The Shotgun/Throwdown: Brawl Week Kickoff (11/21/11) Edtion

By WVUIE97@WVUIE97 Nov 21, 2011, 9:07am EST

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 Carrabassett Kölsch Ale.

Time to crank up the hate, people. It's BRAWL WEEK!!!!! Questions abound regarding the future of the series, but my opinion is that it will continue, but it may have to take a season or two off (for football at least). My Brawl week got off to an early start Saturday night when I went out with a group of coworkers and a boyfriend of one is a Pitt fan. Good times. Good times (turn the sarcasm meter to "on"). This should be a fun week around here, as usual, while we cover the rivalry.

In other WVU sports news, the Mountaineer women split a pair of games this weekend while the men's soccer team was eliminated from their NCAA tournament. Football also picked up another WR commitment over the weekend as well.

What You May Have Missed:

Gold And Blue Now: Monday - WVMETRONEWS.COM
breakdown WVU's BCS scenarios, look back at some of the most memorable "Backyard Brawl" match ups and look forward to the basketball team's match up against Morehead State in Charleston

WVU will play on new basketball floor at Charleston Civic Center on Tuesday - Charleston Daily Mail
The West Virginia University-Morehead State basketball matchup Tuesday will be the first game played on a newly installed floor at the Charleston Civic Center.

Luck: WVU lucky to be switching leagues - Charleston Gazette
In most cases, these bowls would rather have the No. 3 or 4 Southeastern Conference team than the Big East champ. So the automatic qualifying system might go out the window.

The Dana Holgorsen Show - WVillustrated
Watch this week's episode of The Dana Holgorsen Show.

2011 NCAA College Football Polls and Rankings for Week 13 - ESPN
#23 Coaches, 1st out AP

Big East bowl projections: Week 13 - Big East Blog - ESPN
Orange here

College Bowl Games - 2011 College Bowl Projections and Schedules - ESPN
Orange and Pinstripe

Bowl Projections, Week 13: At Least The SEC Rematch Will Be Better Than The Orange Bowl - SBNation.com
Belk

Kevin Jones: By the Numbers - WVillustrated
"He is right now the all-time leading offensive rebounder," Huggins said. "Second leading scorer, second leading rebounder I think on the Final Four team. He has had a Hall of Fame career."

Top Rebounder - MSNsportsNET.Com
According to Bob Huggins, the one physical trait all good rebounders must have is a set of great hands. Huggins believes that may be senior Kevin Jones’ best attribute.

Don’t Give up on Young Mountaineers Just Yet - Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
But there's still reason to believe they'll win their share of games and most of those begin and end with the man at the end of the bench with the pullover on, Bob Huggins.

Terps End WVU's Season - MSNsportsNET.Com
The West Virginia men’s soccer team saw its season come to an end with a 4-0 loss at No. 5 Maryland in the second round of the NCAA Championship at Ludwig Field on Sunday evening.

Mountaineers Drop Close Contest - MSNsportsNET.Com
The West Virginia University women’s basketball team dropped a close contest to St. Bonaventure, 56-48, on Friday night at the Coliseum.

WVU Women Dominate North Carolina Central - MSNsportsNET.Com
The West Virginia women’s basketball team held North Carolina Central to the lowest point total in the history of women’s basketball at the WVU Coliseum with a 97-24 victory over the Eagles Sunday afternoon.

WVU Women's Basketball Interviews: North Carolina Central - WVillustrated
Coach Carey, Taylor Palmer and Jess Harlee

News of Note:

Backyard Brawl Week 2011: One to go on? - PPG
For starters, this is an elimination game. The winner remains alive and in the hunt for the Big East championship while the loser will be left to scramble to lock up a berth to a lesser bowl.

Does Backyard Brawl have a future? - Charleston Daily Mail
The rivalry - the most played in Eastern major college football besides Army-Navy (the 112th meeting next month at FedEx Field) - is anything but doomed, however.

HERTZEL COLUMN: Brawl the heart, soul of football - Times West Virginian
Jeff Braun, the offensive linemen, put it this way on his Twitter: “I hate this week because Morgantown is so dead. ... However, I LOVE this week for one reason ... IT’S PITT.”

Holgorsen dials down WVU offense - Charleston Daily Mail
He said his first season with the Mountaineers is not like what it was with the Cougars and Cowboys, but like it was when he joined the Texas Tech staff in 2000.

Holgorsen: Offensive line must improve - Charleston Gazette
The Panthers certainly have their flaws, but defensive line play isn't one of them. WVU's offensive line will be going against a Pitt defensive front that is allowing just 122 rushing yards per game, and one that ranks among the top 10 in the nation in sacks.

Penalty glut a concern for Mountaineers - Charleston Gazette
To say that West Virginia's football team has a penalty problem is probably a stretch

Coach's criticism toughens WVU defense - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"I think we take the most criticism from our coaches, especially Coach Casteel, than we take from anyone else," sophomore Doug Rigg said. "I can take anything from anyone else after taking criticism from him."

HERTZEL COLUMN: WVU special teams making some gains - Times West Virginian
The problem is that special teams is a complex web of varying skills, from kickoff to placekicking to punting to coverage to a return game, one that coaches maintain carries as important a game-winning and game-losing value as does offense and defense.

Recruiting:

Junior College Receiver Commits to WVU - WVillustrated
Daniel McKinney gave WVU his verbal commitment to attend WVU next year. McKinney stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 225 pounds. He is currently attending the City College of San Francisco and is the fifth receiver to commit to West Virginia this season.

JC Receiver Commits To WVU - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Includes highlight video

Two Jucos In, One on Board - BGN
Two junior college players visited West Virginia this weekend, and the Mountaineers received a commitment from one of them as their time on campus concluded