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The Shotgun/Throwdown: Norfolk St. Pre-Game (9/9/11) 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 Blue Moon, one of the beers now available at Mylan Puskar Stadium.

Norfolk St. comes to town tomorrow with an extremely similar offense and defense to the Mountaineers. Here's your everything you need to prepare for the game tomorrow edition, including a tailgate recipe and a weather report. We'll have more later today, but for now, gotta run.

Let's GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What You May Have Missed:

Gold And Blue Now: Friday - WVMETRONEWS.COM
In the week's final episode of "Gold and Blue Now", Tony Caridi and Hoppy Kercheval talks about how likely it is that the Norfolk State Spartans upset the Mountaineers on Saturday. Also find out Tony's keys to Saturday game.

Thursday Night Thoughts from Dana Holgorsen - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Here are some thoughts on Dana Holgorsen's comments from his Thursday night radio show.

Mountaineer Gameday: WVU has seen a boost in ticket sales this season - Charleston Daily Mail
This year's total of 38,636 marks the most preseason tickets sold at WVU since 1998, when the Mountaineers had 33,696 full-season and 7,510 partial plans - and the visitors included Ohio State, Maryland and Miami (Fla.).

Holgorsen bringing the buzz back - Daily Athenaeum
The constant setbacks led to fan frustration, which inevitably led to low attendance. During the Bill Stewart tenure, the largest crowd at Mountaineer Field was 60,765. The first game for current head coach Dana Holgorsen at Mountaineer Field had 60,758 fans in attendance.

9/11 Events Planned - MSNsportsNET.Com
Several activities are planned during Saturday’s Norfolk State football game in recognition of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

HERTZEL COLUMN: Thornton to help call WVU game - Times West Virginian
Former WVU DT John Thorton will be in the booth this weekend doing color commentary for ROOT

J.J. Redick dominates among efficiency era shooting guards, wings - Luke Winn - SI.com
Gansey makes an appearance on this list. Thanks to JB Seay for the heads up!

News of Note:

No. 19 West Virginia to display depth; RB Buie likely out, Trey Johnson back from injury - Daily Athenaeum
When Norfolk State makes the trip to Morgantown this weekend, it will be the first time the two programs face each other.

WVU faces similar schemes in second game - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
West Virginia may not have to view much film this week to figure out its opponent, cause the Mountaineers could look at themselves and learn a lot about who they'll play.

WVU vs. Norfolk State - Charleston Gazette
"It depends on the feel of the game, I suppose,'' Holgorsen said. "I've been in games where we put our second team in there and just told them to play football. That means to just play at a normal tempo and just go out and play.

Muskets Loaded; Spartans Invade - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Game Preview

Mountaineer corners expect to be challenged by Norfolk State - Charleston Gazette
West Virginia's first game of the season did not provide the Mountaineers with something they very badly wanted to see. A test of their secondary, specifically the corners.

Third down stops key for Mountaineer defense - Times West Virginian
They are moving S Garvin to LB in certain situations like they did with Sands last year

WVU football: Offense helps take burden off of the defense - Charleston Daily Mail
"All that talent on offense?" cornerback Pat Miller said. "We want to watch them, too. We'd rather get off the field fast so the offense gets the ball again."

WVU Cornerback Miller's Mom is Biggest Fan - WV Illustrated
"She's been like that since I started football," Miller said with a smile. "Ever since my little league days, she's been the loudest at the game. Everybody knows her from that, so I'm not surprised that anybody heard her."

WVU’s special teams had some ups and downs - Register-Herald
"It exposed some problems that we need to work on," Holgorsen said. "In 45 minutes of special teams evaluation, it exposed some people. It’s how you play at that level and at that speed that shows you some things you don’t know. We learned a lot."

Offensive Lineman Pat Eger - Mountaineer TV
Pat Eger talks about having a short week to prepare for Norfolk State, and improvements the offensive line is looking to make.

Defensive Back Terence Garvin - Mountaineer TV
Terence Garvin talks about his role in this year's defense, and looks ahead to Norfolk State.

WVi Game Day Weather Forecast - WV Illustrated

Around the League (and Beyond):

BIg East Football Week 2 Preview - WV Illustrated

Week 2 preview in the Big East - Rivals.com

Louisville football team wary of FIU's do-it-all T. Y. Hilton - Courier-Journal

Matchup Of The Week: Bearcats CB's vs Vols WR's - Down The Drive

Scouting The Ball State Offense - Voodoo Five

Syracuse vs. Rhode Island: Fast Start Critical For Orange - Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician

UConn Defense, Coach Don Brown, Won't Take Vanderbilt Lightly - Hartford Courant

Rutgers' Jeremy Deering prepared to show he's 100 percent back after early injury - Star Ledger

Pitt Football Attendance: Fans Need To Step It Up - Cardiac Hill
Good luck with that

Baylor’s Plan B? The Big East - Rivals.com

College football's flashy uniform trend is destined to fade while the classics are forever - Sporting News

Playoff unlikely, but conference realignment would alter BCS - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

College GameDay Kickoff: Week 2 preview - ESPN

What's On Tap:

Norfolk State Spartans vs. (19) West Virginia Mountaineers - Preview - ESPN
1 pm Saturday from MPS on Root Sports Pittsburgh, MASN2, ESPN Gameplan and ESPN3. No line.

Florida International Golden Panthers vs. Louisville Cardinals - ESPN
7 pm tonight from the Pizza Place on ESPN/ESPN3. Cards are giving 4.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. North Carolina Tar Heels - ESPN
12:30 pm Saturday from Kenan on SNY, ESPN Gameplan and ESPN3. Heels are giving 10.

Maine Black Bears vs. Pittsburgh Panthers - ESPN
1 pm Saturday from the Ketchup Palace on ESPN3. No line.

Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Tennessee Volunteers - ESPN
3:30 pm Saturday from Neyland on ESPN2/3. Vols are giving 4.5.

Rhode Island Rams vs. Syracuse Orange - ESPN
4:30 pm Saturday from the Dome on SNY, ESPN Gameplan and ESPN3. No line.

Ball State Cardinals vs. (22) South Florida Bulls - Preview - ESPN
7:00 pm Saturday from RayJay on Altitude, ESPN Gameplan and ESPN3. Bulls are giving 20.5.

Connecticut Huskies vs. Vanderbilt Commodores - ESPN
7:30 pm Saturday from Nash-Vegas on SNY, ESPN Gameplan and ESPN3. Vandy is giving 2.5.

Tailgate Recipe of the Week:

Bacon Wrapped Garlic Cream Cheese Jalapeño Poppers

What you’ll need:
12-14 Fresh Jalapeño peppers
8 oz. Cream Cheese
2 Table Spoons minced garlic (garlic powder works as a substitution)
1 lb. Sliced bacon
Moistened Toothpicks

What to do:
Slice each jalapeño in half length-wise. Remove all the seeds and inner membranes leaving just the outter portion of the pepper. Mix the cream cheese and garlic together in a bowl making sure all the garlic is thoroughly distributed in the cream cheese. Fill each pepper until the cream cheese fills the cavity where the seeds once were. Wrap the filled peppers with one slice of bacon and hold together with toothpick. (Tip: Soak toothpicks in water for 30 minutes to prevent the grill from igniting the wood.)

Place the peppers on a medium heat grill so as to not sear and burn the bacon. Turn frequently to ensure all sides are cooked. When the bacon is crispy remove and serve immediately.

Serves 4 – 6 tailgaters

reprinted from Tailgatingideas.com

Video of Interest:

Coach Dana Holgorsen and defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel preview this weekend's Norfolk State game.


Video of (Dis)Interest:

Great Scott!! Break out your Hoverboards. Nike is actually going to release these on eBay and donate the proceeds to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. This is heavy.


Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is the lovely Brooke Burke. Check out her video below and the gallery linked through the picture.


Blue Moon image via images2.layoutsparks.com