The Shotgun/Throwdown: Thursday (10/20/11) Edition

by WVUIE97 on Oct 20, 2011 9:52 AM EDT in Shotgun/Throwdown

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's nationally recognized best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions. We're being brought to you today by Spaten Oktoberfest.

The Big East held it's annual basketball media day yesterday and the coaches followed the media's lead and voted the Mountaineers 7th, as well as naming Kevin Jones to the First Team All Big East squad. As much as the league wanted to avoid it, expansion was a popular topic of the day and Huggs checked in with his opinion. Back on the football side, Syracuse prep rolls on with the usual game previews and a few looks at the Orange personnel. We also have an update on the verbal commitments' performances this past week.

Happy Birthday to my old man and my dearest!!

What You May Have Missed:

Coach Talk With Dana Holgorsen - WVMETRONEWS.COM
WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen goes over what the Mountaineers did in the off week, how valuable the bye week was for recruiting and gives his thoughts on the UConn game

Gold And Blue Now: Thursday - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Big East Commissioner John Marinatto talks about Big East Basketball Media Day, Chip Fontanazza gets Geno Smith's thoughts on rebounding from a poor performance against the Orange last season and Hoppy Kercheval stops by to go inside the numbers

WVU’s Luck mum on status - Parkersburg News and Sentinel
AD remains quiet on conference realignment

College football financial listing reveals winners, losers - Indianapolis Business Journal
Brewer valued the college football franchises the way a Wall Street analyst would value a business operation, based on cash flow history and myriad other factors. - See how they valued WVU football at #21

WVU Picked Seventh - MSNsportsNET.Com
Voted 7th by both the BE coaches and media

West Virginia's Bob Huggins Prefers a 10 Team Basketball League - Big East Coast Bias
"With 10 teams you can have a true champion. A lot of times with these big leagues the best team doesn't win the regular season because of scheduling."

West Virginia’s Jones carves out his own identity - Times West Virginian
For the second consecutive year, West Virginia University’s Kevin Jones has been named to the preseason All-Big East team.

ESPN.com's Big East preview - ESPN
Team previews if you're an "insider" but a free video

2011 Big East Media Day - ESPN
In notebook form

Week Eight F/+ Rankings - Football Study Hall
15th here

News of Note:

Syracuse Preview - MSNsportsNET.Com
Dana Holgorsen believes the formula Syracuse used to defeat West Virginia last year in Morgantown is likely the same one the Orange will try and employ this Friday night against in the Carrier Dome.

Orange no mystery to WVU’s Holgorsen - Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Mountaineers look to remain unbeaten in Big East standings

WVU won't look past Syracuse - Register-Herald
MIckey's Column

Stopping the run No. 1 job for WVU - PPG
"We've worked all week to prepare to play the run," said senior defensive tackle Julian Miller.

WVU’s defense making a name for itself - Times West Virginian/AP
“That’s how we like it,” said Irvin, a senior. “Just got to go out there, do our job. Clock in and clock out.”

Bad Day Revisited - Charleston Gazette
Smith had forgettable outing last year vs. Orange

WVU offense not yet a finished product - Times West Virginian
“That’s the thing. Eventually, you have to do it,” he said. “Hopefully, the next game we will get rolling. I think we will get there at some point, but we’re not a finished product yet. Obviously, we want to get there sooner or later.”

Smith, Bailey ready for matchup against other Miramar products in ‘Cuse - Daily Athenaeum
Syracuse cornerbacks, sophomore Keon Lyn and junior Ri'Shard Anderson played in the Miramar area, and Lyn went to the same high school as Smith, Bailey and McCartney.

HERTZEL COLUMN: Nothing certain in Big East race - Times West Virginian
See, it is October and, as Pitt coach Todd Graham points out, “The conference is won in November.”

WVU needs to find road identity - Daily Athenaeum
The Sept. 17 trip to Maryland seems like a very long time ago. And, since it was such an isolated example, there hasn't been much opportunity for this team to develop a road identity.

Syracuse freshman rapidly maturing - Charleston Daily Mail
The second play Syracuse linebacker Dyshawn Davis saw against Rutgers was the one he was preparing for most.

Defensive End Bruce Irvin - Mountaineer TV
Bruce Irvin looks back at last year's game against Syracuse and previews this year's game on Friday night at the Carrier Dome.