ITG 115 - BYU Beatdown
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:05 The gun episode 115, it's time to recap a big old win over the BYU Cougars here
00:10 on your new favorite WVU football podcast.
00:12 I am Wesley Euler.
00:14 I've got the best teammates in the business, the signal caller Jed Drenning
00:17 and the runaway beer truck down the sideline, Big Owen Schmidt.
00:23 And of course, as always, this episode of ITG brought to you in part by our friends
00:26 at BetOnline, where the game starts.
00:29 And speaking of games starting, gentlemen, quick little around campus hit here
00:33 to get us started in kind of our headlines introduction.
00:37 Hoops getting started on campus this week.
00:40 Mountaineer men's team getting going right now as we record this.
00:44 The women getting going tomorrow, Tuesday when this drops on the 7th.
00:48 So as always, a big shout out to our men's and women's Mountaineers on
00:53 the hardwood, and let's go have us a fun winter.
00:55 [MUSIC]
00:58 >> Speaking of that Frozen Four, is he sure, Owen?
01:00 Which Frozen Four is that?
01:03 >> 2014 in Philadelphia.
01:06 >> Okay, I didn't know the teams might have been.
01:09 >> Yeah, Minnesota Union, Union beat Minnesota for the national championship.
01:13 Boston College and North Dakota were the other two teams.
01:16 So that was, my wife and I had a streak where we were dating.
01:21 When we were dating, where we went to three Frozen Fours in a row.
01:24 It was like Pittsburgh, Philly, Boston, three consecutive years.
01:27 And we went to the semi-final round each time because you get two games if you do
01:31 it that way, you know, you won ticket, get you two games type thing.
01:35 So Johnny Goudreau was in this Frozen Four,
01:38 that's a name hockey fans might recognize, Johnny Hockey.
01:42 He's with the Columbus Blue Jackets now, was with the Calgary Flames for a while.
01:46 One of the better American born players to play in the NHL over the last decade.
01:50 Shane Gostisbear as well too, who was a stud defenseman for Union.
01:54 He plays now for the Carolina Hurricanes, played with the Flyers for a while too.
01:59 So yeah, it was a fun one.
02:01 You get the big brands like that too, Boston College, Minnesota Union,
02:05 North Dakota, all big hockey schools.
02:07 So that was a lot of fun, yeah, I got the Frozen Four t-shirt on here today.
02:11 A little vintage now, it's almost ten years old here.
02:15 Speaking of vintage as well too, today is the first time the Mountaineers
02:20 have opened a basketball season without Bob Huggins as the head coach since 2007.
02:26 I was in high school in 2007,
02:28 Big Owen was still playing for the old gold and blue.
02:31 I mean, Jed, you were just really getting involved in the old gold and blue.
02:35 >> Not much has changed.
02:36 >> [LAUGH] >> Were you doing sideline at that point?
02:41 >> Not much has changed for me.
02:42 >> Or were you still pre and post game?
02:44 Were you doing sideline?
02:45 >> I was still pre game, I was still on the big East today, or
02:49 the big East this week, whatever Kyle and I called that show.
02:52 I didn't start traveling until 09, but yeah,
02:57 I was involved in that capacity, but here's the other thing I was wondering, Wes.
03:03 When's the last time we started a basketball season on both fronts with new
03:08 coaches, cuz Coach Kellogg's first game this week.
03:11 Now granted, coach Eilert's on a temporary or interim basis, but
03:16 I don't know the answer to that.
03:17 Do you know the answer to that?
03:18 >> Not off the top of my head, I mean, cuz Mike Carey was there for,
03:22 I mean, we really have, it's been funny, right?
03:24 I mean, there hasn't been a lot of WVU head coach turnover in the last 20 years.
03:30 I mean, you went from from B-line for a nice chunky years to Bob Huggins.
03:34 You had Mike Carey at the helm of the women's program forever.
03:38 So certainly not in my lifetime, I don't think, Jed.
03:41 If it was, it would have had to probably happen a while ago.
03:44 That would have been, we won't have Big Daddy on this week's episode because he's
03:47 been busy with the start of basketball season and his job responsibilities.
03:50 That might have been a question for him, but
03:52 we'll have to look that up, see if we can get an answer.
03:54 >> Put it in the comments.
03:54 >> Yeah, like we always say, we'll crowdsource that one.
03:57 Right now, you guys look it up for us and just let us know in the comments.
04:01 Like my buddy Ryan did a couple months back when we were talking about
04:06 universities that had Super Bowl and NBA finals, MVPs, remember that?
04:11 We had that conversation.
04:13 So yeah, we'll outsource this one.
04:15 We'll outsource this one as well, too.
04:17 This episode of ITG also brought to you in part by our friends at Toothman Ford.
04:21 We all know cars cost less than graft and big shout out to our guy, JR.
04:25 Make sure you're supporting those who support this podcast,
04:27 who support WVU NIL, and Toothman Ford certainly does both.
04:32 Gentlemen, a little quick college football headline here as well, too.
04:36 Alex Grinch, the defensive coordinator.
04:39 No, not the famous Grinch from the Christmas story.
04:41 Alex Grinch, the defensive coordinator for USC.
04:45 Well, the Trojans gave up 101 points over their last two games.
04:50 And Alex Grinch has been relieved of his duties announced by
04:54 Lincoln Riley here on Sunday.
04:57 They only have two more games to go in their season, USC.
05:01 You know, guys, you don't see coordinators fired in season very often.
05:06 It happens in college certainly more than it does in the NFL.
05:10 But any surprise for this one for you, Jed?
05:13 I mean, I guess, Owen, right, when I frame it,
05:16 they've given up 101 points in their last two games.
05:19 But at the same time, how much change can you really affect by making a move
05:24 like this with only two games left in your season?
05:26 I don't know.
05:30 In my opinion, if that was me in that situation,
05:37 if I was in charge of that staff, you know, maybe I would say, you know,
05:42 definitely at the end of the season, you're going to get, you know,
05:45 there's going to be a change.
05:46 I don't know if getting rid two weeks before the season ends is going to do you
05:53 a whole lot, but they're obviously, they got somebody who can fill in there.
05:58 And maybe they have somebody that's coming up in their staff that, you know,
06:04 they've already groomed to kind of take that over.
06:08 Who knows?
06:09 Maybe like your buddy from Wisconsin last year, right?
06:11 Yeah, maybe.
06:12 Jim Leonard.
06:13 Old Jimmy.
06:14 Old Jimmy could get down there.
06:15 Hell of a defensive mind, that's for sure.
06:18 Yeah, no, that makes sense.
06:20 Some good coordinators out there.
06:21 That makes sense, right, Jed?
06:23 Maybe see if there's somebody else you got on staff, you know, hey,
06:26 we got two games left, let's see what we got here.
06:28 Let's give somebody an opportunity to maybe game plan this and call this thing.
06:31 It's almost like this.
06:33 In other words, I would say usually when you see something like this,
06:37 it's more external outside the building than it is internal.
06:41 In other words, a power that be saying, look, we need evidence of effort.
06:45 And right now, effort comes in the form of making some kind of change.
06:49 Yeah, the numbers haven't been there.
06:51 They really weren't there last year, even when they were having more success.
06:54 But, you know, they've said, guys, they're toward the bottom of the Pac-12
06:57 in both total defense, scoring defense.
07:00 The production just hasn't been there the two years that they've been on campus.
07:03 But here's what I'm going to say.
07:05 There's some quality defensive coordinators out there, right?
07:09 You just mentioned Jim Leonard.
07:11 I'll tell you what, I could see Jim Leonard taking a job like that
07:13 if he was fortunate enough to do so and making some significant changes
07:16 and having an impact.
07:18 Look, I don't know, as I watched Baylor get knocked off by Houston
07:23 and continue to struggle, I don't know Dave Miranda's contract situation,
07:28 but they've been trying to put him on the hot seat ever since he had to punt
07:30 the first time after winning the Big 12 championship.
07:34 But I really don't know how realistic it is to suggest there might be a change there.
07:38 But let me tell you something, if Dave Miranda is fired by Baylor,
07:42 three minutes later he'll have a marquee defensive coordinator spot somewhere.
07:47 That being said, I'm not so sure that just getting the right defensive coordinator
07:51 is the answer USC needs.
07:54 Without a significant shift in mentality from Lincoln Riley,
07:58 there is a reason these same issues existed with him at Oklahoma.
08:03 You have to give yourself over from a cultural standpoint
08:07 as an offensive-minded, offensive-pedigree guy
08:10 and be willing to do things that impact your program globally
08:14 and help your defense and your special teams as much as scoring points
08:18 and getting highlights and winning heismans with quarterbacks.
08:21 And he hasn't shown any kind of predisposition toward doing the types of things
08:25 that help the culture of a defense in his building,
08:28 not at Oklahoma and not at USC.
08:30 So, look, you might get Bill Parcells to come out of retirement and run that defense.
08:34 I don't know if it will matter unless the changes are made
08:37 from the top with Lincoln Riley saying,
08:40 "Look, there's going to be times we're here to protect you.
08:43 I don't necessarily care about scoring 50 points to one or another heisman behind center.
08:46 I might need to get a couple first downs and punt to help my defense out."
08:50 And until he demonstrates that type of growth,
08:52 to whom I'd ridicule Lincoln Riley as a head coach,
08:55 but if I see a deficiency, if I see a shortcoming,
08:58 that's the one that's always linger.
09:00 It's almost impossible to stop a guy's offense,
09:03 but at the same time, you've always been able to make a lot of hay against his defenses.
09:07 So that's a cultural thing.
09:09 Take a look at some of the guys on the offensive side of the football
09:12 who have tried to work their way toward some success.
09:15 Neil was an aerial circus, high-flying guy at Texas Tech under Tuberville,
09:19 putting up the biggest numbers in the Big 12 offensively.
09:22 When he got his first head coaching job at Troy, he didn't do that any longer.
09:26 He no longer did that. He no longer went tempo and 85 snaps a game.
09:30 No, no, no. He shrunk the game, started running the football,
09:33 looking at the interconnectivity between the three units,
09:35 and that's what he's doing at West Virginia.
09:37 And any offensive coach that you see having success,
09:41 whether it's Bill Walsh at the pro level,
09:44 working your way down to the college level,
09:46 these guys have seen that.
09:49 They've had that vision and recognized, look, I love to score,
09:52 I love the headlines, but to win championships, I have to help my defense.
09:56 And Lincoln Riley hasn't reached that point yet, at least that he's demonstrated.
10:02 So until that change is made, I don't know who the D coordinator –
10:05 if it's going to matter as much as it otherwise could.
10:08 Yeah, maybe this is his Dabo Sweeney moment, right,
10:11 where he had to go out and get Brent Venables
10:14 and really have somebody there on staff that was –
10:19 had head coaching type qualities, but as a coordinator, it'll be interesting.
10:23 Some team, if I remember it well, dropped 70 on Kevin Stevens' defense.
10:28 Yeah, I was trying to – you know, Jed,
10:30 I might have been in that stadium when that happened
10:32 and had a little bit of fun down there on South Beach, I tell you what.
10:37 And ushered in the Brent Venables era as a D coordinator at Clemson.
10:42 But, yeah, it's – I mean, you know, he's an old White House coach.
10:45 I mean, that's what Dabo is.
10:47 To have the success and the run that he had at Clemson,
10:49 he needed to help his defense out, and he did.
10:52 So it's very hard to find that.
10:54 Speaking of which, justice for Dabo in going and beating Notre Dame
10:58 this past weekend.
10:59 Yeah, take that, Tyler, you little –
11:01 I'm not going to have you talk to me like a 12-year-old, Tyler.
11:03 I'm just going to go beat Notre Dame.
11:06 Exactly.
11:07 Exactly.
11:08 But, yeah, so USC looking for a defensive coordinator,
11:11 and I tell you what, with them moving to the Big Ten next year,
11:13 I think that gets even more interesting because – newsflash,
11:16 you're going to have to play a little defense in that conference
11:18 if you want to win some football games.
11:20 You're not going to be able to win track meets.
11:22 Jim Leonard off.
11:23 Yeah, I really need to put on 20, 30 pounds.
11:25 You better put on 20, 30 pounds and go get you somebody
11:27 who knows Midwest football.
11:29 They're not built for the Big Ten.
11:31 No, they're not.
11:32 Have you seen their schedules?
11:33 Brutal.
11:34 Brutal.
11:35 Brutal.
11:36 Like I'm just – I'm not –
11:38 And they play LSU as well in a conference.
11:40 USC is a school, but I'm just saying, like, Big Ten is like – it's way different.
11:45 Yeah, and I tell you what –
11:47 They need a cultural shift.
11:49 They certainly are.
11:50 Maybe this is the wake-up call they need in that regard,
11:52 or maybe this is a –
11:54 Merton Meyer, Ryan Day, whoever you want to look at, an offensive guy,
11:58 they didn't have the success at the level they needed to
12:01 until that cultural shift took place and their defenses started to excel as well.
12:07 Well said.
12:08 We'll see if the USC boosters and powers that be and Lincoln Riley pony up the money
12:14 and the agreement and the thought process there as they get ready to head to the Big Ten
12:19 in just a couple months as well.
12:21 Jed, before we go to break here, come back with our BYU recap on the other side.
12:25 I just did want to give you a quick chance.
12:27 I know there was a nice event for Dale Wolfley in Morgantown this week.
12:30 And just to give you a second to talk about that.
12:34 Yeah, it was at Hastings Funeral Home in Morgantown.
12:38 As we know, a few weeks ago the burial took place up in Wolf's hometown of Buffalo.
12:45 Really, you know, Kathy was telling us about the place that he was buried,
12:48 up on a hill, really cool, old-fashioned cemetery,
12:51 just the type of place that Wolf would have appreciated.
12:53 But it made perfect sense with having so many friends and so much family on both fronts,
12:58 up in Buffalo and western New York and in Morgantown,
13:01 that you knew something like this was going to come sooner rather than later.
13:06 And they did it from 4 to 8 Thursday evening.
13:09 I got there around 5, stayed for a half hour, 45 minutes.
13:12 I had to wait 15 minutes, 20 minutes to talk to the kids, talk to Kathy,
13:16 because there were so many people cycling through.
13:19 I was there. Jake Kelscher showed up. I hadn't seen Jake forever.
13:21 He came with Tommy Robstock from Berwick.
13:24 So, you know, Robstock and I were kind of waiting in line together
13:27 and it was a decent wait.
13:29 But there were so many familiar faces in the back room.
13:32 It was really classy.
13:33 They had one of those rolling, you know, photographic homages
13:37 and a lot of cool memories.
13:40 A lot of things I didn't see, wasn't aware of, hadn't seen,
13:43 but a lot of things I had.
13:45 It was well done, and as you might expect, so many people turned out.
13:51 Neil was coming down. I missed him.
13:53 I was out before a lot of those types of folks came in,
13:56 but it was well done.
13:58 And then, you know, I got to talk to Kathy, talk to the kids as well,
14:02 but then Stone, Stone Wolfley, you know, Dale's son,
14:07 was on the sidelines of the game Saturday night.
14:09 So I got to catch up with him again after that,
14:11 and he was just saying how much he appreciated everybody coming out.
14:14 It was well done.
14:16 Just a lot of stories, as you might expect, a lot of memories, and well done.
14:22 Good. I mean, I'm glad.
14:24 You know, it made a lot of sense for all of his proceedings to happen up,
14:29 you know, in Buffalo, in his hometown, where a lot of his family still is.
14:33 But I'm happy that there was something in Morgantown as well, too,
14:36 because obviously he meant a ton to that community,
14:39 and you need those moments to come together, you know,
14:43 at times like that, for sure, for sure.
14:46 All right, gentlemen.
14:47 It was a good thing.
14:48 Good, good.
14:49 Yeah, and I'm glad you were able to get there
14:51 and see some people as well, too.
14:54 All right, gentlemen, let's take a break here before we do.
14:56 A final thank you to Fortis, of course, for presenting this episode of ITG
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15:07 We're going to take a break.
15:08 When we come back on the other side, a beatdown of BYU 37-7,
15:12 the Mountaineers win.
15:13 We'll recap it when we return.
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16:58 Let's go, Mountaineer fans.
17:02 You're tuned in to In the Gun with Wes,
17:05 the runaway beer truck, and the signal caller.
17:11 In the Gun here, it is time, you know what it is,
17:14 it's the recap episode here of ITG.
17:17 Big O fired up to talk about a comfortable Mountaineer win.
17:23 37-7 Saturday night at Mountaineer Field at Milan Pushkar Stadium.
17:28 Not to brag or anything, but that pushes Big O and I's record to 4-0
17:33 at Mountaineer Field when we are in attendance together at the same time.
17:39 Big O showing some video there.
17:42 I tell you what, we'll have to send that to Skylar and get that up on the page here.
17:46 As we had ourselves a rip-roaring time, so did the Mountaineers.
17:51 A nice, stress-free victory.
17:55 I tell you what, you want to win, you send Wes and Owen in,
17:58 and you just get the job done.
18:00 You know, Big O, I'll start with you here too.
18:03 Once again, it's funny, we were talking about this after the UCF game.
18:06 I remember rolling through the numbers, right?
18:09 There were 280-something rushing yards and five touchdowns.
18:14 Well, I tell you what, they took that and they did one even better on the ground.
18:18 48 total carries on the ground on the night for the Mountaineers for 336 yards.
18:24 That's a seven yards per carry average.
18:28 Of course, the two touchdowns for CJ Donaldson, but we had the explosive runs again.
18:32 A 32-yarder from Jaheim, a 23-yarder from CJ, a 22-yarder from Nico.
18:38 Owen, man, this is what we talked about at the beginning of the season.
18:43 Remember, we did our ITG preview here.
18:45 We talked a lot about it leading up in the summer as well too.
18:48 If this team is going to get where we want them to go, if they're going to have a fun season,
18:52 a good season, a successful season, that offensive line and that run game
18:57 needs to be who we think they can be.
19:00 And, man, we've really seen that over the last two weeks and certainly Saturday night against the Cougs.
19:04 Oh, man, absolute beatdown, imposing our will.
19:09 It was nice to see the explosive runs.
19:12 And just doing a quick recap of Game Copy, obviously I'm not privy like Jed is to some of the great film that he gets to watch.
19:23 But some of the holes from that zone, and you can't really even call them holes, I guess,
19:30 but some of the stretch from the offensive line that we got, you could have drove a Mack truck through some of those things.
19:39 Just beautifully done. I thought we were really physical up front.
19:45 Something I really noticed too, we looked like we were having a lot of fun.
19:50 Guys were like, you know what I'm saying? Guys would make plays, they'd get up with each other.
19:57 They were having fun, man. And, listen, there ain't nothing better than beating the cheeks off an opponent.
20:08 I'm telling you right now. And that's exactly what we did to the Cougs on Saturday.
20:13 Especially a conference opponent, right? Really, the story all started, even in Neil's show Thursday night,
20:20 Neil was still talking about preparation for Keaton Slobis and the things that Keaton Slobis brought.
20:27 But little did we know, by that time, of course, BYU knew.
20:31 BYU was already in Bridgeport getting ready for the game Thursday by the time that happened.
20:35 They knew earlier in the week. Why would they let it out?
20:38 I mean, first of all, I don't blame them one bit. They stand to gain nothing from telling you who their starting quarterback is going to be.
20:44 So, especially when the shift in skill set is going to be so extreme.
20:49 Keaton Slobis was a very statuesque pocket guy.
20:53 That's why we spent guys half the show last week talking about one of the impediments they had in trying to run the football was his inability to pitch in and contribute.
21:04 So, it was 11 on 10 defensively against BYU and they tried to run it because Keaton Slobis just doesn't bring much to the table as a runner.
21:11 Well, here comes this JC kid. He hadn't played a snap form because they wanted to reserve his red shirt, which means he can play in four games.
21:19 Well, here we go with four games left in the regular season.
21:21 So, they inserted Jake Brett's Law. All the tape you had was junior college tape.
21:26 So, the way this played out, this thing comes Thursday, Thursday evening.
21:31 This news starts to break. Keaton Slobis isn't going to start. Jake Brett's lap is. You're like, who is this kid?
21:37 So, I dove into his junior college tape. He also played in the BYU spring game, even though he missed most of the spring practice because he had an infection after an operation and a simple operation.
21:48 But he was able to play in the spring game. So, I watched that. I watched a lot of JC tape.
21:52 He was fundamentally different from Keaton Slobis.
21:56 What stuck out was his baseball background, all these wacky arm angles he was thrown with.
22:01 That's where Mahomes arm angles come from, his baseball pedigree, right?
22:05 Well, you could tell that with this kid. He was a high-level shortstop. Plus, he's pretty athletic.
22:09 He's not a true runner, but he can certainly hurt your running and put up crazy numbers at River City College, where Schuyler Howard came from, to West Virginia.
22:20 So, that changed the entire dynamic of the storylines for the game.
22:25 Well, I reached out to Schuyler Friday morning, and I was like, "Sky, I've been watching tape on this kid.
22:30 Why don't we hop together for 15-20 minutes and just talk about what he looks like, because he's a lot different than Keaton Slobis."
22:36 And he's like, "Well, I'll do you one better."
22:38 Their SI beat writer messaged me with some questions about West Virginia, and I asked his name.
22:43 And sure enough, it was an article the guy had written I just read, and I said, "He's good. This guy's pretty thorough. Yeah, so let's break bread."
22:50 So, the three of us got together and threw together a 20-minute episode in a late going on Friday.
22:56 That thing gained a ton of traction on YouTube, guys. It really did, because I don't think anybody else was talking about this new guy.
23:02 So, that was all coming into the game.
23:05 And then the narrative started to change again when we find out as kickoff approaches, their top two wideouts are out.
23:12 So, their top two playmakers are out.
23:15 They got a new quarterback. Their left guard was out.
23:17 We kind of felt like finally we're facing a team as banged up as we are.
23:21 We don't usually get to do that.
23:23 And then in the course of the first half, they lost two more receivers.
23:26 So, as thin as we were at DB, they were that thin at wideout.
23:30 So, Owen, you talked about it.
23:32 What we did was we came out and we asserted ourselves running the football.
23:35 We took the opening kickoff and made quick work of it.
23:38 We drove down the field very methodically.
23:40 That was an impressive drive.
23:42 And punched it in.
23:44 Boom. We're up by a score.
23:45 Two possessions.
23:46 We're up by two scores.
23:48 And never looked back.
23:49 I mean, for the balance of 60 minutes, it really felt like after that first score, things weren't really in question.
23:55 We were dictating the flow, the tempo, and everything else that had to play in this game.
23:59 Plus, early on, you got the sense in watching this that BYU did have a bit of desperation in how they were approaching things.
24:10 They recognized we can't slow these guys down on the interior.
24:14 So, we're going to have to drop some resources and take some chances.
24:17 So, they started going to the water man coverage and doing some run blitzes to try and help out.
24:21 It just wasn't effective.
24:22 We kept grinding.
24:23 And they're fundamentally sound.
24:25 BYU is a well-coached football team.
24:27 Hats off to Kalani Sataki and that staff.
24:29 And Jay Hill and that defensive staff.
24:31 They keep things in front of you.
24:33 They don't give up cheap things.
24:34 They make you earn it.
24:36 We come out, Owen, first play of the game and basically run a jet sweep kind of reverse action on them.
24:44 And I thought, "Well, that's kind of interesting because this is a team that doesn't really over-pursue that much because they are so disciplined."
24:50 But I walked out of it thinking this.
24:53 Garrett, again, played a good game.
24:56 Slow start, but exceptional football by Garrett.
24:58 The old CJ showed up again.
25:01 Jaheim White continues to grow and we continue to see more gears from him.
25:06 Cole Taylor probably could have had a bigger night had he and Garrett gotten sync a little earlier.
25:13 But the 43-yard touchdown was a thing of beauty.
25:16 They blew a gasket, left him opening down the seam.
25:20 Poor angle by that free safety.
25:22 Cole made the most of it.
25:23 Big touchdown.
25:24 But, guys, I walked out of it thinking this.
25:28 On the offensive side of the football.
25:30 To me, there's three names so far that have made this West Virginia offense what it is to date.
25:38 Now, we're on a hot streak.
25:40 We're peaking at the right time, it appears.
25:42 I posted this on Twitter.
25:43 The last four games, we're averaging 510 yards and 38 points a game with incredible balance.
25:48 259 passing, 251 rushing.
25:50 That's dangerous balance if you're trying to defend us.
25:53 Three names that I keep going back to that have glued this entire offense together that are far too unheroic.
26:03 You know what those three names are?
26:05 I don't think you could possibly guess them.
26:07 Because this is a weird way of looking at it.
26:08 Probably the big boys up front, I'm sure.
26:09 Is that what you're going to say?
26:11 Close.
26:12 Yes, but not what you're thinking.
26:14 Nick Malone, Brandon Yates, and Jaquay Hubbard.
26:18 Those guys have consistently brought it and not got the respect.
26:24 In other words, we knew what we were getting coming into the season.
26:27 We were all excited from Zach working our way out, Tomas Remack, former freshman All-American on the left.
26:32 Brandon, you kind of thought that he might be able to take the next step on the other side of the regular.
26:37 And then you look at the tackles.
26:38 Two NFL tackles from Spring Valley, Doug Nestor, Wyatt.
26:41 You know what you're getting.
26:42 Those are the five.
26:43 The issue has been those five haven't got to play together much.
26:46 One or two of them have been down.
26:48 And when one or two of them have been down, those three names that I just mentioned have played a lot of football.
26:54 And we haven't missed a whole lot when those three were in there.
26:58 I mean, Neil said Nick Malone just played his best game of his career.
27:02 Brandon Yates played three positions, both guards and center, the other night.
27:05 Jaquay Hubbard continues to produce.
27:07 So it is so critical to have those guys in addition to the hub of the offensive line that we knew would spearhead us.
27:17 But I want to give a shout out to those three, those three that don't get nearly enough love.
27:21 Owen, you're right, the big boys, their hand in the dirt, but not even just the big boys we always talk about.
27:26 We know what we're getting there.
27:27 But Nick Malone, Brandon Yates, Jaquay Hubbard have made us different up front.
27:32 We knew we were going to have a very formidable offensive line.
27:36 But I don't think we truly knew or appreciated the level of depth that this offensive line would enjoy.
27:42 And boy, have we.
27:43 I think that's a testament to the leadership with, you know, Zach at the helm there.
27:48 And those guys just being ultra competitors.
27:51 You know what I mean?
27:53 It takes a little bit to kind of get meshed up there, especially when you're not taking a lot of reps with, you know, the standard groups.
28:00 But like you said, Jed, they've come in and they've done a hell of a job.
28:05 I sure have.
28:06 Talk for a minute because I'm going to pull up the snap counts.
28:08 I was looking at this earlier, but you guys talk about the O-line.
28:10 I want to talk about why pull this up.
28:12 Well, yeah, I mean, and I know it can at this point maybe even sound a little redundant,
28:17 but another fantastic performance by Zach Frazier as well, too.
28:20 It's right.
28:21 It's I mean, sometimes it's you know, you want to praise the guys who have really good games that we don't talk about a lot.
28:28 And if you listen to this podcast for longer than the length of a fart, you know how we feel about Zach Frazier.
28:36 But Jed putting out a great video.
28:39 He's been finishing, man.
28:41 Just just, you know what, you actually put out two.
28:44 You actually put out two videos, one that you took from the sideline where you can see where you can see Zach celebrating the touchdown from the ground after he bullied.
28:52 And then the other from from the back angle where you can really get the full effect.
28:57 I tell you what, he was he was getting more and more national conversation after that game, which was great, too.
29:03 I love this. And again, yeah, that's where it starts for this team is those guys up front.
29:09 And they've been great the last two weeks. Season to date.
29:12 When you look at the offensive line, let's talk snap count season to date.
29:16 Leading the way is who you might expect.
29:18 Zach Frazier, 611 snaps. Brandon Yates, number two, 609.
29:24 Wyatt Milam, remember Wyatt did miss a game, 494.
29:27 Doug Nestor, also exactly at 494. Tomas has missed some time, 428.
29:33 Here we go. Nick Malone, 306 snaps.
29:38 That's a part time start, which is exactly what he's been. Jaquay Hubbard, 281 snaps.
29:44 I mean, you see what I'm saying?
29:46 These guys have been put those two together. That's a full time starter.
29:49 And then some. These guys have been an instrumental part.
29:53 If they're the Great Wall of China, then I'll tell you what, these guys are some pretty sizable cinder blocks.
29:58 You're sliding in when that wall has some cracks because because we haven't missed too much.
30:03 When these guys have been out and that's saying something, it's tough to lose, like in the case of Wyatt, an NFL left tackle.
30:10 That's tough. It's tough to lose an NFL right tackle.
30:13 And Doug, it's tough. But when that's happened, these guys have answered the bell.
30:19 And there's other guys on the offensive side of the football. We haven't talked nearly enough about Cole Taylor, Traylan Davis, the role that he plays.
30:26 They play a critical role in helping things out there. But guys, Garrett has been sacked four times.
30:32 Four times with a ton of drawbacks. Now, part of that's Garrett's mastery of the offense.
30:38 He's not there yet, but he's getting closer. He's taking more steps each week.
30:42 But also part of it is the obvious protection of the O-line combined with the tight ends and the backs.
30:48 I mean, they're all pitching in to make that happen.
30:52 But what I like is for the second week in a row, we've won while leaving some things on the table.
30:58 There's some valuable learning opportunities in the pass game.
31:01 In the pass game, we've left some production and big plays on the table that we didn't make.
31:07 So it's nice to win and have those conversations instead of them costing you.
31:11 Now, can you turn that corner and come out next Saturday night with that production?
31:15 Because you're going to need it all across the board on the offensive side.
31:18 But that's what I have to say about that. And then we can break down the other side of the ball, guys.
31:23 Yeah, completely agree. One more thing, Big O. And I had to look at this.
31:27 Once again, just like last week down in Orlando, nearly 36 minutes of time of possession for the Mountaineers.
31:35 I mean, that's the formula. That's the good stuff. This is how we win football.
31:40 I feel like what's that movie with uncut gems or uncut gemstones, whatever it's called, with Adam Sandler.
31:46 Have you seen that? Or he goes, "This is how I win."
31:50 This is how we win.
31:53 It's been nice to see kind of the football plot playing out.
32:00 But, you know, this season is kind of the next man up mentality, really, with this team.
32:06 You've had some of these guys who have had to step up, you know.
32:11 And right now, I mean, man, we're playing some good football right now at a very good time.
32:20 Yep. I'm with you on that.
32:23 The snaps we've faced. We have faced through nine games.
32:27 Now, again, you talked about time of possession, Wes.
32:30 33.55. I said this last week. We've increased since last week.
32:36 So it's worth mentioning again.
32:38 The last time a Big 12 team ended a season with a greater average time of possession than what we currently have,
32:45 the Colin Kline-led 2011 Kansas State Wildcats.
32:49 Before we were even in the conference.
32:51 Now, for anybody who's studied the Big 12 for a long time, they understand the grind of that Colin Kline offense.
32:55 They were tough.
32:57 33.55. Here's what that translates to.
33:00 West Virginia has defended.
33:02 Our defense has been on the field for 595 plays.
33:06 Oklahoma's a tempo offense.
33:08 They don't play a keep away like we do.
33:10 They tempo it and put the pedal down often.
33:12 Their defense, we've defended 595.
33:15 Their defense in the same number of games, nine, 648.
33:19 53 snaps. That's basically one more full game Oklahoma's defense has had to defend than we have
33:25 because we're playing keep away.
33:27 And when you're as thin as we are on the second and third level, that's a critical part of it.
33:31 Absolutely.
33:33 Well said. Very well said.
33:35 And you know what? As we start to spin the block here, you know, you talk about those guys.
33:41 Owen, you just mentioned there those guys that have stepped up.
33:43 Jed, talk to me about Ben Cutter, man.
33:46 I mean, you know, we talked about this on the BYU preview.
33:49 That you always hate to see your guys go down.
33:53 The silver lining of that, though, is a lot of times when you have freshmen that are thrust into prominent roles
34:00 maybe a little bit sooner than you would have liked or wanted to, is that eventually you get that payoff.
34:05 Eventually it comes together for them maybe earlier than you thought it would as well.
34:10 I said, not to toot my own horn, but I said to you guys, I got a feeling there's a big Ben Cutter game coming soon
34:16 because he's getting his feet wet, he's getting a lot of experience.
34:18 I know he is a film rat, right? He's a bookworm in the sense of the studying aspect.
34:25 And I tell you what, Jed, I thought our guy Ben Cutter was one of those that we've seen step up all year.
34:31 He's a freshman, so he's had some good. He's had some negative as well, too.
34:35 But, man, he's one of those guys who it looks like it's coming together for at the right time.
34:40 And I thought he played very well Saturday night.
34:43 That was for the football.
34:45 He has that natural knack. In other words, we always talk about the offense's ability, a playmaker, to see daylight.
34:54 Well, defensively, that exists as well. To see daylight, find a crease between two blockers, get to a path downhill and make a play.
35:02 Well, this is a kid who came out of high school with 500 plus career tackles. That's not an accident.
35:07 A lot of times those tackle stats, oh, and you know this, you've seen it, are inflated at the high school level depending on who the scorekeeper is.
35:13 But when you watch Ben Cutter's tape when he was coming out, there was nothing misleading there.
35:18 That was accurate. That was spot on. If anything, it was conservative.
35:20 He was around every single play the final three years of his career and to some extent even before that.
35:26 But credit in part to the defensive staff for recognizing, look, as much as we want to make life difficult for the offensive line and their communication
35:36 by chopping the front up, by twisting, by stunting, as much as we like to do it, we kind of simplified that.
35:42 And now we're doing some of it, picking our spots, right, Owen?
35:46 So that presents a much clearer picture for a young linebacker trying to understand his run fit.
35:52 If there's not a stunt going on, B-gap's kind of B-gap, right?
35:56 He understands, okay, that's my responsibility. That's my fit. That's where I'm going.
36:00 Whereas if you have a tackle and stunt, that can change on the fly. That's tougher to read.
36:06 It presents a cloudy picture. It gets murky.
36:08 So simplifying those things and doing not as much of it and picking our spots more selectively has made life more simple for Anthony Wilson, for Ben Cutter.
36:19 And that's why Ben Cutter comes out six tackles, a sack, a couple tackles for loss.
36:24 Instead of missed run fits and missed assignments, now he's making those plays.
36:29 He's getting those run fits and he's being disruptive.
36:32 And that's happening, I think, not just among the backers.
36:34 It's made life a little easier for that matter, even a battle-tested guy like Lee Koba.
36:39 But on the back end, we get some of these guys like Aubrey Burks.
36:42 Well, Caden Bizer's playing a lot of football for us, too. That's benefiting him.
36:45 Marcus Floyd flying downhill to those fits. All these guys are benefiting from that.
36:50 But Ben Cutter's a good one to point out on your part, Wes, because he's one of these guys in that linebacker group.
36:56 And I'll count James Hurd as the edge guy. James Hurd, they're trying to register him, but his future is incredibly bright.
37:02 When you get Trotter healthy, I'm telling you, people, I think, three years from now are going to reflect on this recruiting class
37:09 and the defenders in this class and be just like, "Wow, we got some dudes in that class on both sides of the football."
37:16 And that's to say nothing, when you get to the back end, we haven't even talked about Beanie yet, which we will.
37:21 But when you get to the back end, Aubrey Burks, how many times have we said it on this podcast?
37:26 You need your best guys to play their best. Yes, you need Ben Cutter to take another step.
37:31 But you need your best guys to play their best. You need A players to play at an A level.
37:35 Yes, yes. Guess who was the highest-rated PFF safety this week? Aubrey Burks.
37:40 He was on the all-time PFF team. You watch the tape. The tape supports the metrics.
37:46 He was downhill. He was playing the football. He forces the fumble. He ends up with the ball in his hands.
37:51 When Aubrey Burks is playing at his best, I'm convinced he's one of the two or three most elite defenders on the back end in the Big 12.
38:00 And that's what you saw against BYU. And we need to desperately continue to see that moving forward, especially Norman.
38:05 But guys across the board, and we'll talk about Beanie here in a second, but those safeties are making plays.
38:11 Those backers are making plays, of course, all made possible by this neat rotation that we've kind of taken for granted on the defensive line.
38:17 7-8, sometimes 9-deep. Great job by Coach AJ working that rotation in.
38:22 So, yeah, it's nice when you can hold anybody to 67 yards rushing. It says a lot about your plan, a lot about the execution of that plan.
38:31 Yeah, they had some shortcomings and challenges as an offensive football team coming in, but you know what we did?
38:37 We handled our business against a team with those shortcomings and those challenges like a good football team would.
38:42 We didn't struggle. We made quick work of them. We shut them out for the balance of three and a half quarters.
38:48 I mean, that's what I told Jordan in the locker room after the game, Owen. I was like, "Is anything harder than holding the last six, eight minutes of a shutout
38:57 when you're doing all the right things, you're subbing your twos in, you're subbing your threes in? That's what you're supposed to do, right?"
39:03 But to that half of the building, guys, Owen, you've been there, right? To that half of that building, that shutout means so much.
39:10 They so desperately want that zero on the board at the end, and it's just so hard to come by because you're going to have threes in the game
39:17 when the other team still has their starters, and that's exactly what you saw. And it's frustrating and it's difficult,
39:22 but that doesn't take away from the effort and the outcome and the production that those guys – just great job on the defensive side of the football.
39:29 Absolutely, and when you do put those twos and threes in, maybe not at first, but anybody who is a competitor,
39:37 and as far as the defensive side goes, I mean, it's all compete. That chaps your ass a little bit, okay?
39:46 And those guys, let them know they're chirping, "Hey, man, okay? We're going to give you some PT and you're going to give up?
39:52 You're going to give up some sauce? What's up with that?" You know what I mean?
39:55 So there's some healthy banter in that, I'm sure, this week going in, but those are great reps for those kids to get.
40:03 What's nice about that, too, in my opinion, putting those guys in that situation, they understand the value of that shutout, too.
40:13 It ain't just junk playtime, right? You're going for something. You're trying to defend something that's sacred to a defensive side of the football.
40:24 But honestly, great job. Like I said, the biggest thing that I really loved seeing this week was it looked like everybody was having one hell of a time on the field.
40:36 Sure were. And Owen, that's a perfect way that you just explained that, because here's what it is.
40:43 You know what matters as much? There's different ways that reps are meaningful, right?
40:49 If you get in a tie game with two minutes to go, of course, that's the ultimate in meaning of a rep.
40:54 But you know what else is meaningful? Having somebody in your position group that you look up to, that you revere, that you want to emulate, that you want to be like, that you aspire to be.
41:05 And having that person turn to you and hand you this thing that they worked for three quarters plus to get a shutout and say, "Hey, protect this."
41:13 You're disappointed when you don't deliver. Like Owen said, that means something. That makes those reps more critical than you might think in a 30-0 game.
41:22 It really does. It makes them far more critical than you might think. That's a great point, Owen.
41:27 I tell you what, I love it. I'm with Owen. The mood was high. The energy was high. It felt like the guys were having fun.
41:39 They've played some good football lately, and I think they know that. I think they're enjoying that.
41:44 And they got rolling early, too, which was a big part of that. And they just felt like that snowball going downhill and just gaining momentum the entire way.
41:52 Alright, Jed, I do know we've got to talk about Beanie Bishop. Man, once again, just a nose for the ball.
42:01 A performance where it felt like he was, I mean, every time BYU was looking to go downfield, he was in there causing some type of mayhem, some type of disruption.
42:12 And I tell you what, between him and Aubrey Burks, that explains, I think, why the Cougars – I mean, when you can't run the ball and then you've got that type of performance against the opposing secondary, it's hard to do a lot.
42:25 Let's talk about this. A year ago, we struggled mightily to play the football in flight. When it came to passes defended – forget the interceptions.
42:35 When it came to passes defended, just breaking up a football in flight, we were 123rd in the country. We couldn't play the ball in flight.
42:44 Of course, we weren't making interceptions, but we weren't even around the football to make plays on the football.
42:50 We go from that to Beanie Bishop as a guy – here's a couple numbers for you guys. He has 21 passes defended himself, six more than any other defender in the nation.
43:06 Number two is a kid from Missouri with 15. Beanie Bishop, number one in the country with pass breakups with 17. Six more. Let me see right here.
43:17 OK, excuse me, four more than anybody else in the country. Six more than anybody else in Power Five.
43:22 He is in a stratosphere all by himself right now. Owen, the school record for pass breakups in a season held by Brian King, 21. Beanie has 17.
43:34 He's right there. That's the kind of season he's having.
43:37 Neil talked about it last week. People are going to say, "Well, he's targeted an awful lot." Well, yeah, he is. Part of it's the nature of being a boundary corner.
43:47 Neil discussed that. We discussed it to some extent last week. When you're a boundary corner – now, he's not confined to that exclusively.
43:54 He will spend some time to the wide side of the field as well, but most of the time, he's going to be to the short side of the boundary.
43:59 What that means is most offenses cater to those shorter throws, so they will target, by its very nature, whoever a boundary corner might be.
44:07 Their RPO elements are all going to be attached to the short side. Some of their quick read throws and quick answer throws are going to be attached to the short side.
44:14 Matter of fact, there are sometimes even quarterback rules that what you're going to do is you're going to look at all things being equal.
44:20 Jimbo taught me this 30-some years ago. Shortest side, softest coverage. If everything else is equal, you look to the shortest side, the shortest throw, or the softest coverage.
44:30 That's going to lead to a lot of throws on a boundary corner. When they're throwing his way, yeah, he's going to give up some plays, but you've got to have that jet fighter mentality and bounce right back.
44:39 He absolutely has that mentality. He's making plays on the football. He's holding his own. He doesn't shrink from the competition.
44:46 He's playing with no fear, and he has made a huge difference. That's put us in position.
44:52 On the other side, Malachi holding things down on his end. We talk about how there's no greater overachiever on this team than Malachi Ruffin, a kid that plays with limitations, but his mentality takes him places that those limitations can't keep him from going.
45:08 That's what ends up happening. That matters so much at that position. The production we're getting from that back end, working your way down to those corners, and more specifically, Beanie.
45:17 Beanie's having an all-Big 12-type season, maybe even an all-American-type season. I'll tell you what. You hold on to one or two more picks because he's among the national leader with four.
45:28 Unfortunately, for right or wrong, the picks are still what get the headlines. The picks are still what gets the attention. For people who otherwise don't pay much of an attention, that's all they look at.
45:37 That would help make his case, but that's the type of historical season through nine games that he's having. Here we are, and he has just been wildly productive. What a get in the portal he's been.
45:50 Not only that, but something else Neil talked about with the media this week. He's a leader in the locker room. He's taken some of the younger guys under his wing.
45:57 We've not just got players who have been productive and helped us in the portal, but we've got players that fit the locker room well in the portal. The cultural piece is probably not talked about enough in this new crazy age of college football as it currently exists.
46:12 I agree with the culture thing there. It's got to be tough to be a guy just coming in out of sorts from a different program and then trying to mesh with everyone. Even being that upperclassman, right?
46:27 And stuff is expected of you. I think him, not solely, but him as his play goes this year, you can see the confidence in his play. Sometimes I almost feel like he's very good at setting up throws.
46:45 He's like presenting openness, presenting air. I feel like he's been playing around with that the last couple weeks. You've seen his closing speed on stuff is remarkable.
47:02 And then just having a notice for the football. We could go back to that UCF interception, just keeping active during the play to be able to come up with plays. It's been a lot of fun. I know those guys were getting a lot of heat at the beginning of the season.
47:18 Credit to the defensive staff, like you said, again, simplifying things a little bit, which is I think made our guys a little faster, a little quicker, a little with more confidence.
47:34 Absolutely. Here's something Mark will own. He's been targeted 62 times. Second most in the Big 12 behind Jacob Robinson, who was playing for BYU. In 62 targets, he's allowed 31 catches.
47:48 Here's what jumps out. The yards per catch, 10.8. Again, quick game, you're working the RPO attachments, things like that. They're not pushing the football deep on him. Yards after catch, he's allowed 31 catches. 70. 70 yards after the catch on 31 catches.
48:07 So roughly two yards after the catch.
48:09 There you go. That's being secure, keeping things in front of you.
48:13 That's pretty nice.
48:15 That's very nice. But guys, the last thing I'll say about this, we talked about this in the pregame. Tony asked me, "How can you have a situation with BYU sitting at five and three while they're getting out-gamed by 91 yards a game?"
48:27 Okay. And he brought up the Steelers.
48:30 I was going to say, there's an NFL team that does that.
48:33 Yeah. He brought that up. He said, "Jed, how's that happening?" And I said, "Well, the thing that jumps out is the turnovers."
48:40 It's not even like they're doing everything else really well. They're not an exceptional third down team. They're playing well in the red zone.
48:47 But the turnovers have bailed them out. And they truly were, coming into Morgantown, it was a tale of two teams.
48:53 They were one team at home and one team on the road. They were 4-0 at home. They were 1-3 on the road.
48:58 I said, "So the turnovers, even when you speak to them, what's getting all the headlines?" I said this on Saturday.
49:03 I said, "What's getting all the headlines this week? They're number two in the Big 12 with a plus-eight turnover ratio. That's going to open your eyes, right?"
49:09 But pop the hood and take a closer look. You want to hear how those numbers track? And this is what I explained to them.
49:15 This is how you go five and three by getting out and getting 91 times. But this is what bodes well for West Virginia, because this came to Morgantown last I checked.
49:22 In their wins, they're plus-12. In their losses, they're minus-4, turnover margin-wise. At home, they were plus-11, number one in the country.
49:31 This is coming into Saturday. On the road, they were minus-3, number 11 in the Big 12. And then I close with this.
49:39 They were one of only five FBS teams to suffer just one turnover at home all year.
49:45 Meanwhile, they're tied for the most turnovers suffered on the road in the Big 12 with 13.
49:50 So in other words, our job tonight is to go out and make them be who they are on the road.
49:56 Just make them be who they are. You don't do anything special. Just do what you do.
50:01 Let BYU be what they have been in their four road games. And that's exactly what we did.
50:06 And then some jumped on the early, put them in a trail position. They got desperate.
50:10 We were plus-1 in turnover margin. We didn't want to run the football because they had to throw it more than they wanted to.
50:15 So we made them what they had been for the most of the season on the road.
50:20 We didn't come any breaks. And we played now. Neil wasn't real happy with the way the special teams played.
50:26 But out of three phases, I'd say we were pretty efficient in two and a half phases.
50:31 Well, Jed, you posed a question to me on the spot earlier about the last time WVU men's and women's basketball went into the season with new head coaches.
50:42 When was the last time the Mountaineers won the turnover margin in back-to-back games?
50:47 Oh, wow. Give me a second. I can tell you.
50:50 It's been a little bit, huh? Because we all know the stat.
50:53 I mean, you know, it had been since Baylor last year and then Pitt this year.
50:57 And then there was the long stretch of-
50:58 Went 12-13.
50:59 Yep.
51:00 Went 12-13.
51:01 Now we've done it in back-to-back games. Plus three last week.
51:03 So let's go for two pluses in a row. Two pluses in a row.
51:07 You guys talk amongst yourselves. I'll be your topic. The Boston Tea Party. But there we go.
51:11 Ah, well, the Boston Tea Party. I particularly prefer the New York Tea Party.
51:17 I think we're back to COVID so far. Let me look.
51:20 Honestly, I was thinking-
51:21 I don't see one in 21.
51:22 I was thinking maybe the 2020 season.
51:26 Wes, let's pick a better topic than the Boston Tea Party. Let's talk about this nice tailgate we had.
51:34 Lovely tailgate outside Wes's peach lot.
51:37 Don't forget, I want to have something to plug.
51:39 That is about- Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
51:41 That's what we'll do here while we're waiting for Jed to look this up.
51:43 Oh, and you got a thing going on with the Sugar Bowl Foundation this weekend. Plug it, baby.
51:47 Sugar Bowl Foundation. It's in Buffalo Wild Wings.
51:53 Golly, I didn't even look up the information.
51:56 But at least I know where I have to be.
51:58 I'll get it. I'll get it for you. I'll get it for you.
52:01 I'll give you a hint.
52:03 The last time we had consecutive games plus turnover margin, the second game involved Gary Jennings and Will Greer.
52:15 Yep. Oh, buddy.
52:17 2018.
52:18 2018. Jeez Louise.
52:20 Plus against Baylor in the blowout.
52:22 Remember the Jack Allison game?
52:26 Of course.
52:27 Okay. That was the blowout.
52:29 I was at that game, Jed. Come on, baby.
52:31 And then the next week was the win over Texas.
52:33 That's the last time.
52:35 This is on the fly. It's not official.
52:37 But on the fly, the last time I see back-to-back plus margins and turnover.
52:41 Oh, and it's the Buffalo Wild Wings at the Nitro Marketplace.
52:45 Yep. In Charleston, right?
52:47 It's going to be one hell of a time.
52:50 All right.
52:51 They even have the squares available.
52:53 If you guys go to the Just Type in Sugar Bowl Foundation on Facebook, you guys can go on there.
53:00 They got a squares board that you can enter as well.
53:05 It looks like, let's see, a couple of tickets left.
53:09 It starts at 6 p.m.
53:11 Okay. So plenty of time.
53:13 If you're looking for something to do in Charleston, look, you got a little pregame and a couple local hot spots around St.
53:22 Albans and in Charleston, all over the place there.
53:25 Get your pregame on a little bit.
53:27 Might see the beer truck running around town.
53:29 Right?
53:30 Come to the foundation.
53:32 Support the kids.
53:33 All this money goes to buying kids in need Christmas gifts.
53:38 We try to do -- Anthony was telling me -- about $100 a kid.
53:42 So that's easy to do.
53:44 Right?
53:45 That's easy to do.
53:46 Change a kid's life.
53:47 And then, you know, if you want to stay in the town and get your gamble on after we whip the cheeks off of the Sooners.
53:54 We're talking.
53:55 What better place?
53:57 Is there a link to put in the description for that?
53:59 Is that something we could do?
54:01 There is.
54:02 Some more direct people?
54:03 There's a link.
54:04 Okay.
54:05 Yeah, we want to make a note of that for Skyler.
54:08 I'll make sure -- listen, I'm going to send it in the group chat right now.
54:11 All right?
54:12 We'll make sure we get it.
54:13 We'll make sure we get it to Skyler.
54:15 I'll tell you what, Wes, that was a great point.
54:18 It doesn't happen often.
54:20 Because after that, you have to go back to 2016.
54:23 We had a stretch in 2015 with four in a row.
54:26 But, yeah, check that link out.
54:28 That's a heck of a thing the beer truck's got going on there.
54:31 So, please, we always say, you know, be near Tellineer.
54:34 We'll definitely be near Tellineer there.
54:36 Because what better cause is the holidays approach than that?
54:39 So please spread the word there.
54:42 Great call.
54:43 Great stuff from Big O getting involved with that.
54:45 It's all for the kids, baby.
54:46 Got to do it for the kids.
54:47 Yeah, man, geez, we are into the second week of November here.
54:51 That holiday season is right around the corner, isn't it?
54:54 It's right around the corner.
54:55 It is.
54:56 Not a Halloween until Christmas.
54:57 Snuck up on all of us, without a doubt.
54:59 At some point, Wes, I don't know when,
55:01 but Owen and I are going to regale people with the story of what we
55:04 experienced today.
55:06 It's not for public consumption yet, but we were part of a game show.
55:11 And it was a wild experience.
55:13 Owen and I will give you the behind the scenes.
55:16 Once it breaks and once it's published and once it's out.
55:19 But it was an interesting experience, wasn't it, Big O?
55:22 It was a -- it was different.
55:26 Yeah, it was.
55:28 It sure was.
55:29 It was like -- it was just -- it was a ying and a yang.
55:34 It sure was.
55:35 But, yeah, Wes, to your point, to close on that,
55:38 that's the first time we've done it under Neil Brown.
55:41 Back-to-back plus turnover margin.
55:43 You know what's better than doing it -- you know what, thank you.
55:46 I appreciate that.
55:47 You can use that one if you need to, you know.
55:50 I absolutely will.
55:52 You know what's better than winning the turnover margin in back-to-back
55:55 weeks?
55:56 Doing it in three straight weeks, brothers.
55:59 That's right.
56:00 So, we got plenty to come this week.
56:02 Obviously, you guys know we'll have our full Oklahoma preview in the week.
56:05 We'll catch up with Phil Steele later in the week as well.
56:08 And, spoiler alert, we had our first Neil Armstrong.
56:16 We had our first listener go four for four in the weekly pick 'em.
56:22 So, make sure you're watching the episode tomorrow on Wednesday of our kind of
56:27 week 10 recap and our week 11 pick 'em because one of our ITG listeners went
56:32 all Neil Armstrong on us and planted their flag on the ITG moon as the first
56:38 listener.
56:40 Ladies and gentlemen, we got him, our first listener to go four for four.
56:44 So, plenty of good stuff to come this week.
56:46 Do you have a patrol car outside your window?
56:49 I mean, what's the flashing red when you put your hand up there?
56:53 You want me to be honest here with the flashing lights have been?
56:56 Go ahead.
56:57 Let's move along.
56:58 It's just the WVU men's basketball game that I got on over here.
57:03 We're up seven in the second half as we record this.
57:07 That'll do it for this edition of ITG.
57:12 It's been a lot of fun.
57:13 Plenty to come this week.
57:14 We got the pick 'em.
57:15 We got the Sooners preview.
57:16 We got Phil Steele Friday.
57:17 So, make sure you're getting your fixings this week as we get ready for
57:21 Thanksgiving here in a couple weeks and a big home stretch here in these final
57:25 three games for the Mountaineers.
57:28 For the signal caller Jed Drenning and the runaway beer truck Owen Schmidt,
57:31 the one thing we ask of you is to be an ear and tell an ear about your new
57:35 favorite WVU football podcast.
57:37 Thanks to our guy Skylar Callahan for putting this together for us as always.
57:41 Take care, everybody.
57:42 We'll talk to you later this week.
57:43 I'm Wesley Uler and you've been in the gun.
57:47 [Gunshots]
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