The Shotgun/Throwdown: Thursday (10/6/11) Edition

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 Brooklyn Brewery's Oktoberfest.

As we start getting into the game previews for this weekend's tilt with UConn, there's still lots of chatter around the attendance issue...and this time it's coming from the players too.  Dustin Garrison continues to garner lots of attention, Temple wants back in the Big East, there's a recruiting update on Andrew White and much, much more.

What You May Have Missed:

Gold And Blue Now: Thursday - WVMETRONEWS.COM
In Thursday's episode, fans continue to sound off about Dana Holgorsen's comments from Tuesday's press conference, UConn play-by-play man Joe D'Ambrosio talks about the upcoming UConn game and Hoppy Kercheval goes over some attendance numbers.

Irvin Wants Fans In The Stands - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Article and video with the senior DE

Big East superlative tracker - Big East Blog - ESPN
With conference play just beginning, we are going to start our weekly look at league races for offensive, defensive and coach of the year.

Week Six F/+ Rankings - Football Study Hall
#16 here

The Numerical, Week 5: Robert Woods, Turnover Festivals And Blown Opportunities - SBNation.com
WVU gets a mention in this week's Numerical at "2"

Staying in Big East wouldn’t be a bad thing - Daily Athenaeum
West Virginia is not going to the Southeastern Conference.  While that statement isn't necessarily guaranteed to be true, how would you feel if it were?

Majority of SEC presidents favor Missouri, but not yet enough - Birmingham News
One source said there's a group of presidents that wants to sit tight, believing the SEC can do better than Missouri and that No. 14 should come from the East.

Nonconference schedule analysis: Big East - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN

Team Support - MSNsportsNET.Com
With one in eight women developing breast cancer in their lifetime, the West Virginia University volleyball team is doing its part to promote Breast Cancer Awareness in the month of October.

WVU's Strongest Woman Contest - MSNsportsNET.Com
On Friday September 23rd, members of the West Virginia University Women's Basketball team, Gymnastics team, Track and Field team, and Swimming and Diving team held a competition to see just who has the strongest team on campus.

News of Note:

Connecticut Preview - MSNsportsNET.Com
Sixteenth-ranked West Virginia opens Big East play this Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium with an interesting matchup against last season’s champ Connecticut.

Pasqualoni knows WVU well - Register-Herald
Mountaineers may take to air against UConn Saturday

Huskies ready to bounce back after loss to WMU - Daily Athenaeum
The Huskies are 2-3 on the season but could easily be undefeated. Their three losses were by a combined 14 points, and Connecticut was leading in the fourth quarter of each of those games.

Huskies hit road seeking upset of 16th-ranked Mountaineers - SB Nation
Tied with South Florida and Cincinnati for the most overall victories in the Big East Conference, the 16th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers now try to log their first league win of the 2011 campaign as they host the Connecticut Huskies on Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown.

Role growing for UConn return man - Charleston Daily Mail
Nick Williams was the best kickoff return man in college football in 2010.  He's becoming one of Connecticut's offensive threats in 2011.

Defense, turnovers key for WVU - Parkersburg News and Sentinel
"They are running similar things to what they ran last year," explained Casteel.  "They have good coaches up there and they know how to attack you."

A few Goode men - Charleston Gazette
Mountaineers still juggling linebacking corps

Holgorsen wants Austin to pump up the volume - Charleston Daily Mail
Casazza's Notebook

Avoiding Extended In-Game Lulls - Pre-Snap Read
the Mountaineers have been stricken by lapses of concentration.  Can West Virginia afford to play 45 minutes of football in a 60-minute game against the rest of the Big East? - thanks to grumpnet because I missed this one

WVU Receivers, Quarterbacks Find Success Through Trust - WV Illustrated
There is one that makes constant appearances throughout the week, though, and that's the noose drill. - article includes video

Dustin Garrison Continuing a Trend at WVU - WV Illustrated
Going back to the 1996 season, there have been three 1,000 yard freshman running backs at WVU.

Big East drops the ball, again - Register-Herald
West Virginia freshman Dustin Garrison was not the offensive player of the week?

Dustin Garrison comes up big for WVU - Big East Blog - ESPN
For a player who was barely recruited out of high school, Dustin Garrison is coming up big for West Virginia.

Former WVU, Monongah star Marbury reflects on life - Times West Virginian
Sometime less than an hour after freshman Dustin Garrison had rushed for 291 yards against Bowling Green in his first collegiate start for West Virginia University, someone asked him if he knew who Kerry Marbury was.

W.Va. native, fan big part of improving line - PPG
Today, West Virginia's starting right guard is part of an offensive line that might have finally turned the corner.

Video: Football Interviews 10/4 - BGN
Coach Casteel, Coach Gillespie, Bruce and Julian

Wide Receiver Tavon Austin - Mountaineer TV
Tavon Austin talks about the team's slow starts, and the upcoming game against UConn on Saturday.

Recruiting:

2012 Prospect Andrew White Still High on Mountaineers - WV Illustrated
West Virginia University was stop No. 2 for prep star Andrew White on his official visit tour this fall as he looks to narrow down his focus on the schools he's considering for his future.

Around the League (and Beyond):

Former Commissioner Says Big East May Not Survive - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Another day, another DUH article

Temple Wants to Rejoin the Big East - Big East Coast Bias

Offense Has Been Struggling, Hope To Rebound Vs. West Virginia - Hartford Courant

Louisville offensive line must cope with North Carolina defensive end Quinton Coples - Courier-Journal

No reason why UC can’t win the Big East - Cincinnati Enquirer

Snyder expects better from D - Tampa Tribune

Smiles all around as defensive star Chandler Jones returns to Syracuse University practices - Post Standard
The junior defensive end returns to the Orange and will take the field again Oct. 21 against West Virginia.

Pitt Vs. Rutgers: Can Lucas Nix Be Ready For Saturday? - Cardiac Hill

Rutgers' Jawan Jamison says team's running game is about to break out - Star Ledger

TCU's Recipe for Success in San Diego - Frogs O' War

St. John's Red Storm's Steve Lavin set for Thursday cancer surgery - ESPN New York
We certainly wish him the best

College Football Mailbag - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

Report: Missouri wanted a Big Ten invite the most - Chicago Tribune
They still do

Big Ten could steal Missouri from SEC - Sporting News

Your 2011 Harris Poll - Pre-Snap Read
So who are the 115 voters — are they coaches, former players, media members?

What's On Tap:

California Golden Bears vs. (9) Oregon Ducks - Preview - ESPN
9 pm tonight from Autzen on ESPN/ESPN3.  Ducks are giving 24.

West Virginia’s six seniors to play in final two home games this weekend - Daily Athenaeum
The West Virginia women's soccer team returns home to compete in the final two regular season games of the season this weekend.

Mountaineer Madness to Tip Off Basketball Season - MSNsportsNET.Com
The West Virginia men’s and women’s basketball programs will tip off the 2011-12 season with Mountaineer Madness presented by Coke Zero, Friday, Oct. 14 at the WVU Coliseum.

Video of Interest:

MSN's weekly feature on the players that wear the jersey.  This week we meet senior offensive lineman Donnie Barclay.

Video of (Dis)Interest:

Hold on...

Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is Swedish model Petra Silander.  Click on her picture for today's gallery.

Brooklyn Brewery's Oktoberfest image via www.bruguru.com