.
58:48 I am Wesley Uhler.
58:49 Of course, the one thing we ask of you is to be an ear
58:52 and tell an ear about your new favorite WVU football podcast.
58:55 Plated to come this week.
58:56 We got Pick 'Em on Wednesday.
58:58 We got BYU preview on Thursday.
59:00 Phil Steele on Friday, so keep it locked as always.
59:03 You know where to--
59:04 - We may have the return of Professor Schmidt
59:09 for the BYU preview.
59:11 - Listen, Jed, all I need to know, all I need to say
59:16 is if the poem or the preview doesn't include
59:19 blood and Keaton Slovis, I don't wanna hear it.
59:22 And he never forgave, and he never forgot.
59:27 We'll talk to you guys later this week.
59:29 You've been in the gun.
59:31 (door opening)
59:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]