Holgorsen Meets With Seniors To Refocus For Remaining Games

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.

Football:

Holgorsen Meets Seniors to Refocus for Remaining Games | WV Illustrated
The month of October is in the rear view. West Virginia football can thank the schedule makers and move on from the gauntlet it just meandered through without a victory. Now, an interesting dynamic presents itself for the coaches of a 3-4 team that is winless in conference play.

Shorthanded WVU defense needs aggressiveness to return | Charleston Gazette-Mail
The defense West Virginia has been forced to distance itself from this season first appeared against Texas Tech last season. Charged with keeping the score tied and getting the ball back for the offense one last time, Tony Gibson unleashed hell

Banged up WVU secondary will be tested against TTU | Beckley Register-Herald
West Virginia senior safety Karl Joseph is out for the season with a knee injury. Senior cornerback Terrell Chestnut is still battling an injured shoulder that had him in and out of the lineup in a 40-10 loss at TCU last Thursday. The other starting corner, Daryl Worley, and safety K.J. Dillon both suffered bumps and bruises against the Horned Frogs that caused them to miss some time. No big deal, right? All the WVU defense has to do on Saturday is find a way to slow down the nation’s No. 2 passing offense.

WVU hopes to exploit struggling Texas Tech defense | The Daily Athenaeum
The West Virginia University football team’s offense has struggled to keep pace offensively with its Big 12 opponents, starting 0-4 in conference play.

Another challenge awaits WVU secondary in Tech's Grant | The Exponent Telegram
For the past two weeks, WVU has been seeing double, so to speak, on the football field as it lost a pair of games to two of the nation’s top teams in No. 2 Baylor and No. 3 TCU, getting scorched first by Bears’ quarterback Seth Russell and receiver Corey Coleman and then the Horned Frogs’ QB Trevone Boykin and WR Josh Doctson.

Basketball:

A shift in philosophy led Bob Huggins to build ‘Press Virginia’ | CollegeBasketballTalk
Nothing motivates change in sports more than losing. After struggling in their first two seasons as a member of the Big 12, West Virginia underwent a change that represented quite the departure from their head coach’s usual defensive approach, because that head coach was not accustomed to losing.

Men’s Basketball Exhibition Set For Friday | WVU Athletics
The West Virginia University men’s basketball team will play its only exhibition game of the 2015-16 season on Friday, Nov. 6 against Glenville State at the WVU Coliseum.

West Virginia Athletics:

WVU kicks off Big 12 Tournament with 2-1 win | The Daily Athenaeum
The West Virginia University women’s soccer team started off the Big 12 postseason the same way they ended the regular season, with a win over Oklahoma State (9-9-2, 2-4-2). The No. 2 Mountaineers (16-1-1, 6-0-1) kicked off the Big 12 Tournament with a 2-1 win over the Cowgirls Wednesday afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri.

WVU Women's Soccer Advances to Big 12 Semifinal | WV Illustrated
Mountaineers get a 2-1 quarterfinal victory with goals from Pierre-Louis and Hill to push past Oklahoma State in Kansas City.

No. 2 Mountaineers Move On | WVU Athletics
A brilliant defensive play gave the No. 2-ranked and top-seeded West Virginia University women’s soccer team the offensive spark it needed, as the Mountaineers tallied two goals in the final 10 minutes and defeated eighth-seeded Oklahoma State, 2-1, this afternoon in the first of four quarterfinal matches in the Big 12 Soccer Championship at Swope Soccer Village.

Thirty Home Games Highlight 2016 Baseball Schedule | WVU Athletics
West Virginia University Director of Athletics Shane Lyons has released the 2016 baseball schedule, highlighted by 30 home games at Monongalia County Ballpark as part of a 56-game 2016 schedule.

Senior Spurgeon has become WVU’s Mr. Reliable | The Daily Athenaeum
On a team with 18 national championships, it can be hard to do something that truly stands out. However, senior captain Garrett Spurgeon continually performs on a level that is worth recognition.

Around The Big 12:

If Baylor's new QB plays like a freshman, TCU projects as the crowded Big 12's favorite | SBNation
The Big 12 saved all its big games for the home stretch. How much will one injury change the conference's Playoff push?

Iowa State QB Joel Lanning talks about winning his first start | ESPN
Iowa State is undefeated when Joel Lanning starts at quarterback. The redshirt sophomore took over under center against Texas, leading the Cyclones to a 24-0 win over the Longhorns.

Texas' continued inability in passing game is 'not rocket science' | ESPN
Beyond clear problems in the passing game, Texas' offense is mired in a more troubling trend: When opponents score first, the Longhorns lose.

Kansas hopes to follow a similar path as the Kansas City Royals | ESPN
Kansas coach David Beaty hopes to use the success of the World Series champion Kansas City Royals as an example for his program.

Around The NCAA:

This Week In Schadenfreude, in which God is mad at Georgia | SBNation
Welcome to your weekly roundup of the Internet's maddest college football fans. This week, we return to three extremely reliable sources of anguish.

Let's rank all 10 open college football head coach jobs. Virginia Tech or South Carolina? | SBNation
The season's barely halfway over, and seven programs are already in the market for their next head coaches. We'll update this ranking as more join in.

College Football Playoff Championship going to ATL, Bay Area and NOLA. When's the Midwest's turn? | SBNation
The Midwest isn't a bunch of frozen factories, we swear!

Can the Bison Still Come Back? | SBNation
NDSU are now a national brand. Can they keep the momentum going?

The Solid Verbal: College football's crazy/weird Week 10 possibilities, previewed (plus a surprise retirement announcement) | SBNation
Let's dive deep into what looks to be a deep, exciting Week 10.

SHUTDOWN FULLCAST 3.29: THE ANGRY ONLINE ABOUT RANKINGS PREVIEW EDITION | Every Day Should Be Saturday
IT''S LEGAL TO BURN A HOUSE DOWN AS LONG AS YOU'RE ANGRY ABOUT PLAYOFF RANKINGS

The following is required listening.

Today's Miss Throwdown is the new Queen of Instagram, and has been romantically linked to US Soccer hero Tim Howard. CLICK HERE for Nora Segura's Instagram.

A photo posted by Nora Segura (@norasabinasegura) on Oct 3, 2015 at 10:39am PDT