Dana Holgorsen Expecting More From West Virginia Defense

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

Football:

Holgorsen expecting more from WVU defense | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Dana Holgorsen was pleased with the performance on the defensive side of the ball in 2014, but he knows there is room for a lot of improvement.

Stocked with experienced safeties, competition falls to backups | WV MetroNews
Mountaineers safeties coach Joe DeForest says he feels confident in his top five safeties, leaving freshmen to battle for the sixth spot.

Undersized Petteway brings the ‘pop’ to larger offensive linemen | WV MetroNews
Even by West Virginia standards, where smaller linebackers can persist in the 3-3-5 stack defense, fifth-year senior Shaq Petteway is undersized. He doesn’t quite measure up to the 6 feet listed on the roster, yet he’s currently playing as well as anyone on the roster.

Barber back in the middle of Mountaineers defense | Charleston Gazette-Mail
There are so many ways to explain what middle linebacker Jared Barber means to West Virginia’s defense. There’s also no shortage of manners to illustrate why Barber belongs in the middle of the starting lineup after missing all of the 2014 season following knee surgery and a scary setback.

Chestnut understands importance of lending a helping hand | The Exponent Telegram
There was a time West Virginia cornerback Terrell Chestnut needed help. We’re talking about real life help, the kind that normally goes unseen on the sports page but that is chronicled in a far higher place in life. Today, Chestnut is trying to pay them all back.

Chestnut a mentor on, off the field for Mountaineers | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Following a breakthrough season in 2014, Terrell Chestnut remains one of the team's best mentors.

Bethel Park grad Kwiatkoski has morphed, thrived at WVU | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A safety coming out of Bethel Park, West Virginia senior Nick Kwiatkoski has morphed himself into one of the Big 12’s best linebackers.

WVU punter not too proud to beg for trick-play opportunities | WV MetroNews
Nick O’Toole punts. Nick O’Toole holds for place kicks. Nick O’Toole sports hipster facial hair made for swigging mead from a mason jar in Portland. He also fires passes like Aaron Rodgers and gallops like American Pharaoh, which makes it hard to comprehend why the West Virginia coaches haven’t fully unleashed such a prodigious skill set.

O’Toole becoming face of Mountaineer program | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Since arriving at West Virginia from junior college two summers ago, Nick O'Toole has developed into a fan favorite as much for how he looks as how he punts.

Competition continues as WVU searches for o-line starters | Beckley Register-Herald
About the only thing set on the offensive line is Tyler Orlosky’s role as the starting center. A member of the Rimington Trophy Watch List, Orlosky isn’t going anywhere. But the guys around him could be shuffled like a casino blackjack hand.

Jovon Durante Earning High Praise in First Week with WVU | WV Illustrated
There’s a reason Jovon Durante was a known commodity along the recruiting trail by nearly every Division-I college football program across the country. That reason was on full display during Thursday’s practice from Milan Puskar Stadium.

Basketball:

WVU Newcomers Credit Huggins’ Honesty, Culture Change | WV Illustrated
Last year’s turnaround involving the WVU men’s basketball program can be addressed a number of ways. The program progressed, evolved and flourished. In all honesty, a variety of verbs can be used to cap off the previous sentence. The Mountaineers thrived with a bunch of players who had not experienced the very definition of that word at the college level.

West Virginia Athletics:

Mountaineers Settle for Draw vs. Wright State | WVU Athletics
The No. 12 WVU women's soccer team earned a 2-2 draw vs. Wright State.

Around The Big 12:

Quarterback Baker Mayfield has gone from surprise walk-on to potential starter | News OK
Mayfield arrived on campus as a transfer after a year as a walk-on at Texas Tech with long odds that he’d ever see the field for the Sooners.

OSU football player charged with larceny | Stillwater News Press
An Oklahoma State University football player is charged with larceny, a misdemeanor, in the disappearance of a watch from a student studying in the university’s Edmon Low Library.

TCU’s offense will only get better in second year of new system | Dallas Morning News
TCU struck fear into Big 12 coaches with its new offense last year, but that will be nothing compared to year No. 2.

Samaje Perine suffers minor knee injury in Saturday practice | News OK
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops uttered perhaps the scariest words for any Sooner fan during his news conference Saturday: Samaje Perine is injured.

Around The NCAA:

Rich Rodriguez whips, nae-naes in Arizona gymnastics video | Sporting News
Life is good for Rich Rodriguez.  He's the head coach of a 10-win team, has one of the top players in the country in Scooby Wright and, to top it off, lives in sunny Arizona. Just the sound of that lifestyle makes us want to dance. It makes sense, then, that Rodriguez was featured in the Arizona gymnastics team's music video for the whip and nae nae.

Lane Kiffin feels he has more to do at Alabama: 'This chapter isn't over yet' | Sporting News
Lane Kiffin says he's ready to take his second year by the horns as Nick Saban's offensive coordinator.

Oregon RB will miss season | Sporting News
Oregon running back Thomas Tyner will miss the 2015 season after having shoulder surgery.

Alabama and Wisconsin will run on each other, but the key to victory is in the air | SBNation
The biggest game of college football's opening Saturday centers on trench warfare. Still, keep your eyes on the skies.

West Virginia Mountaineers in the NFL Training Camp Diary 8-10-15 | College to Pro Sports
Today we bring you notes from the Hall of Fame Game, Geno Smith booed, Mario Alford cheered, Bruce Irvin in great shape, Adam Jones’ new hobby and more.

Geno Smith of New York Jets booed at team's scrimmage at MetLife Stadium | ESPN
It has been an interception-free training camp for New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith, but that didn't stop the small home crowd at MetLife Stadium from booing him Saturday night after a couple of hiccups in a practice under the lights.

Bears training camp digest, Day 8: Kevin White gets active | Chicago Sun-Times
Bears receiver Kevin White (shin) is expected to begin light running on Monday as part of his cautious recovery process. But he also was noticeably active on Friday.

Today's Miss Throwdown is a model and Victoria's Secret Angel . CLICK HERE for today's gallery of Chanel Iman.