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3 Guys Before The Game - Arizona Game Preview (Episode 586) · 3 Guys Before The Game

0:11
Speaker 1: Hey, Hey, what's going on? Yes, it is time for
0:15
Speaker 1: three guys be for the game. Are you ready to
0:18
Speaker 1: head west? Really really far west? Not quite to the
0:22
Speaker 1: ocean west, but to some pretty mountains west. It's the
0:26
Speaker 1: Mountaineers in Arizona. This is our Arizona game preview and
0:31
Speaker 1: this is episode number five and eighty six. Senator is here,
0:37
Speaker 1: Kerchieval not out Artsan. Now, eh, what do they say?
0:44
Speaker 1: Like in what are they saying? Big, big media? They say,
0:48
Speaker 1: same people that run big candy, big media. They say,
0:50
Speaker 1: out on assignment. You got a speech somewhere that he's doing.
0:55
Speaker 2: I don't know.
0:56
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1:24
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1:26
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1:44
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Speaker 1: providing value beyond numbers. Spreads on stats. Coming up will
2:22
Speaker 1: break down the key metrics, the analytics about West Virginia
2:25
Speaker 1: and Arizona. All right, So that's what we got going on.
2:31
Speaker 1: Interesting game for a couple of different reasons. So when
2:36
Speaker 1: you start a season, everything is shiny and bright and
2:41
Speaker 1: for the most part, everyone is healthy, and so you
2:44
Speaker 1: know what you have well, we have reached that point
2:47
Speaker 1: in the season. It is Game eight for WVU in
2:52
Speaker 1: Game eight for Arizona, and both of these teams go
2:56
Speaker 1: into this game where perhaps the biggest storyline is who
3:02
Speaker 1: isn't going to play and who is going to play,
3:05
Speaker 1: And obviously that has a massive impact on the game's outcome.
3:09
Speaker 1: And as a result of that, now you find out
3:13
Speaker 1: we often talk about depth, like who has the best depth,
3:16
Speaker 1: who has the most depth. Well, we're about to see
3:18
Speaker 1: some twos and starting roles. We're about to see some
3:21
Speaker 1: threes move to twos, and you know, some situations and
3:25
Speaker 1: I'm not speaking specifically for West Virginia, maybe Arizona as well.
3:28
Speaker 1: You might have people that were threes on a depth
3:30
Speaker 1: chart at the start of the season that are now
3:32
Speaker 1: going to be in a starting role. So a lot,
3:35
Speaker 1: a lot, a lot of questions and we'll get it
3:38
Speaker 1: all figured out.
3:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the biggest question when you talk on field.
3:42
Speaker 2: And then the second part would be mental state of
3:45
Speaker 2: both teams and or programs. Right when Virginia's lost two
3:48
Speaker 2: in a row needs to get back on track. Arizona
3:51
Speaker 2: in the same boat, except it's lost three in a row.
3:53
Speaker 2: Preseason Top twenty team that is not performing up to
3:56
Speaker 2: what they thought their expectations were. So which of these
3:59
Speaker 2: teams can rally itself and get a win. Someone's walking
4:02
Speaker 2: out with a win. Which of those teams is able
4:04
Speaker 2: to do that? Overcome the injuries, get some production from
4:07
Speaker 2: people that maybe you didn't expect at the beginning of
4:09
Speaker 2: the season to produce. But maybe more importantly, first and
4:12
Speaker 2: foremost mentally, be ready for this game.
4:14
Speaker 1: Both fan bases obviously a big game for them. Both
4:18
Speaker 1: fan bases, as you may imagine, well you may not imagine,
4:21
Speaker 1: you know, at least from this perspective, I mean, fans
4:24
Speaker 1: want to win and Mountaineer fans Arizona fans are both
4:28
Speaker 1: looking at this game and going like, Okay, this will
4:30
Speaker 1: be the one that we can get back onto the track.
4:33
Speaker 1: So from that perspective, obviously you could make the statement
4:37
Speaker 1: both teams against the proverbial wall. Also another element to
4:41
Speaker 1: this game. Not only is it the first time that
4:44
Speaker 1: West Virginia has played Arizona and obviously on the road,
4:48
Speaker 1: the other aspect of this is, at least for the
4:51
Speaker 1: very first half of the game, it is going to
4:54
Speaker 1: be August instead of October. It's eighteen degrees above the
5:00
Speaker 1: average temperature in Tucson, scheduled to be this coming Saturday.
5:04
Speaker 1: They're normally running about eighty ish this time of the year,
5:09
Speaker 1: and you're looking at over ninety six, seven ninety eight
5:15
Speaker 1: maybe degrees on Saturday. But the good news is that
5:19
Speaker 1: should only last for the first half. Their sun goes
5:23
Speaker 1: down there five thirty Pacific time, Right, five thirty Pacific time.
5:29
Speaker 1: I know we've had some time talks here through the
5:31
Speaker 1: history of three guys, and we've moved away from Central
5:35
Speaker 1: Now we're all the way out to Pacific. Their sun
5:38
Speaker 1: goes down five thirty. Game starts there at four o'clock.
5:40
Speaker 1: So second half should be more comfortable when the sun
5:46
Speaker 1: goes down. We'll figure that out. But the first half
5:48
Speaker 1: could be telling. And it's going to be very, very
5:52
Speaker 1: important for West Virginia obviously to rotate a lot of
5:55
Speaker 1: guys and keep everyone hydrated until at least the second half.
6:01
Speaker 2: Try heat, non factor, just that dry heat in Arizona,
6:04
Speaker 2: they say non factor. Yeah, it was one hundred and
6:07
Speaker 2: twelve degrees in still Water. Didn't have any problem with
6:09
Speaker 2: the heat, that's true, right, I mean ocloumb State mind
6:12
Speaker 2: had some problems with heat West vi Gene didn't have
6:14
Speaker 2: promlem Te dry heat.
6:17
Speaker 1: You think that maybe, uh, you know, some people play
6:20
Speaker 1: better in the cold, some people. You think this is
6:21
Speaker 1: a hot team.
6:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see.
6:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll get it all figured we'll get it all
6:25
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Speaker 1: your face. You've been really really working hard on the
7:54
Speaker 1: uh on the digits. You working harder because Hoppy's not here?
7:59
Speaker 1: I mean serious, like, you know the same thing with
8:01
Speaker 1: the Mountaineers. Mountaineers are going to have some injured players,
8:03
Speaker 1: so the other guys are going to have to pick
8:05
Speaker 1: it up, work harder. Are you working harder because are
8:09
Speaker 1: boys gone?
8:09
Speaker 2: It's a good question. No, I'm not. You know what happens.
8:13
Speaker 2: You get into something here, at least the way I
8:16
Speaker 2: research season get into them. You find something and then
8:19
Speaker 2: that opens three other doors that you continue down the
8:22
Speaker 2: path right and you end up deep deep inside the
8:27
Speaker 2: numbers there.
8:28
Speaker 1: I'm going to hit spreads on stats here, but if
8:30
Speaker 1: you were to give a theme as to the numbers
8:36
Speaker 1: overall that you've been able to pull from this game,
8:39
Speaker 1: give me a general opening thesis statement.
8:43
Speaker 2: Well, it's going to be what I open Spreads on
8:45
Speaker 2: Stats with, So it's going to be the same thing. This,
8:48
Speaker 2: to me is a lot about quarterback play in this
8:51
Speaker 2: particular game. A bunch of different ways we can go.
8:53
Speaker 2: We're going to go quarterback play because I think that's
8:56
Speaker 2: going to have a tremendous impact on Saturday's game.
9:00
Speaker 1: Okay, plain and simple, all right, you ready to do this?
9:03
Speaker 2: Then that's go ahead.
9:03
Speaker 1: You sure you feel all right? Yeah?
9:05
Speaker 2: Because I got a lot in here, so I checked
9:08
Speaker 2: the numbers. I'll just go right to the numbers.
9:11
Speaker 1: They're going right to the numbers. Let's jump into the
9:14
Speaker 1: analytics worship of the show. Ready, all right, here we
9:19
Speaker 1: go it spreads on stats. This is the deepest dive
9:22
Speaker 1: you're going to get into a game. And then we'll
9:25
Speaker 1: figure out Sunday what happened and what didn't happen. But
9:30
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Speaker 1: of that baby. All right, here we go. What do
10:30
Speaker 1: the numbers say?
10:31
Speaker 2: So let's take let's go down that rabbit hole about
10:34
Speaker 2: which team gets more out of the quarterback position. And
10:37
Speaker 2: I think we can agree. We've talked a lot about
10:39
Speaker 2: that this year, that that part of the success or
10:42
Speaker 2: a lot of the success last year was due to
10:44
Speaker 2: the success Garrett Green had in terms of throwing the
10:47
Speaker 2: ball deep and his rushing ability that kind of led
10:50
Speaker 2: to the rest of the offense following Suit opened up
10:53
Speaker 2: lane for CJ. Lane for Jeheim White, but it hinges
10:56
Speaker 2: at the quarterback position. So we'll get into West Virginia's
10:59
Speaker 2: situation here in just a second. Arizona is in the
11:02
Speaker 2: same spot if you go back and look at the
11:04
Speaker 2: season they had last year, from the point Noah Fafieda
11:07
Speaker 2: took over in Game four through the end of the season,
11:09
Speaker 2: it was an historic run for that Arizona program and
11:13
Speaker 2: he was outstanding last year. Here's some numbers for Noah
11:15
Speaker 2: Fafida last year tony twenty five touchdown passes, just six interceptions,
11:21
Speaker 2: nearly three thousand yards passing, and again that wasn't even
11:24
Speaker 2: in a full season. He was the fourth highest graded
11:27
Speaker 2: passer in the Big twelve and he was a monk
11:31
Speaker 2: in the Pac twelve. Yea, he was. He's a guy
11:36
Speaker 2: that was right in that group. There's a long list
11:38
Speaker 2: and a big group of quarterbacks this year in the
11:40
Speaker 2: Big Twelve that you went, wow, who's the first or
11:43
Speaker 2: second team quarterback in this league? A bunch of returning
11:45
Speaker 2: guys that had produced at a really high level. Fafida
11:48
Speaker 2: was one of those guys right near the top of
11:50
Speaker 2: that list, but this year's been a struggle for them.
11:52
Speaker 2: Stop me if you've heard this before. Fafida leads the
11:55
Speaker 2: Big Twelve in interceptions with ten. Does that hurts your
11:58
Speaker 2: chances to win games when there's interceptions?
12:00
Speaker 1: Does how many TD passes?
12:01
Speaker 2: I'll get to that in a second. Stay tuned, But
12:03
Speaker 2: he's got ten interceptions. Fourth lowest yards per attempt among
12:09
Speaker 2: Big twelve quarterbacks with one hundred or more passing attempts,
12:12
Speaker 2: just six point nine yards per attempt. I'll come back
12:15
Speaker 2: to that yards per attempt here in just a minute.
12:17
Speaker 2: Fafida dead last forty fifth among Big twelve quarterbacks in
12:23
Speaker 2: total EPA on the season. That's expected points added, which
12:26
Speaker 2: you hear me talk about that a lot. That's just
12:28
Speaker 2: a number that that puts a value on a successful
12:33
Speaker 2: play or not. There's only three Big twelve quarterbacks that
12:37
Speaker 2: have a lower positive play percentage than Noah Fafida. And again,
12:42
Speaker 2: these numbers courtesy of our friends at Sports Info Solutions SIS.
12:46
Speaker 2: So how about those numbers and that reversal from a
12:49
Speaker 2: guy that had an unbelievable year last year two. He's
12:52
Speaker 2: really struggling this year. The last three games, all losses
12:56
Speaker 2: have been particularly rough. Fafida has the sixth first passing
13:00
Speaker 2: grade in the nation over the last three weeks. One
13:04
Speaker 2: big time throw, eight turnover worthy plays. In that time
13:08
Speaker 2: I turn the ball over, you're gonna have trouble.
13:10
Speaker 1: Right.
13:11
Speaker 2: Here's one area that's affected his numbers and the play
13:16
Speaker 2: and Arizona's offense. That's yards after catch. So here's some
13:20
Speaker 2: numbers to break that down. Last year, yards after catch
13:24
Speaker 2: were super important to this Arizona offense. They had what
13:28
Speaker 2: would be if you list them in terms of Big
13:30
Speaker 2: twelve the number three, four, thirteen, twenty and twenty sixth
13:36
Speaker 2: receivers and yards after catch. They're rated among Big twelve
13:39
Speaker 2: receivers last year. Knowing they're not in plainly three, four, thirteen,
13:42
Speaker 2: twenty and twenty six, how many is that?
13:43
Speaker 1: Five of the top twenty six, five of the.
13:45
Speaker 2: Top twenty six. Pretty good? So their offense was predicated
13:48
Speaker 2: on short throws underneath, let the guys go, which they
13:52
Speaker 2: did if Fafida had a seventy two percent completion percentage,
13:55
Speaker 2: so he was able to complete those, let the receivers go.
13:57
Speaker 2: Then of course you had Ted McMillan. It could take
14:00
Speaker 2: it and go, or could get down the field for
14:02
Speaker 2: your big playability. But that was a massive chunk right there.
14:06
Speaker 2: You lost a receiver that set the school record for
14:09
Speaker 2: touchdown receptions and a record breaking tight end. So two
14:12
Speaker 2: of those big time playmakers are gone this season. Ted
14:15
Speaker 2: McMillan's second in the big twelven yards after catch. Quali
14:20
Speaker 2: Conley running back is eighth. That's it in the top
14:24
Speaker 2: fifty for Arizona two.
14:25
Speaker 1: So they went from five in the top twenty six
14:27
Speaker 1: to two in the top fifty.
14:28
Speaker 2: I think that's changed their offense a little bit. No
14:30
Speaker 2: turnovers and not the same ability to make plays after
14:33
Speaker 2: the catch. It's affected this Arizona offense. You can go
14:36
Speaker 2: down a lot further. We can talk about the offensive line.
14:38
Speaker 2: They lost an NFL guy last year. Off their line
14:40
Speaker 2: returned to everybody else. You can do a lot of
14:42
Speaker 2: different things, but turnovers and ability to make big plays
14:45
Speaker 2: with your feet, it hasn't existed for Arizona this year.
14:48
Speaker 1: Now.
14:49
Speaker 2: The reason that's important is which of these things holds true?
14:54
Speaker 2: Is West Virginia able to keep Arizona struggling in the
14:57
Speaker 2: past game, or does Arizona look at this and go Okay,
15:00
Speaker 2: thank god, finally we get a defense that's really struggling
15:02
Speaker 2: as much as we are offensively, that defense is on
15:05
Speaker 2: their side of the ball. Last in the country in
15:08
Speaker 2: coverage grade is West Virginia right now, pass rush ninety fifth,
15:12
Speaker 2: seventh in the Big twelve. Something has to change there.
15:16
Speaker 2: Either you better guard better against Arizona, or you're in
15:19
Speaker 2: some big time trouble and or you better get a
15:22
Speaker 2: pass rush to disrupt them. Colorado was able to last week.
15:25
Speaker 2: Seven sacks for Colorado. We've talked about this before earlier
15:28
Speaker 2: this week, they had multiple guys that looked like they
15:30
Speaker 2: were shot out of cannons. They came and brought it
15:33
Speaker 2: and really caused some trouble in that defensive backfield. That
15:36
Speaker 2: was a Colorado pass rush that is graded lower than
15:39
Speaker 2: what West Virginia's is right now.
15:41
Speaker 1: Now.
15:41
Speaker 2: I don't know if that means anything on Saturday, but
15:43
Speaker 2: that's traditionally this season not been a great pass rush
15:46
Speaker 2: for Colorado. That was great against Arizona last week. So
15:50
Speaker 2: which of those areas steps up?
15:52
Speaker 1: If either?
15:53
Speaker 2: Now listen, we're into Game eight and we talked about
15:55
Speaker 2: West Raanie's pass coverage every single week all season, and
15:58
Speaker 2: it has not improved except a couple of little blips.
16:01
Speaker 2: So if that stays like it stayed, you're going to
16:04
Speaker 2: be in some trouble in Arizona. Might get right? Can
16:06
Speaker 2: that get better? Can you get a couple of picks?
16:08
Speaker 2: Can you tighten it up? Can you get some pass rush?
16:12
Speaker 1: Last week, West Virginia sold out to stop the run
16:15
Speaker 1: against Kansas State?
16:17
Speaker 2: Correct?
16:17
Speaker 1: Correct? Do you sell out to stop the pass this week?
16:24
Speaker 2: Is there such a thing?
16:27
Speaker 1: Right?
16:27
Speaker 2: You usually here sell out to stop the run now,
16:29
Speaker 2: but against Kansas you did this, right? This was the reverse.
16:33
Speaker 2: You went to try and protect your pass coverage. Change
16:37
Speaker 2: some things, did some things to prevent Kansas starts. You gave,
16:41
Speaker 2: but you gave up a ton of yards on the ground.
16:43
Speaker 1: Yes you did. I'm just I'm just I'm throwing it
16:45
Speaker 1: out there, like if you had to put it together.
16:47
Speaker 1: Do you say to yourself the way that Kansas State
16:50
Speaker 1: last week dinked and dunked West Virginia, right, do you
16:54
Speaker 1: absolutely try to maintain and keep that all in run
17:00
Speaker 1: of you so that they don't get the oxygen that
17:04
Speaker 1: they've been lacking to this point.
17:05
Speaker 2: If you have the ability to do so, then that's
17:08
Speaker 2: an obvious thing you do that. I think you're questioning
17:11
Speaker 2: in game eight, do you have the ability to do that?
17:14
Speaker 2: Can can you say that's what we're trying to do.
17:17
Speaker 2: Can you have linebackers get into coverage where they're supposed to?
17:20
Speaker 2: Can you have defensive backs lineup in guard guys? Because
17:23
Speaker 2: you didn't last week? I know you were selling out
17:25
Speaker 2: on the run, but Kansas State said fine, we're just
17:27
Speaker 2: gonna throw it five, six, seven, four and just march
17:30
Speaker 2: right down the field on you. So that's a big
17:32
Speaker 2: question to me, is can West Virginia guard number one
17:36
Speaker 2: get into coverage and two? Can they get some pressure.
17:38
Speaker 2: Here's some pressure numbers. I Fafiita has the most dropbacks
17:42
Speaker 2: under pressure.
17:43
Speaker 1: In the Big twelve, so he's running for his life.
17:45
Speaker 2: He's running for his life, which makes sense when you
17:47
Speaker 2: see the turnover where he plays in the interceptions that
17:49
Speaker 2: have followed, So it's the highest percentage of dropbacks under
17:52
Speaker 2: pressure as well. So it's the raw amount the most
17:55
Speaker 2: and the highest percentage as well. Just two touchdown passes,
17:58
Speaker 2: five interceptions when he's under pressure, also has twenty four
18:03
Speaker 2: throwaways where he's just had to chuck it out of.
18:06
Speaker 1: Balance sideline having a good year.
18:08
Speaker 2: That's more than two times the next closest quarterback in
18:11
Speaker 2: this league. So you talk about dude that just had
18:13
Speaker 2: to get rid of it. On top of turnover problems,
18:15
Speaker 2: he's just chucking the thing away.
18:16
Speaker 1: So you think maybe like student manager leads a second
18:19
Speaker 1: on the team in receptions.
18:20
Speaker 2: Well you know what that tells you. If you can
18:23
Speaker 2: get some pressure, then would catch some breaks that he's
18:25
Speaker 2: just gonna say, I'm not gonna throw a pick. I'm
18:26
Speaker 2: just gonna throw it away. I'm just gonna get it
18:28
Speaker 2: out of here, and that helps West Virginia. He has
18:30
Speaker 2: the third most sacks under pressure in the Big Twelve. Pressure.
18:36
Speaker 2: Can you get pressure? Other teams have ty Fran most
18:41
Speaker 2: other teams. Is this your Tay French game? Is TJ
18:45
Speaker 2: Jackson back and fully healthy? TJ Jackson's back and fully healthy.
18:48
Speaker 2: Would be a nice time for Sean Martin to get
18:50
Speaker 2: some pressure if you can. Mean, you've got some guys
18:53
Speaker 2: Trey Lathan, we haven't called his name a bunch when
18:55
Speaker 2: it comes to pressure in the quarterback. You've got some
18:57
Speaker 2: guys that you think have the individual talent to do,
18:59
Speaker 2: so this would be a nice time for it to
19:01
Speaker 2: pick up. If you get that pressure, then chances are
19:04
Speaker 2: good that some interceptions follow.
19:06
Speaker 1: You know, what's really interesting is the divergence of the
19:10
Speaker 1: two philosophies that both of these sides might be having
19:14
Speaker 1: on Saturday. And by that I mean this like West Virginia,
19:18
Speaker 1: as you just said, past grade is really.
19:21
Speaker 2: Pass coverage grade worse than the country, worse.
19:23
Speaker 1: In the country. So they're going like, Okay, we got
19:26
Speaker 1: a guy that's really struggling at quarterback that throws picks.
19:30
Speaker 1: That's how they got to look at it. And Noah,
19:32
Speaker 1: Fafida's over. They're going like, oh, really, they're the worst
19:37
Speaker 1: pass defense in the country. This is going to be
19:40
Speaker 1: my coming out party. I think both sides could make
19:43
Speaker 1: the statement like this guy's struggling, we can get after him.
19:45
Speaker 1: And he's going like, these guys are struggling, I can
19:47
Speaker 1: get after them. What's the reality of it.
19:50
Speaker 2: Did you just hit rewind and pull up the Kansas
19:52
Speaker 2: preview edition. Yeah, it's the same conversation we had there.
19:57
Speaker 2: Daniels was showing picks left and right. West Virginia couldn't
19:59
Speaker 2: guard anybody. He came in saying which of those things
20:01
Speaker 2: is gonna come true? West Virginia improved its past defense.
20:04
Speaker 2: Daniel Syria a couple of picks. You came from behind
20:06
Speaker 2: late and got the win. I think what you just
20:08
Speaker 2: said there is the exact conversation. If I'm Noah Fafida
20:11
Speaker 2: and Tet McMillan, I'm saying, give me the freaking ball.
20:13
Speaker 2: If I'm Tep McMillan, I say, if I don't get
20:15
Speaker 2: twenty seven targets this game, something's not right, throw me
20:17
Speaker 2: the ball every single time and see if somebody can
20:19
Speaker 2: guard me.
20:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, and West Virginia's got to be saying bring the
20:23
Speaker 1: heat and get after him because he will either throw
20:25
Speaker 1: it out of bounds or has a good chance of
20:27
Speaker 1: throwing it to someone else not in not wearing the
20:30
Speaker 1: same jersey.
20:31
Speaker 2: Fafieda also has the most dropbacks while being blitzed in
20:35
Speaker 2: the league.
20:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, you just try it out.
20:37
Speaker 2: A number people are coming. All right, now, let's flip
20:40
Speaker 2: over to the other side, and let's let's do a hypothetical.
20:44
Speaker 2: And if Garrett Green starts and plays on Saturday, just
20:47
Speaker 2: hit the you know how the podcast you can hit
20:49
Speaker 2: the fast forward ten seconds. Oh yeah, just go ahead
20:51
Speaker 2: and hit this a few times and we'll fast forward. Becau,
20:53
Speaker 2: I'm gonna talk about Nico.
20:54
Speaker 1: Okay, okay.
20:55
Speaker 2: Oh, by the way, can I give one other thing?
20:57
Speaker 2: I haven't done that this year? What I'm about to do?
21:00
Speaker 2: Look for a pick by West Virginia on first down?
21:03
Speaker 1: Excuse me?
21:04
Speaker 2: How about an interception on first down?
21:06
Speaker 1: Now?
21:06
Speaker 2: West Raane doesn't have a ton of interceptions this year.
21:08
Speaker 1: Now we started realizing, we started early balloting. So are
21:11
Speaker 1: you're making a precinc prediction a projection? Let's try for one. Okay,
21:15
Speaker 1: what is your precinc projection?
21:17
Speaker 2: West Virginia gets an interception, but it comes on first down.
21:22
Speaker 1: When it happens on Saturday, folks, Just to remember reported
21:26
Speaker 1: first on three guys before the game.
21:28
Speaker 2: The feed has the second most interceptions on first down
21:30
Speaker 2: in the Big twelve. And then here's another number from
21:34
Speaker 2: SIS thirty sixth out of thirty six quarterbacks in the
21:39
Speaker 2: Big twelve. When it comes to overall passing EPA on
21:43
Speaker 2: first down again, EPA, the change in offenses expected points
21:50
Speaker 2: that come on passes thrown by the player on this
21:52
Speaker 2: overall passing EPA really struggled on first down and it's
21:55
Speaker 2: turned a lot of picks. Let's say if we can
21:58
Speaker 2: talk one into existence interception on first down. Okay, flip
22:03
Speaker 2: over to the other side, though, because I think this
22:05
Speaker 2: is as intriguing as what Fafita is going to be
22:08
Speaker 2: able to do, is what does West Virginia get if
22:10
Speaker 2: Nico Markiel is the starting quarterback? You're ready? Sure, let's
22:13
Speaker 2: go down some Nico numbers here said. We said earlier
22:18
Speaker 2: this week that if Garrett's out, likely Neil has been
22:22
Speaker 2: preparing Nico all week. Right if the decisions being made
22:26
Speaker 2: later this week, certainly Nico has been preparing all week
22:29
Speaker 2: to be the starter. And then if he's not, he's not.
22:31
Speaker 2: But if he is, theoretically then he's gotten all the
22:33
Speaker 2: first team reps, you've gained plan for him, you've scripted
22:36
Speaker 2: for him, and you're ready to go with Nico. Okay,
22:38
Speaker 2: So let's go ahead with that assumption for right now,
22:41
Speaker 2: and again, if that doesn't come to fruition, move through
22:43
Speaker 2: this part of the podcast. Let's go back and look
22:46
Speaker 2: at some games and the formula that you've had when
22:49
Speaker 2: Nico has started, because you've had some success when he
22:52
Speaker 2: has come into games. You have won some games with him,
22:55
Speaker 2: either as the starter or playing significant minutes ready m
22:59
Speaker 2: M pit game. Last year, West Virginia won the game,
23:05
Speaker 2: and they did so seventeen to six. Now, remember West
23:08
Speaker 2: Virginia's defense had Pit so bottled up. The West Virginia
23:11
Speaker 2: offense didn't have to do a whole lot once. Once
23:14
Speaker 2: you saw how that Pit offense was operating and West
23:16
Speaker 2: Virginia's ability to stop it, you could see what Neil did.
23:19
Speaker 2: He just said, we're not going to make any mistakes.
23:21
Speaker 2: We're going to run the ball. The defense has this handled.
23:23
Speaker 2: Pitt cannot beat us. That offense was so dreadful. In
23:26
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, Wes Virginia ran it forty nine times
23:29
Speaker 2: for one hundred and sixty nine yards. CJ had over
23:32
Speaker 2: one hundred yards. All Nico had to do was manage
23:34
Speaker 2: it six to nine through the air, sixty yards in
23:36
Speaker 2: a touchdown. You get the wing, You beat Pitt. Very good.
23:39
Speaker 2: Go back to twenty twenty two win over Texas Tech
23:42
Speaker 2: twenty to thirteen, again strong defensive performance. Tech also had
23:47
Speaker 2: to go to a backup quarterback there and couldn't do
23:50
Speaker 2: much against West Virginia's defense. But West Virginia had its
23:53
Speaker 2: lowest offensive grade of the year. In that particular game,
23:57
Speaker 2: Nico did run it well fifteen carries seventy seven yards
24:01
Speaker 2: five yards per carry. As a team, West Virginia went
24:04
Speaker 2: for a bucks sixty three on the ground. Passing games struggled, however,
24:09
Speaker 2: twelve of twenty one seventy eight yards, just three point
24:13
Speaker 2: seven yards per attempt and two interceptions. I'm gonna come
24:16
Speaker 2: back to that yards per attempt for something to watch
24:18
Speaker 2: in this game Oklahoma State game in twenty twenty two,
24:22
Speaker 2: another win twenty four to nineteen, defense held Oklahoma State
24:27
Speaker 2: in check thirty nine rushes for the team for one
24:30
Speaker 2: fifty seven and two touchdowns. Nico didn't have to throw
24:32
Speaker 2: it a lot, just three of ten through the air.
24:35
Speaker 2: So in those wins, West Virginia only gave up twelve
24:39
Speaker 2: point six points per game and rushed for an average
24:42
Speaker 2: of one sixty three. That was the formula, play defense
24:48
Speaker 2: and run it.
24:49
Speaker 1: This defense, however, has given no indication that they're going
24:51
Speaker 1: to give up less than twenty points.
24:53
Speaker 2: There's the fear. West Virginia's defense has not given up
24:56
Speaker 2: less than twenty one points in just three of the
24:59
Speaker 2: last fifteen FeAs games. So that's the question coming into this,
25:02
Speaker 2: there's a two parter. Is West Virginia's defense in a
25:06
Speaker 2: position to go win you a game? You haven't seen
25:08
Speaker 2: evidence of that, but you might be asking it to
25:11
Speaker 2: Number one and number two is your run game in
25:14
Speaker 2: a position to be dominant enough to get you the win.
25:17
Speaker 2: It was against Oklahoma State. Didn't have to really do
25:20
Speaker 2: anything else. You just ran it right down their throats.
25:22
Speaker 2: Are you able to do that again? You're averaging two
25:25
Speaker 2: hundred and two yards per game on the season on
25:27
Speaker 2: the ground, but just one forty three in the games
25:30
Speaker 2: you've lost. That's a big gap, right, and that Oklahoma
25:34
Speaker 2: State performance is elevating your numbers. When you look at
25:37
Speaker 2: that just one forty three and a loss, it tells
25:40
Speaker 2: you right there if you go back and do those numbers,
25:42
Speaker 2: one sixty three on average, right, for a team that
25:45
Speaker 2: likes around the one forty three, you're getting a loss
25:47
Speaker 2: isn't going to cut it. Probably on Saturday. Here's the
25:49
Speaker 2: other part. Then, with Nico with more experience, you've seen
25:54
Speaker 2: small sample size, but you saw a couple good throws,
25:57
Speaker 2: the one against Oklahoma State on the slant, also the
25:59
Speaker 2: slant against Kansas State. But when he's been in the game, Tony,
26:04
Speaker 2: you have just four point five yards per tempt in
26:06
Speaker 2: his career. That's currently right now as well, that's in
26:11
Speaker 2: the season, but that's also where his career mark is.
26:13
Speaker 2: That's the lowest in the Big Twelve right now with
26:15
Speaker 2: at least ten pass attempts. Last year, yards per attempt
26:19
Speaker 2: number was forty first out of forty three Big Twelve quarterbacks.
26:22
Speaker 2: So reason I bring that up, you're certainly not running now.
26:25
Speaker 2: Neil says. It's the same playbook, but it hasn't been.
26:28
Speaker 2: You haven't thrown it downfield like you have with Garrett.
26:32
Speaker 2: Does that change with a full week of practice and
26:34
Speaker 2: another year of experience and an offseason where they feel
26:37
Speaker 2: like Nico really took a step forward last year and
26:40
Speaker 2: the year before. You could tell they didn't feel comfortable
26:42
Speaker 2: throwing it downfield with Nico. That wasn't his strength, so
26:44
Speaker 2: they didn't go to it and they didn't need to.
26:46
Speaker 2: I'm not sure you can win an entire game this
26:48
Speaker 2: weekend with the defense playing like it does and the
26:51
Speaker 2: running game not being as elite as it was last year.
26:53
Speaker 2: I think Nico's going to have to throw the ball,
26:55
Speaker 2: and I think Nico's going to have to throw it
26:57
Speaker 2: from more than four point five yards per attempt?
26:59
Speaker 1: Can he that one hundred percent? Agree to your point
27:03
Speaker 1: about rushing the football. West Virginia's number has gone down
27:07
Speaker 1: in those losses right to Kansas State and Iowa State,
27:10
Speaker 1: But they happened to right Iowa State pretty good again
27:13
Speaker 1: stopping the run? Where is Arizona's run defense in regard
27:18
Speaker 1: to the analytics? In other words, is the opportunity there
27:23
Speaker 1: if everything remains normal for West Virginia to go over
27:27
Speaker 1: a buck sixty?
27:30
Speaker 2: I think, and I think you probably have to get
27:31
Speaker 2: up near you.
27:32
Speaker 1: Gotta be one eight to two hundred to be realistic.
27:35
Speaker 1: You probably need to get two hundred bills.
27:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, So if you just go off grading, if you
27:39
Speaker 2: go off, how they perform not not any numbers. Tenth
27:42
Speaker 2: in the league, tenth in the Big twelve. So bottom half,
27:46
Speaker 2: m bottom half tackling down that same range.
27:51
Speaker 1: Now throw in the fact, throw in the fact you
27:53
Speaker 1: may be playing without your starting left tackle, correct who
27:56
Speaker 1: happens to be the best player on the on the line,
27:59
Speaker 1: and perhaps you know, and right there in the top
28:03
Speaker 1: couple in the entire country at that position. So that's
28:05
Speaker 1: significant as well.
28:06
Speaker 2: And again I know Nico can run it, but it's
28:09
Speaker 2: not the Garrett Green running it. So there is some
28:12
Speaker 2: tweaks to the offense that you have to make without
28:15
Speaker 2: the best running quarterback in the Big twelve. Even the
28:18
Speaker 2: year Garrett's having, he's not having the same year he
28:19
Speaker 2: had last year. Still in the Big twelve and rushing yarts,
28:21
Speaker 2: that's still the most dynamic rushing quarterback there is. He's
28:24
Speaker 2: now out of your lineup, so you're going to ask
28:26
Speaker 2: a lot out of Jahem and CJ and again potentially
28:29
Speaker 2: with a new left tackle in there. So you've got
28:32
Speaker 2: some hurdles in this game and I think some significant questions.
28:35
Speaker 2: But there's been a formula with Nico in there. Is
28:38
Speaker 2: it time that that formula changes. Is Nico ready as
28:41
Speaker 2: a quarterback to tweak that formula and you open up
28:44
Speaker 2: the game plan and throw the football down the field?
28:47
Speaker 2: So I think you're gonna have.
28:48
Speaker 1: To mm hm. And it is quite ironic that this
28:53
Speaker 1: opportunity for Nico is going to take place in the
28:56
Speaker 1: state where he ended his high school football career. So
28:59
Speaker 1: he played in Gilbert, Arizona, and that is approximately one
29:03
Speaker 1: hundred miles away from Tucson. Again, he's from Colorado, but
29:07
Speaker 1: he ended his career in Arizona, finished there, so not
29:12
Speaker 1: that his family's from there, but he's got folks there,
29:15
Speaker 1: followers there. He did some incredible things. If you remember
29:18
Speaker 1: as a high school quarterback, it was Bishop gormanis in
29:25
Speaker 1: that game where's guys are throwing up and he just
29:27
Speaker 1: keeps grinding.
29:28
Speaker 2: Down by like sixty with two minutes to go.
29:30
Speaker 1: Now it was down by seventy two points with like
29:32
Speaker 1: two minutes to go, and it came back. So here
29:34
Speaker 1: you go, man, here's here's your storybook script that's written
29:37
Speaker 1: out for you. This is probably for him anything that
29:41
Speaker 1: he ever could have imagined and wanted, Like I get
29:43
Speaker 1: to go back to Arizona to play Arizona and I
29:48
Speaker 1: go and I've had a full week of practice in
29:50
Speaker 1: advance to get myself ready to do this thing. If
29:54
Speaker 1: if in fact that's the way that it that it
29:56
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30:44
Speaker 1: That's just kind of a mountain dew a moonpie.
30:48
Speaker 2: Right, you all sugared up for us today?
30:49
Speaker 1: Rec cup a three pound just a three pound, just
30:54
Speaker 1: one eminem just one M. That's a three pounder with
30:58
Speaker 1: a nut knet nuts by like about that big just
31:02
Speaker 1: kind of bring it right into your car instead of
31:04
Speaker 1: down on the pass and your seat if there's no
31:05
Speaker 1: one with you, just a big M and M. I
31:07
Speaker 1: think they have those there now, if I'm not mistaken,
31:10
Speaker 1: right near the propane gas tanks by a big M
31:14
Speaker 1: and M. Just an M.
31:18
Speaker 2: Can I give one more number forward down with this?
31:20
Speaker 1: Because I think that's what you would call an M
31:22
Speaker 1: and M right if it was just one. They're M
31:24
Speaker 1: and m's. So if there's just one, you just call it, Hey, Hey,
31:27
Speaker 1: give me an M.
31:28
Speaker 2: Probably I hadn't thought of it.
31:29
Speaker 1: Okay, for go ahead.
31:30
Speaker 2: Along the lines of this passing game and throwing the ball,
31:35
Speaker 2: West Virginia's got to get something receiver related. We've talked
31:38
Speaker 2: about this a bunch in terms of the deep pass
31:41
Speaker 2: has not been as readily available as it was last
31:44
Speaker 2: year for West Virginia. But some numbers that you need
31:47
Speaker 2: to know from a yards after catch perspective on the
31:50
Speaker 2: West Virginia side, Cole Taylor trailing Ray and Houdey Cole
31:55
Speaker 2: twenty third in the conference in yards after catch, trailing
31:59
Speaker 2: Ray forty third, Houtty forty fifth. So some of that
32:02
Speaker 2: separation that we've talked about you need to get and
32:05
Speaker 2: get some balls that you can run after the catch
32:08
Speaker 2: just hasn't been happening. Hasn't been there.
32:11
Speaker 1: I means, like you said, there's some pretty significant similarities
32:14
Speaker 1: as to why these two teams are not having the
32:17
Speaker 1: years they thought they would. One was the first thing
32:20
Speaker 1: you said, and that's the interception situation, the touchdown interception.
32:24
Speaker 1: So you said Fafida last year was twenty too. What
32:29
Speaker 1: was his number? He was twenty twenty touchdown passes anyway,
32:33
Speaker 1: his ratio was four to one. Whatever the number of
32:35
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty five and six I think so he's
32:37
Speaker 1: twenty five and six, so he's four to one. And
32:39
Speaker 1: Garrett was sixteen in touchdowns and four interceptions, he was
32:42
Speaker 1: four to one. So those two numbers for both of
32:45
Speaker 1: these quarterbacks have gone absolutely to the other extreme. That's
32:50
Speaker 1: why you are where you are correct in large part correct.
32:53
Speaker 2: So those yards after catch numbers are significant because this
32:56
Speaker 2: is going to be a game. I just listen. If
32:58
Speaker 2: you can run it and you can run it down
32:59
Speaker 2: there and you can get the win, that's the preferable
33:01
Speaker 2: way to go. It just feels to me like this
33:03
Speaker 2: is going to be a game which of these two
33:05
Speaker 2: quarterbacks performs better. That's probably who walks out with a win. Again,
33:09
Speaker 2: assuming it's going to be Nico. If it's not, disregard
33:12
Speaker 2: the last however manyntes that.
33:13
Speaker 1: Was gotta have juice, man. This game is also going
33:18
Speaker 1: to be decided like who is trite in as old
33:22
Speaker 1: school and as cliches as sounds, like who has done
33:27
Speaker 1: the best job this week of keeping focus despite a
33:33
Speaker 1: lot of negativity surrounding both of these teams, Like which
33:37
Speaker 1: players on which team have gone over and have meshed
33:42
Speaker 1: into the noise and have kind of associated with the
33:45
Speaker 1: noise so that their focus isn't one hundred percent at
33:49
Speaker 1: the task, And which group of players has shielded it
33:54
Speaker 1: away and just said, Okay, here's the job, this is
33:56
Speaker 1: what I have to do, this is what we're doing.
33:58
Speaker 1: We're still good to go. That's what a lot of
34:00
Speaker 1: this game is.
34:01
Speaker 2: I think it's a huge part of this game. And
34:03
Speaker 2: who brings physicality? You know, West Virginia just got it
34:05
Speaker 2: taken to them last week. That was a very physical
34:08
Speaker 2: Kansas State program. West Virginia's success last year came on
34:12
Speaker 2: the heels of being more physical most games against its opponent. Right,
34:16
Speaker 2: didn't they come out and just said, here's our identity.
34:18
Speaker 2: We've been talking about that a while. I thought last
34:20
Speaker 2: year West Virginia found that our identity is we're going
34:22
Speaker 2: to run it and be physical. Can they get back
34:25
Speaker 2: to that because Kansas State was certainly the more physical
34:27
Speaker 2: team last week. They need to do that out in
34:29
Speaker 2: Arizona on Saturday.
34:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that's that bums out right. That bums you
34:36
Speaker 1: out as a fan. It bums you out, especially as
34:39
Speaker 1: a West Virginia fan, because that is your DNA within
34:44
Speaker 1: your program's history, is that you're the more physical team,
34:47
Speaker 1: like you deal the punishment, win or lose, you deal
34:50
Speaker 1: the punishment, and that didn't happen, and that's what bums
34:54
Speaker 1: you out.
34:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you got an opportunity this week with a
34:56
Speaker 2: struggling offense and against your struggling defense, which unit their stuff.
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Speaker 2: Meetings like with new items.
37:02
Speaker 1: Well, you remember those treats we sold last year during
37:04
Speaker 1: the holiday season, that popcorn that went like off the chart. Great,
37:09
Speaker 1: they're working the elves are working right now on logistics
37:13
Speaker 1: for that so if you love that popcorn last year,
37:16
Speaker 1: strong indication is that it will come back, among a
37:20
Speaker 1: few other items. So that was good. Yeah, we got
37:24
Speaker 1: that going for us. All right? Ready to do this thing? Yep,
37:30
Speaker 1: Texas says three guys. I started school at West Virginia
37:34
Speaker 1: University in the fall of twenty twenty, so not all
37:38
Speaker 1: that long ago, four years ago. I just graduated in May.
37:41
Speaker 1: Congratulations to you got done on are at four. I
37:44
Speaker 1: was never a WVU fan before I went to school.
37:46
Speaker 1: Quickly I took in the Mountaineers as a team to
37:48
Speaker 1: cheer for. During my time, the football team has been
37:54
Speaker 1: a letdown. The basketball team has been okay, but not
37:57
Speaker 1: like they've been in the past. Being a newer fan
38:01
Speaker 1: talking to more experienced fans with you three or two
38:05
Speaker 1: in this case? Is this normal? What's going on right now?
38:09
Speaker 1: Did I set my expectations too high taking in the
38:12
Speaker 1: Mountaineers as a fan? What should I do? Three guys?
38:17
Speaker 1: I love the podcast? Thanks for everything you do. That
38:18
Speaker 1: was almost a he ended it almost that may even
38:21
Speaker 1: be I said he maybe maybe a young lady. What
38:25
Speaker 1: should I do? Three guys? Almost like a dear abby?
38:28
Speaker 1: What should I do? Three guys? Is this normal, So
38:37
Speaker 1: where are we that's your question. No short answer is no,
38:47
Speaker 1: this is this is not normal. When you take a
38:52
Speaker 1: look at the past in football and basketball, this is
38:58
Speaker 1: a dip. There's no question about that. And you take
39:02
Speaker 1: a look at the wins and losses, it's a dip. Now,
39:07
Speaker 1: you could also make some statements as to, Okay, why
39:11
Speaker 1: is that happening? Why has that happened? There's a bunch
39:14
Speaker 1: of different things that you could get into. Is it
39:19
Speaker 1: the new conference that West Virginia is in, is it
39:22
Speaker 1: the Big twelve? Is the Big twelve more difficult than
39:24
Speaker 1: in past years when we were in the Big East
39:28
Speaker 1: and before that. If you want to go to basketball
39:30
Speaker 1: in the Atlantic ten that you're not enjoying the same success,
39:34
Speaker 1: you could throw that into the equation. But my takeaway
39:38
Speaker 1: is it's a dip and you hope that it cycles through.
39:45
Speaker 1: I think it will, but that's kind of what it is.
39:49
Speaker 2: Big twelve has been rough. On the football side. You've
39:51
Speaker 2: had just two nine win or more seasons since joining
39:55
Speaker 2: the Big Twelve. One of those was last year.
39:58
Speaker 1: So in twelve years you had two where.
40:00
Speaker 2: You got to nine or more. Yeah, so that's been
40:03
Speaker 2: a challenge.
40:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no question. It's a different world. I think
40:08
Speaker 1: one thing that you're dealing with with the Big Twelve
40:12
Speaker 1: that you didn't have in the Big East is that
40:16
Speaker 1: in the Big Twelve Conference, everyone of the schools that
40:21
Speaker 1: you play is all in in football. Like it means
40:26
Speaker 1: something at every single one of the schools, and that's
40:29
Speaker 1: what you'd want, right. It means something that wasn't the
40:32
Speaker 1: case in the days of the Big East Conference. And
40:38
Speaker 1: I also think that when budget wise, when West Virginia
40:41
Speaker 1: was in the Big East Conference in football, you know,
40:44
Speaker 1: it was right there at the top shelf financially, like
40:48
Speaker 1: within the top couple two three programs, it was right there.
40:51
Speaker 1: You agree with that, yes, okay, and that's no longer
40:54
Speaker 1: the case. Yeah, budget wise, you're not you're you're you're
40:58
Speaker 1: you're you're, You're in this You're in this second half
41:00
Speaker 1: as far as overall items and IL and things like that.
41:11
Speaker 1: So it's a different world. But I do think it
41:13
Speaker 1: comes back. I do think it bounces back up. I
41:15
Speaker 1: don't think this is I don't think this is the
41:17
Speaker 1: new reality. Basketball. Obviously you're starting over. That'll ramp back up. Football.
41:23
Speaker 1: You just got to get better. Texter Hot takes based
41:29
Speaker 1: on zero stats. College football is a game won on
41:33
Speaker 1: big plays. The last time WVU had any big playability,
41:39
Speaker 1: Will Greer was the quarterback. Agree, disagree.
41:44
Speaker 2: I think I think big plays are so critical. It's
41:46
Speaker 2: why you hear coaches talk about them so often. And
41:48
Speaker 2: we've mentioned it on this show probably fifty times this season,
41:53
Speaker 2: and the biggest reason is Tony. It's hard to go
41:55
Speaker 2: down the field without any mistakes multiple times and have
41:59
Speaker 2: those end in touchdowns multiple times. And if you're going
42:03
Speaker 2: to have to do that to get to thirty points
42:05
Speaker 2: and have so what take that four drives of ten
42:09
Speaker 2: plays or more and they all end in touchdowns, that's
42:12
Speaker 2: a big ask. So you need a couple in there
42:14
Speaker 2: that are big and explosive that takes some of that
42:17
Speaker 2: pressure off from having to make all those big, long drives.
42:20
Speaker 2: So I do agree that big plays are important. The
42:24
Speaker 2: second part just isn't accurate. Last year, you were top
42:27
Speaker 2: thirty in the country in overall plays of twenty yards
42:29
Speaker 2: or more. We're talking many times on the show about
42:31
Speaker 2: Garrett's ability to throw it deep was one of the
42:33
Speaker 2: best in the country in terms of those numbers. I
42:35
Speaker 2: won't rehash them now. I have done that many times
42:37
Speaker 2: on here. You were tenth last year in the nation
42:40
Speaker 2: in rush plays of ten twenty yards or more, so
42:44
Speaker 2: that was certainly a key part of that last year.
42:45
Speaker 2: But big plays, I agree, are a major part of
42:48
Speaker 2: college football.
42:49
Speaker 1: Which would you say is more important a big play
42:52
Speaker 1: or a turnover?
42:55
Speaker 2: Probably turnovers, because turnovers can be big plays. I know
43:00
Speaker 2: they're not constituted what I just said, right, did Kansas
43:02
Speaker 2: State have one turnover? Easy score? Didn't have to expend
43:06
Speaker 2: any offensive energy to get points on the board. Generally,
43:08
Speaker 2: don't lose when you do that.
43:10
Speaker 1: Ad in wheeling rights. I understand the results haven't translated
43:13
Speaker 1: to the big games as hoped, but what are the chances,
43:16
Speaker 1: even with their shortcomings, that this team is better off
43:19
Speaker 1: than last year's team. Lots of ball left to be played,
43:22
Speaker 1: but you're in a position to match you're eight and
43:25
Speaker 1: four record against a tougher schedule. I did some minor research.
43:28
Speaker 1: Our current strength of schedule rating looks to be almost
43:31
Speaker 1: double what it was last year at the end. I'm
43:34
Speaker 1: not a nel apologist, but I'm not going to say
43:36
Speaker 1: the man deserves to be fired. He's done it right
43:38
Speaker 1: to the point, done it right to this point, the
43:40
Speaker 1: team has bought. The team has bought in. Feels like
43:42
Speaker 1: a few more tweaks, guys jelling, and there could be
43:45
Speaker 1: something special in Morgantown. Thank you.
43:48
Speaker 2: We said all summer the first two months of this
43:50
Speaker 2: schedule were really difficult. They have played out that way.
43:53
Speaker 2: Now the back half here, the back third that comes
43:57
Speaker 2: with you. Yeah, you think there's some opportunities, but listen,
43:59
Speaker 2: since anat he's better, right. Baylor obviously didn't quit. UCF
44:03
Speaker 2: hasn't quit based on what they did at Iowa State
44:05
Speaker 2: last year. And I think the thing from a West
44:07
Speaker 2: Virginia perspective is can you capitalize on some of that
44:11
Speaker 2: letting up of the schedule that you think is the case.
44:14
Speaker 2: So far, your defense hasn't shown an ability to do that.
44:17
Speaker 2: You haven't shown an ability offensively to stop with the turnovers,
44:21
Speaker 2: and as we're seven games into the season, pretty soon,
44:24
Speaker 2: if not now, those become part of your DNA, not
44:27
Speaker 2: just things that are happening. So that would be the question.
44:30
Speaker 2: Fix those two areas if you can, and you probably
44:32
Speaker 2: have some wins to follow, but that's going to be
44:34
Speaker 2: a tall.
44:35
Speaker 1: Order, Texas says. Neil Brown said this was his best team. So,
44:39
Speaker 1: is this the ceiling when the Big twelve is competitive?
44:42
Speaker 1: Should we adjust our expectations and know that we're amid
44:45
Speaker 1: the lower Big twelve team with the current structure of
44:47
Speaker 1: college football? Well, if you're a regular, you know I
44:54
Speaker 1: always say it's always about the money. I think that
44:59
Speaker 1: go going forward right as we get into this revenue
45:02
Speaker 1: share and this new world, that those who have the
45:07
Speaker 1: money will ultimately have the most success. I truly do
45:11
Speaker 1: believe that, and so I think the answer to the
45:14
Speaker 1: question is is this the ceiling when the Big twelve
45:18
Speaker 1: is competitive? I would say what would be really telling
45:24
Speaker 1: is going forward the end of the season, do you
45:29
Speaker 1: have your table of sixteen teams in your league and
45:32
Speaker 1: then do a table. Now, this is going to be
45:34
Speaker 1: the hard stuff to find, is like who's spending what
45:37
Speaker 1: on personnel and then kind of say that's really where
45:41
Speaker 1: you are. And so I think the answer to your
45:44
Speaker 1: question is, yes, West Virginia can be competitive, but there
45:47
Speaker 1: are going to have to be things done financially to
45:51
Speaker 1: make sure that you're in the upper half of nil
45:55
Speaker 1: payments if you want to finish in the upper half
45:57
Speaker 1: of the league. And that is what West Virginia wants.
45:59
Speaker 1: To do. They want to be in the upper half,
46:02
Speaker 1: you know, preferably right up toward the top. But ultimately,
46:07
Speaker 1: this program, the Big twelve programs, and college football as
46:11
Speaker 1: a whole, is going to come down to who can
46:14
Speaker 1: go out and buy the players. I mean, as crass
46:19
Speaker 1: perhaps as that would have sounded like five years ago,
46:24
Speaker 1: that's the reality of it. You got to go get
46:29
Speaker 1: better players, and in order to do that, you need dollars.
46:32
Speaker 1: And so that's ultimately the future of where're West Virginia
46:36
Speaker 1: goes and these other schools in the Big twelves, Like
46:38
Speaker 1: who's going to make the commitment to have a big
46:40
Speaker 1: enough chest to bring in the best players because they're
46:43
Speaker 1: going to be available.
46:45
Speaker 2: You know, it's pretty well to go along with that,
46:48
Speaker 2: you know you can improve year to year. Big Twelve
46:51
Speaker 2: standings this year are bonkers. Utah was preordained, they were
46:55
Speaker 2: given the Big Twelve, So I think Brett Yormark went
46:57
Speaker 2: out and presented them the trophy.
46:59
Speaker 1: Before this season begana sounded it to the engraver.
47:01
Speaker 2: I think that's how that worked. You can check me
47:03
Speaker 2: on that. One in three in the league, Oklahoma State
47:06
Speaker 2: brought back as much returning production as almost anybody in
47:08
Speaker 2: the country. They're zero to four in this league. Kansas
47:11
Speaker 2: highly touted, highly thought of Lance Leipold, extensions all over
47:15
Speaker 2: the place, right, Jalen Daniels back as a Heisman candidate.
47:17
Speaker 2: One in three, near the bottom of the standings in
47:19
Speaker 2: this league. Conversely, BYU, we watched that BYU team come
47:22
Speaker 2: in here last year. That was a non competitive BYU
47:25
Speaker 2: team that was dealing with injuries. But okay, that's part
47:28
Speaker 2: of it. Everybody has injuried. They were non competitive last
47:30
Speaker 2: year against West Virginia. They're four and oh ranked and
47:32
Speaker 2: have an inside track at a Big Twelve championship in
47:35
Speaker 2: a one year turn. Iowa State thought they'd be good,
47:37
Speaker 2: brought a bunch of people back. They have been. Cincinnati
47:40
Speaker 2: Westreet handled them easily last year. That's a team that
47:43
Speaker 2: has turned itself around. Three and one in league. Even
47:45
Speaker 2: Colorado Colorado would become a national joke, which how they
47:48
Speaker 2: handled things. They're playing some pretty good ball this year.
47:50
Speaker 2: They're three and one. How about Texas Tech? Not a
47:54
Speaker 2: lot of thought of them three and one, And finally,
47:56
Speaker 2: Arizona State picked finished last this year in the Big Twelve.
47:59
Speaker 2: They're sitting at two and two those last schools I
48:01
Speaker 2: just named. That's the upper half of the Big twelve.
48:03
Speaker 2: All pick to finish in the bottom half except for
48:05
Speaker 2: Iowa State out there small margin for air in a
48:10
Speaker 2: league like this.
48:11
Speaker 1: M H, hello, three guys. In honor of the Mountaineer's
48:15
Speaker 1: trip to the Desert, I wanted to share a funny
48:17
Speaker 1: story at my expense. It's embarrassing, but if it brings
48:21
Speaker 1: some laughter a to Mountaineer Nation, I'm okay with it.
48:23
Speaker 1: We had the chance to visit places like Old Tucson
48:26
Speaker 1: and the Grand Canyon. As many folks know, the state
48:29
Speaker 1: of Arizona is a bit bigger than our homeland. That
48:33
Speaker 1: made me made for some long car rides. Needless to say,
48:36
Speaker 1: the bladder of a first grader is roughly the size
48:40
Speaker 1: of a Caprice sun and similar to a Caprice's son.
48:43
Speaker 1: I felt the squeeze the entire trip. My parents still
48:48
Speaker 1: claim to this day that I could not go five
48:50
Speaker 1: miles on that trip without a bathroom break. My father
48:53
Speaker 1: tells the story by claiming that we visited an Indian reservation. There,
48:58
Speaker 1: the chief gave me my Indian name of pp Coyote.
49:03
Speaker 1: They called me that for years to follow. I hope
49:06
Speaker 1: this made someone laugh. Signed Pp, also known as Delbert
49:11
Speaker 1: in the Aedirndics, I'll get you and normally those types
49:17
Speaker 1: of situations less less of a hassle for the younger
49:23
Speaker 1: kids as it is. Maybe the older kids, Brad, the
49:25
Speaker 1: older people Kelsey in Moundsville rights. West Virginia has now
49:31
Speaker 1: lost to number nineteen, number sixteen, number ten, and number three,
49:35
Speaker 1: a combined record of twenty five and one. The one
49:37
Speaker 1: loss was the BYU, who's ranked eleven. My point, maybe
49:41
Speaker 1: West Virginia isn't in a shambles after all. I love
49:44
Speaker 1: the show, just wish fans would try to remain at
49:46
Speaker 1: least somewhat rational. This isn't the Big East anymore. Thank
49:49
Speaker 1: you Texter. This is a really this is a great story.
49:55
Speaker 1: So back in the summer, we were brought to the
49:59
Speaker 1: attention by our listener DJ in Monroe County about Xander Castillo.
50:05
Speaker 1: He's a West Virginian played wide receiver for West Virginia
50:09
Speaker 1: Wesleyan until he received a cancer diagnosis that required a
50:13
Speaker 1: liver transplant, and he's only twenty two years old. Well
50:18
Speaker 1: guess what After Saturday, Xander and his transplant surgery got together.
50:25
Speaker 1: Two months after his surgery and DJ writes, how awesome,
50:29
Speaker 1: Praise God, have a blessed week, guys. So there he is,
50:32
Speaker 1: two months after a liver transplant, did it up there
50:35
Speaker 1: at UPMC and looking great.
50:37
Speaker 2: Awesome.
50:38
Speaker 1: So that's awesome, dude, because that was he was in
50:42
Speaker 1: an incredibly difficult situation. That's great, Adam from Melbourne, Australia.
50:49
Speaker 1: It's down where Oliver straws from. Sure if the men's
50:52
Speaker 1: basketball team is going to be lacking for interior size
50:55
Speaker 1: this season, has anyone checked if Jimmy Bell has any
50:59
Speaker 1: eligibility left. I think he's completed his collegiate eligibility. Who
51:06
Speaker 1: said good feet had great feet? Don't know if he'd
51:10
Speaker 1: fit into Darren Devrez's style now. Darren wants to play
51:13
Speaker 1: five out sometimes. I don't know if Jimmy be a big,
51:17
Speaker 1: big threat out.
51:17
Speaker 2: There firing probably not his strength.
51:21
Speaker 1: Had good feet down in the box Texter. Following up
51:25
Speaker 1: from Connecting last week and on the flight home, my
51:28
Speaker 1: eight year old daughter confirmed that West Virginia University was
51:31
Speaker 1: more fun than Disney. She officially won the battle with
51:33
Speaker 1: my wife at buying a WVU Collgirl hat was the
51:36
Speaker 1: right decision because when we met Tony. He was kind
51:39
Speaker 1: enough to compliment my beautiful children. Excited to hear Brad
51:44
Speaker 1: on the hoop calls this year with some spreads on
51:46
Speaker 1: stats to follow. Now, this is the gentleman up there
51:49
Speaker 1: in Massachusetts. Yeah, he says he watched the scrimmage. Apparently
51:55
Speaker 1: the exhibition game. He came back with Derez's running a
51:58
Speaker 1: lot of three man actions with d h O flares, slips,
52:02
Speaker 1: DHO dribble handoff, yeh, yeh, dribble hand So this was
52:07
Speaker 1: his takeaway what Darren's doing. Darren's running a lot of
52:10
Speaker 1: three man actions with dribble handoff, flares, slips and refusals
52:15
Speaker 1: which will result in the right guys getting open looks.
52:18
Speaker 1: This offensive style is going to be a fresh look
52:20
Speaker 1: and will be fun for Mountaineer fans to watch. Then
52:24
Speaker 1: he went on to say that he's inviting us to
52:27
Speaker 1: Fenway Park because he had brought up that he's a
52:30
Speaker 1: Red Sox fan and I showed him a picture of
52:32
Speaker 1: Sean in the booth there at Fenway. He says, you
52:36
Speaker 1: guys can come to the game and stay in my Yep,
52:39
Speaker 1: there's the photo. There's ill. He met up with Darren too.
52:43
Speaker 1: You think they were talking about dribble handoffs. Probably, so
52:46
Speaker 1: there's the family. You can rotate those through Austin. Then
52:49
Speaker 1: they were at the game. Is Adam Hughes And Adam's
52:54
Speaker 1: right there. Adam Hughes, former mountaineer long snappers. There, he's
52:58
Speaker 1: to the left in the picture. I saw him him
53:00
Speaker 1: at the food courts in the game. When Gordy came down,
53:03
Speaker 1: we talked to him out. Yeah, he was there. You're
53:05
Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and flip those And then it looks
53:07
Speaker 1: like they without credentials, looked they snuck out into the field.
53:11
Speaker 1: Can't do that. And uh, then there's the kids in
53:14
Speaker 1: the coal mine.
53:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, their kids are great.
53:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was fun having a big.
53:18
Speaker 2: Gordy knows this stuff. Very successful coach. Remember he's the
53:20
Speaker 2: one that took behind stuff and then implemented it. Now
53:23
Speaker 2: teaches leadership, so he would know about d h o's.
53:26
Speaker 1: Dho's drible handoffs. Baby, Hey guys, day from Mural Murals
53:32
Speaker 1: Inlet class of eighty six. Longtime listener, first time text
53:38
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks ago. Down here at Meurle's Inlet,
53:41
Speaker 1: surfside beach.
53:42
Speaker 2: Great area.
53:43
Speaker 1: It's terrific. The legends they got together for an event
53:46
Speaker 1: and they had mountaineer legends there Major Harris, Darryl Talley,
53:50
Speaker 1: Brian Joswiak, Aaron Beasley, and Mike Fox. They were awesome,
53:55
Speaker 1: talked to everyone there, sign autographs, took pictures, hung out
53:58
Speaker 1: with the WV crowd. Joe could not have been nicer.
54:02
Speaker 1: He sat down to me, Donald with us, talked to
54:04
Speaker 1: me and my wife for several times. I mentioned how
54:06
Speaker 1: great his interview with three guys was during the summer.
54:08
Speaker 1: These guys hung out from three o'clock in the afternoon
54:11
Speaker 1: until almost midnight when the game ended. It just goes
54:14
Speaker 1: to show the WV as one big family. We're all together.
54:17
Speaker 1: The memories these legends gave us why we keep coming
54:20
Speaker 1: back and believe that there are good days ahead. Just
54:23
Speaker 1: wanted to let you guys know great things mountaineers do
54:25
Speaker 1: wherever they may be. Signed by Dave from Murl's Inlet
54:28
Speaker 1: by the way of South Jersey.
54:31
Speaker 2: It was a good list of guys.
54:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, that sound like a night and stunning. Stunning that
54:37
Speaker 1: they were late to leave a bar. That's a first Texter.
54:41
Speaker 1: I was going to send this after the game Saturday,
54:43
Speaker 1: but it didn't feel right. But now after the emotions
54:45
Speaker 1: of the loss are starting to subside. I thought I'd
54:48
Speaker 1: send this treat to you while I found this new
54:50
Speaker 1: rece bar. You see this thing. There was only one,
54:55
Speaker 1: so this created a dilemma. Do I send it to
54:57
Speaker 1: all of you? Or do I eat it? Eat it?
55:00
Speaker 1: My immediate thought was what would Tony do? Which was obvious.
55:02
Speaker 1: I decided I had decided to descended to you all.
55:06
Speaker 1: When I looked back see the second picture top right
55:08
Speaker 1: corner told me that Tony went out, so he crushed it.
55:11
Speaker 1: Let's keep supporting the team. Let's go out and here's
55:13
Speaker 1: Neil from Greenberg County. Brad. The chocolate to peanut butter
55:16
Speaker 1: is a little high in that particular model. Texter, here's
55:25
Speaker 1: a question, assuming Garrett and why it don't play. If
55:28
Speaker 1: West Virginia were to win with Nico having a big game,
55:30
Speaker 1: do you think that takes some of the pressure off
55:32
Speaker 1: of Neil. West Virginia's won before with Nico has never
55:36
Speaker 1: been a major factor though in those games. If he
55:38
Speaker 1: were to have a game where he threw for two
55:40
Speaker 1: hund ish and ran for another fifty, I think it
55:43
Speaker 1: would be something that Neil can point to as a
55:45
Speaker 1: reason to be optimistic for the future.
55:48
Speaker 2: I think they would take those numbers right now, as
55:50
Speaker 2: we just outlined sign up form. You think I think
55:52
Speaker 2: you'd take that right now.
55:55
Speaker 1: From Pittsburgh, just got off work and joined a refreshing
55:59
Speaker 1: three four connection, catching up on Big twelve media days.
56:03
Speaker 1: I don't know why, but I have a good feeling
56:05
Speaker 1: about Darren Devrees. Perhaps it's because of all Mountaineer Nation
56:09
Speaker 1: has football blues right now, but d Rock portrays a
56:13
Speaker 1: great sense of confidence in WV fans. I think we're
56:17
Speaker 1: going to be in great hands. Let's go Mountaineers. Let's
56:19
Speaker 1: get a win on Saturday. Now. Have you got to
56:20
Speaker 1: the point yet where you're calling him d Rock?
56:22
Speaker 2: I do not. I do not refer to him as
56:24
Speaker 2: d Rock mean neither.
56:25
Speaker 1: No.
56:26
Speaker 2: Some have at some of his previous stops.
56:27
Speaker 1: That's a I know that's what they call it. Huh.
56:30
Speaker 1: I not. I just go Darren. I don't feel that.
56:33
Speaker 1: I don't feel d Rock with him. I don't know.
56:37
Speaker 1: I'd be a surprise if that were to happen. Uh.
56:41
Speaker 1: Three guys, I was going to claim that the dog
56:45
Speaker 1: ate my homework, but not go into it this week.
56:47
Speaker 1: It's tough generating enthusiasm when your team isn't playing well.
56:50
Speaker 1: After the Kansas and Oklahoma State wins, it seemed like
56:53
Speaker 1: we would be toward the top of the league. Now
56:55
Speaker 1: it seems bottom of the league is our destiny. But here,
56:58
Speaker 1: I am a gamer Arizona Wildcats. More likely, here's your
57:03
Speaker 1: here's your.
57:04
Speaker 2: Scenarios, doud centies, he's usually good.
57:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, here's his pitch. Is it more likely that West
57:11
Speaker 1: Virginia gets two interceptions or that t McMillan has one
57:18
Speaker 1: hundred and forty receiving yards.
57:20
Speaker 2: Those are good ones, Those are good numbers.
57:21
Speaker 1: What are you going with? More likely West Virginia gets
57:26
Speaker 1: two picks? Again, I think the Teto McMillan has one
57:29
Speaker 1: hundred million.
57:30
Speaker 2: It's probably more likely given the defensive struggles. But if
57:34
Speaker 2: if you're holding him under one hundred, then you feel
57:36
Speaker 2: pretty good.
57:38
Speaker 1: Is it more likely that West Virginia runs the ball
57:40
Speaker 1: for over two fifty or that West Virginia's defense holds
57:44
Speaker 1: them under a hundie.
57:45
Speaker 2: It's also a good one. West Virginia running for two
57:49
Speaker 2: to fifty, you'd feel really good about where you are.
57:51
Speaker 2: I think they're gonna want to throw the ball, okay,
57:56
Speaker 2: And I think your focus is going to be on
57:58
Speaker 2: the pass, so I don't know if you'll hold them
57:59
Speaker 2: under They average that they average one thirty, so yeah,
58:02
Speaker 2: that hasn't been their strength.
58:05
Speaker 1: Next one, we we likely are starting a second string
58:08
Speaker 1: quarterback and a left tackle. They average just under two
58:14
Speaker 1: sacks per game. Is it more likely that Nico rushes
58:18
Speaker 1: for fifty or that the Wildcats get two sacks?
58:20
Speaker 2: Another good number? You're hoping it's Nico runs for fifty
58:31
Speaker 2: because I think that's a number nik. I think that's
58:33
Speaker 2: kind of where Nico needs to be.
58:34
Speaker 1: But both could happen.
58:35
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's that's That's the big joke on all
58:38
Speaker 2: these when we do these on sports Line is that
58:39
Speaker 2: most responses, we get a lot of people both. But
58:42
Speaker 2: that's not the game. The game is supposed to say
58:43
Speaker 2: which is more likely?
58:45
Speaker 1: I see, so Doug won't won't have any shenanigans of
58:47
Speaker 1: picking both right, good one, So it would be a
58:59
Speaker 1: great time. It'll be a great time, great time for
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Speaker 2: Good Sunday Morning Eats.
1:00:11
Speaker 1: That's just tremendous. World series begins this weekend. Chester and
1:00:17
Speaker 1: Winchester says, in keeping with you, there's always a West
1:00:20
Speaker 1: Virginia connection. Theme. In the nineteen fifty seven World Series,
1:00:25
Speaker 1: Nitro West Virginia's Lou Berdat pitched not one, not two,
1:00:31
Speaker 1: but three complete game wins, including two shutouts, Braves World
1:00:39
Speaker 1: Series championship over the Yankees. Put that into perspective right now, dude,
1:00:44
Speaker 1: Like if someone pitched a complete game in the World
1:00:48
Speaker 1: Series victory, probly wouldn't be out there if they were
1:00:52
Speaker 1: going to take the loss, But like that would be
1:00:54
Speaker 1: a major story right in this era of don't get
1:00:57
Speaker 1: it anymore, you don't get it. Three complete games, two shutouts, amazing.
1:01:06
Speaker 2: Different era. Yeah, can I give you one World Series stat? Here?
1:01:12
Speaker 2: Is interesting?
1:01:12
Speaker 1: This is not for me.
1:01:14
Speaker 2: Sarah Langs slangs on sports on Twitter. This will be
1:01:19
Speaker 2: the sixth World Series between each league's home run leader,
1:01:24
Speaker 2: Otani Judge, the sixth time that's happened in baseball history.
1:01:28
Speaker 2: Let's send us some of these names happened in nineteen
1:01:31
Speaker 2: twenty one. Babe Ruth and George Kelly squaring off nineteen
1:01:38
Speaker 2: twenty eight, Babe Ruth, Jim Bottomley Okay nineteen thirty six,
1:01:44
Speaker 2: Lou Garrig and Mel Ott Wow nineteen thirty seven, DiMaggio
1:01:49
Speaker 2: and Ott fifty six, Mickey Mannle and Duke Schneider. Those
1:01:55
Speaker 2: are some great names. So it hasn't happened since nineteen
1:01:57
Speaker 2: fifty six, the league leaders in home runs squaring off
1:02:00
Speaker 2: in a World series. That's pretty crazy.
1:02:02
Speaker 1: Sixty eight years. Hasn't happened in sixty eight years. Think
1:02:05
Speaker 1: about that. Yeah, that'll be something. What's your feel here?
1:02:10
Speaker 1: What World Series?
1:02:11
Speaker 2: Oh?
1:02:12
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't looked out enough.
1:02:13
Speaker 2: It's been busy breaking down. Noa fa fida.
1:02:16
Speaker 1: Yeah. Dodgers Basketball Big twelve Media days back on Wednesday.
1:02:24
Speaker 1: Talked a little bit about this on the night Show,
1:02:28
Speaker 1: and that is that officials are now going to get
1:02:30
Speaker 1: within forty eight hours of working a game, an official
1:02:34
Speaker 1: will get, in essence, a report card which evaluates them.
1:02:38
Speaker 1: I like the concept. I like the concept. I think
1:02:42
Speaker 1: in the past what was happening was that official comes
1:02:47
Speaker 1: in works again and they would have to do something
1:02:50
Speaker 1: that was egregiously bad in order to hear anything from
1:02:55
Speaker 1: the supervisor of officials, who would call up and say, hey, Brad,
1:03:00
Speaker 1: got a call from coach X. Coach says, you killed
1:03:04
Speaker 1: them on this. I went back and looked at the tape,
1:03:07
Speaker 1: and you killed them on that thing. That was the
1:03:08
Speaker 1: wrong call. Okay, that would be the only time they
1:03:13
Speaker 1: would get any feedback Other than that. Man, they're just bouncing,
1:03:16
Speaker 1: you know, you see them every week. They're just like
1:03:18
Speaker 1: every night you see them in different places. So they're
1:03:20
Speaker 1: not getting feedback. So at least now they're going to
1:03:22
Speaker 1: get something right in the form of an email that
1:03:25
Speaker 1: will say, Okay, here's your breakdown of your game. You
1:03:28
Speaker 1: did this well, did this well, you did this well,
1:03:29
Speaker 1: and we go this and then every two weeks they're
1:03:32
Speaker 1: sending out a training video.
1:03:34
Speaker 2: Hopefully it leads to consistency correct which is really hard.
1:03:38
Speaker 2: It's really hard when there's different people calling a game
1:03:41
Speaker 2: that looks different based on the teams that are playing
1:03:44
Speaker 2: in style of play. I get that this is an
1:03:45
Speaker 2: extremely hard job. But see, this is going to be important.
1:03:48
Speaker 2: We're going to talk officials a lot this season because
1:03:51
Speaker 2: think about the style that Darren wants to play. And
1:03:53
Speaker 2: in this league, it's a physical league, right, it's big
1:03:57
Speaker 2: boy basketball. You better come and be able to play
1:03:59
Speaker 2: through con Darren defensively wants to have contact. He invites
1:04:04
Speaker 2: the contact, the rubbing off screens both offensively and defensively,
1:04:08
Speaker 2: the hands on I mean, you're gonna have to push
1:04:10
Speaker 2: back at times, and then with West Virginia's depth at
1:04:13
Speaker 2: certain positions. A couple early foul calls on Tucker, an
1:04:18
Speaker 2: early foul call on Toby two early three first half oul. Right,
1:04:22
Speaker 2: there's going to be some things this year where we're
1:04:24
Speaker 2: going to be hyper sensitive to how these games are
1:04:27
Speaker 2: being called and what the take is from an official
1:04:30
Speaker 2: on each given night, especially in Pig twelve play, It's
1:04:33
Speaker 2: gonna matter. Okay, this is what I'm saying.
1:04:35
Speaker 1: So with that being said, perfect world, you just want
1:04:41
Speaker 1: to have a bang fest.
1:04:43
Speaker 2: It seems to me early returns that you want the
1:04:46
Speaker 2: game to be officials that let it go a little
1:04:49
Speaker 2: bit more, knowing it's going to cost you some opportunities
1:04:52
Speaker 2: cutting through the lane and the free flow offense that
1:04:54
Speaker 2: he wants to run. But you're also going to shoot
1:04:56
Speaker 2: a lot of perimeter threes right defensively, I think you
1:04:59
Speaker 2: will want the abilit to bag and bang and push,
1:05:03
Speaker 2: is my early take. Yeah, agree, disagree, No.
1:05:07
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I think it would be advantageous.
1:05:09
Speaker 1: And to your point, there's not a whole lot of
1:05:11
Speaker 1: depth on this team that we know of, right, so
1:05:14
Speaker 1: fall trouble could be really really consequential.
1:05:18
Speaker 2: So you start nickeling Diamond Javon Small trying to get
1:05:21
Speaker 2: over a screen on two ridiculous calls in the first
1:05:23
Speaker 2: six minutes, and he's got to come out. We're going
1:05:25
Speaker 2: to be screaming. So I would prefer those guys the consistency.
1:05:29
Speaker 2: Go the way of what we always used to say
1:05:31
Speaker 2: under Bob Huggins in the press Virginia. Don't call anything,
1:05:33
Speaker 2: just look the other way, don't worry about it.
1:05:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I just my thing one way or the other.
1:05:40
Speaker 1: I just want one. So in other words, if we're
1:05:42
Speaker 1: going to be physical, let's let it be physical. Learn
1:05:44
Speaker 1: them bang. As long as it's consistent. If we're gonna
1:05:46
Speaker 1: do touchy touchy, then be consistent touchy touchy. That's all
1:05:51
Speaker 1: I want. I just want it the same. As long
1:05:52
Speaker 1: as it's the same, you can adjust to it and
1:05:54
Speaker 1: you can play that way. If not, then it turns
1:05:57
Speaker 1: into just like it's it's what.
1:05:59
Speaker 2: Every kill says. Well, but it's the hardest thing to.
1:06:01
Speaker 1: Get, I mean. And it'll also be interesting to see
1:06:03
Speaker 1: if these new officials that come into the league, that
1:06:06
Speaker 1: are coming in from the PAC twelve, if they can
1:06:09
Speaker 1: get the adjustment. So John Higgins, who worked in both leagues,
1:06:11
Speaker 1: the Pac twelve and the Big twelve. I mean, you
1:06:13
Speaker 1: would think we'll find out how well they're listening, because
1:06:16
Speaker 1: he will give them this is the way that it
1:06:19
Speaker 1: should be called, this is the way I want it called.
1:06:21
Speaker 1: And then eventually you find out, Right, we'll see if
1:06:26
Speaker 1: they don't, then do you have the ability to fire
1:06:30
Speaker 1: guys and kick get them out of your league if
1:06:31
Speaker 1: they're not officiating it the way that you want it?
1:06:33
Speaker 1: Because the oftentimes the argument that they come back with
1:06:36
Speaker 1: is we can't fire X, Y and Z because there's
1:06:39
Speaker 1: not enough good X, Y and z's out there, So
1:06:41
Speaker 1: you have to deal with it.
1:06:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's why we talk all the time about trying
1:06:43
Speaker 2: to backfill some of these officials. Hard job, I get it.
1:06:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, music's on. That means we're done. Thanks
1:06:50
Speaker 1: for being with us. We're back again sometime Sunday. Still
1:06:55
Speaker 1: calculating that, but we'll be on the postgame wrap up
1:06:59
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Three guys before the game. Thanks to our
1:07:01
Speaker 1: producer Austin Right. Three guys brought to us by Comac's
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Speaker 1: Wendell Marine at sales in St Albans. They sell family fun.
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Speaker 1: Visit Lou Wendelmarine at sales dot com. Three guys brought
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Speaker 1: to us by Tutors Biscuit World Start your day the
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Speaker 1: Three Guys' Way with Tutors Biscuits. And three guys brought
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1:07:36
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for being with us every self a
1:07:39
Speaker 1: great weekend, and we'll talk to you on Sunday when
1:07:43
Speaker 1: we drop our latest episode. Be good,