The Shotgun/Throwdown: Thursday (12/15/11) 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 Kona Pipeline Porter.

We have coverage of the highly successful Varsity Club charity drive from yesterday to go along with several notebooks, new practice facility photos, a couple football features, some recruiting news and some good ole schadenfreude at Pitt's expense. Caleb also checks in with an update on Devin Ebanks. All of this and more. Let's get going...

What You May Have Missed:

Gold And Blue Now: Thursday - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Former Pitt head coach Todd Graham leaves after one season, a group of former Mountaineers give back and Chip Fontanazza profiles Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd.

Practice Facility Photos December 14, 2011 - Facebook

WVU's 'Cans for a Cause' is a Huge Success - WVillustrated
The WVU Varsity Club helped collect a lot of food and money for area food pantries.

Giving Back To The Community - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Includes video with Dale Wolfely, Amy Bieski, Mike Carey, Jedd and Scott Gyorko

Kobe Bryant Talks About Devin Ebanks w/ Video - WVU Pros
Kobe Bryant and Lakers head coach Mike Brown speak about Devin Ebanks.

News of Note:

Clemson's Bellamy Suspended For Orange Bowl - WVMETRONEWS.COM
On Tuesday, Tigers' head coach Dabo Swinney announced Bellamy will not be on the field for the Orange Bowl for violating unspecified team rules.

Turnovers, penalties hurt Clemson during skid - Charleston Gazette
"Well, they didn't look too bad in their last game,'' the West Virginia coach said. "And they played a pretty good team.''

WVU's offensive performance against LSU built confidence - Charleston Daily Mail
"LSU is as good as it gets," Smith said. "There's no better test than the No. 1 team in the country."

WVU's Miller flies under the radar - Charleston Daily Mail
How was it that the All-Big East team - voted by the conference's eight coaches - had eight defensive linemen on two teams, and it didn't include WVU redshirt senior tackle Julian Miller?

This Week's Notebook - MSNsportsNET.Com
From around both Basketball and Football

A House in Arizona, new classes and a Top 10 nod - Charleston Gazette
Vingle's Notebook

Video: Orange Bowl preview - Big East Blog - ESPN
Adam Rittenberg and Andrea Adelson preview the Discover Orange Bowl between West Virginia and Clemson.

Tavon Austin Named AP All-American - WVillustrated
The AP lists Austin on its third team.

One Key Spot Still Unfilled at Arizona - Pre-Snap Read
He posits that Casteel would be the best fit....even though all current indications are that he is staying put

Defensive Coordinator Jeff Casteel - Mountaineer TV
Defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel talks about getting his players prepared for the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl.

Recruiting:

WVU Pays Visit to Pitt Commit Adam Pankey - WVillustrated
Following the news of Pittsburgh head coach Todd Graham's departure, a number of schools have contacted Panthers commits to gauge their interest.

Florida Safety to Choose Between WVU, UCF - WVillustrated
Karl Joseph, a 5-11 safety prospect out of Edgewater High School, plans to make announcement at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Around the League (and Beyond):

Report: Navy Prepared To Join The Big East, Unsure When - Big East Coast Bias

HERTZEL COLUMN: ‘Quit.’ It rhymes with Pitt - Times West Virginian

Todd Graham Heads To Arizona State: The Day After - Cardiac Hill

Syracuse's Fab Melo makes major strides so far in sophomore season - Post Standard

Louisville basketball's Russ smith enjoys growing role - Courier-Journal

USF fades after halftime, falls to Auburn - Tampa Tribune

Georgetown Hoyas First Quarter Analysis - Casual Hoya

December 15 Quick Hits - Friar Basketball: PC Hoops For All

It's your ball now, Phil Greene. - Rumble In The Garden

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano balancing bowl preparation with exams - Star Ledger

Derek Wolfe Is Very Good - Down The Drive

UConn football: UConn Quarterbacks Coach Headed For Top Job At Fordham - Hartford Courant

College Hoops Mailbag - Seth Davis - SI.com

College Football Mailbag- Stewart Mandel - SI.com

What's On Tap:

Men's Basketball: Food Drive/Doorbuster Special - MSNsportsNET.Com
The Mountaineer men's basketball team takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first game of the iBN Sports Las Vegas Classic Saturday, at 2 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.

Basketball: Sign-Up to Be 84 Lumber Fan Of The Game - MSNsportsNET.Com
Winners will receive four tickets to an upcoming WVU men's basketball game and will be recognized on the WVU Coliseum videoboard during a timeout.

Nike's Rise and Roar Campaign - WVillustrated
"ROAR" to show your support for WVU Basketball and your words just might end up on a Nike T-Shirt.

Video of Interest:

Video of (Dis)Interest:

It's long, but it's worth it (that's what she said):

Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is a lingerie model from Belarus. Click on the picture for today's gallery of Maryna Linchuk.

Kona Pipeline Porter image via lh4.ggpht.com