Terrell Chestnut's Journey Has Made Him The Player He Is Today

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

Football:

Mountaineers return to Top 25 in time for showdown vs. Sooners | WV MetroNews
West Virginia returned to the Top 25 rankings on Sunday, bolstered by a 3-0 start that played out easier than expected.

Mountaineers not worried about people’s perception | Times West Virginian
The time has now come to ask — and answer — one crucial question: How good is this West Virginia football team?

Chestnut’s journey made him the player he is today | Times West Virginian
When West Virginia took the field to face Maryland on a special Saturday afternoon that would turn into a third straight victory 45-6, they were led by senior cornerback Terrell Chestnut, who had been chosen to carry the Mountaineer flag.

Shell helped set tone for WVU against Terps | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Rushell Shell was West Virginia’s second-leading rusher in Saturday’s 45-6 win against Maryland, and his 77 yards were a little more than half of teammate Wendell Smallwood’s 147. It was only Shell’s fifth-best output since he started playing for the Mountaineers last season.

Shell regains form with season-best effort vs. Maryland | Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Junior running back Rushel Shell (Hopewell) ran with determination and a desire to succeed against Maryland.

WVU's Gibson gets a grip being a top-notch receiver | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
At some point in the lead-up to West Virginia’s 2015 season, Skyler Howard tossed a football into the hands of Shelton Gibson. Always keep the ball with you, Gibson recalled Howard saying, and if I see you without it, I’m going to ask you where it is.

O'Toole recounts fake-punt run | The Dominion Post
Nick O’Toole’s surprise scamper almost never was.

DePalma Named William Campbell Trophy Semifinalist | WVU Athletics
West Virginia University senior long snapper John DePalma was recognized as one of 135 semifinalists for the 2015 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments® and prominently displayed inside its official home at the New York Athletic Club, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation.

West Virginia Athletics:

No. 4/5 Mountaineers Trump Texas in Opener | WVU Athletics
The No. 4/5 West Virginia University women’s soccer team opened its Big 12 Conference schedule much the same way it closed its nonconference slate, earning a 2-0 win over Texas, tonight, in front of 1,617 fans at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

WVU moves to 5-3 after win over UNCG | The Daily Athenaeum
The West Virginia University men’s soccer team ended its two-game losing streak by defeating the UNC Greensboro Spartans 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.

WVU to Play Graeme McDowell Invitational | WVU Athletics
Coach Sean Covich and the West Virginia University golf team are headed to Birmingham, Alabama, where they will compete in the Shoal Creek Invitational hosted by Graeme McDowell on Monday and Tuesday. The tournament is hosted by the UAB Blazers at the Shoal Creek Country Club.

Mountaineers drop Big 12 opener to No. 2 Texas | The Daily Athenaeum
The West Virginia University volleyball team lost to the Texas Longhorns Friday night, who won the game in a 3-0 shutout.  The set scores were 25-16, 25-17 and 25-16.

Around The Big 12:

Big 12 Week 4 Power Rankings: West Virginia, Texas Tech move up | ESPN
The Big 12 Power Rankings after Week 4 still feature TCU and Baylor at the top, but West Virginia and Texas Tech are trending up.

Big 12 Week 4 bowl projections: TCU Horned Frogs back in playoff | ESPN
What a weekend it was in the Big 12, highlighted by dramatic finishes in both Austin and Lubbock.

Texas Finally Comes Around To The Idea That Big 12 Refs Are Terrible | Wide Right & Natty Lite
After being on the receiving end of a batch of horrible calls on Saturday, Texas has seemingly just now realized that Big 12 officiating might be sub-par.

Texas Discovers Big 12 Officiating Is Bad, West Virginia Is For Real & Other Things We Learned About The Big 12 On Saturday | Crimson And Cream Machine
The eyes of Texas have been crying, All the live long day, Because the Longhorn kickers, Keep choking games away

Around The NCAA:

Updated bowl projections, with an Ole Miss/Ohio State/UCLA/Baylor Playoff | SBNation
Your weekly list of guesses for every bowl and Playoff game as we enter a loaded Week 5.

TCU gets full credit for its too-close win at Lubbock, because it's Lubbock | SBNation
The Top Whatever is Spencer Hall's weekly ranking of as many teams as he feels like ranking at the moment.

BGSU Has A T-Shirt To Celebrate Two Winning Big Ten Games | Coed.com
BGSU has a t-shirt to celebrate two winning games--but, to be fair, it was against two Big Ten teams...

Alabama's officially an underdog for the first time since 2009, but barely | SBNation
The Crimson Tide are a one-point dog at Georgia.

Is Virginia Tech-ECU a rivalry? After 2 straight upsets, it still looks more like a mentorship | SBNation
Conference realignment has left two consistent winners to figure out how they think of their ongoing series. We took a trip to Greenville to find out.

Why not Memphis? Justin Fuente's Tigers welcome you to the other Grindhouse | SBNation
Memphis had won 12 games in five years. Now they've won 11 games in a row. Let's talk to the head coach behind all this.

Recruits react to Mountaineers’ big win over Maryland | Charleston Gazette-Mail
West Virginia coaches elected to have dozens of top-flight recruits on campus this weekend, hoping to take advantage of the atmosphere surrounding a Gold Rush game on Hall of Fame weekend against a border rival. Of course, embarrassing said rival — one that you routinely recruit against — was an extra perk, and one that could pay huge dividends for the Mountaineers down the road.

WVU Pros in the NFL Week 3 recap with analysis and Vines | Blue Gold Sports
Check out how our Mountaineers in the NFL fared in Week 3

Bruce Irvin flies young fan out for Seahawks home opener | KING5.com
A 4-year-old Seahawks fan who has battled heart disease since birth got the thrill of a lifetime Sunday when he attended the Seahawks' home opener as the guest of linebacker Bruce Irvin.

The Mountaineers make an appearance in this week's Wake Up! College Football

Great Scott!

Today's Miss Throwdown is a professional surfer and is smokin' hot. CLICK HERE for Anastasia Ashley's Instagram.