THE SUNDAY HANGOVER: The West Virginia Mountaineers Tame The Missouri Tigers

Recaps & Features

Mountaineers Tame Tigers | WVU Athletics
West Virginia running backs Rushel Shell III and Justin Crawford scored touchdowns and Mike Molina kicked four field goals to power West Virginia to a season-opening 26-11 victory over Missouri here at Milan Puskar Stadium this afternoon.

Missouri Notebook | WVU Athletics
West Virginia University senior wide receiver Daikiel Shorts Jr. may not have gotten into the end zone during Saturday’s 26-11 victory over Missouri, but it was his big catches working the middle of the field that enabled the Mountaineers to score most of their points.

WVU football opens with win against Missouri | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Dana Holgorsen wants greater balance in 2016. Whether he liked it or not, he started the season Saturday with just that. West Virginia ran for 241 yards and passed for 253 yards, and stellar red-zone defense evened out shaky red-zone offense as the Mountaineers beat Missouri 26-11.

WVU shows fortitude in win against Missouri | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Amidst the usual pomp of opening day, on an absolutely perfect football Saturday weather-wise, the one sight West Virginia fans wanted to see was improvement. They wanted to see hope. Did they? Well, let’s take a look.

WVU red-zone defense shines against Missouri | Charleston Gazette-Mail
A collection of backup West Virginia players were asked to defend the final 3:50 and 80 yards that separated the Mountaineers from a season-opening victory against Missouri Saturday. Ten plays later — including nine that gained at least 4 yards – and the Tigers were in the end zone and readying for a successful 2-point conversion.

West Virginia good enough to mow over Missouri | WV MetroNews
West Virginia sensed it could have scored 40 points, but against punchless Missouri, such an output wasn’t necessary.

After defense delivers, Gibson takes jab at SEC Network analyst | WV MetroNews
Having spent eight months re-assembling West Virginia’s defense, Tony Gibson liked what he saw in his players’ expressions before Saturday’s opener. He really liked what he saw on the scoreboard after the game.

McKivitz gives line a lift, but there’s no Plan B among QBs | WV MetroNews
When its prized left tackle staggered off with a knee injury, West Virginia found a reliable contingency. But when its senior quarterback departed for the X-ray room? Carl Jung couldn’t have made order of such chaos.

WVU defense handles Missouri's fast and curious approach | The Exponent Telegram
Missouri intended its offensive attack against West Virginia to be fast and furious. Instead, it turned out to be fast and … curious, at least according to West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.

Howard shows his toughness in opener | The Exponent Telegram
The 2016 football season was less than 10 minutes old, but West Virginia had driven the football deep into Missouri territory. It was second-and-goal on the Tiger 6 when WVU coach Dana Holgorsen decided that even though he is running back rich with Rushel Shell and Justin Crawford and far richer in wide receivers, that the thing he would do would let his undersized quarterback carry the ball. They’d never be expecting that, right?

Crawford, Shell lead potent ground game | The Exponent Telegram
All preseason, Dana Holgorsen had been hinting that his running game would be better than many people expected even though he lost Wendell Smallwood a year early to the NFL. He had come up with one of the best junior college running backs in the country in Justin Crawford out of Mississippi and he didn’t disappoint in his Mountaineer debut.

Kinney not surprised by solid debut | The Exponent Telegram
Coach Dana Holgorsen estimated about 30 new players dressed for Saturday’s nonconference meeting with Missouri at Milan Puskar Stadium. But punter Billy Kinney isn’t exactly a stranger. The first-year punter not only graduated from University High, a few miles from the Mountaineers’ home base, but he grew up a rabid fan of the team.

Better than advertised | Beckley Register-Herald
The perceived weak spot of the West Virginia football team this year was supposed to be the defense. Someone forgot to tell that to the players.

WVU Offense Feeds off Howard | WV Illustrated
There is no doubt Skyler Howard gives WVU's offense confidence. With Howard shaken up, both back-up quarterbacks couldn't get the job done.

West Virginia easily dispatches Missouri in opener | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Week 1 in college football always has the potential for intrigue. But while Tennessee struggled with Appalachian State and Oklahoma and Mississippi State suffered surprise defeats, West Virginia got its work done quickly and quietly Saturday, turning aside Missouri, 26-11. Even if the performance wasn't perfect, coach Dana Holgorsen will take that from a season opener.

WVU tops Mizzou is season opener | The Daily Athenaeum
Not even Charles Harris could stop the dual-threat that the West Virginia University football team presented on offense Saturday afternoon. The Mountaineers defeated the Missouri Tigers, 26-11 to begin the season.

From The Other Side

West Virginia 26, Missouri 11: Third-quarter surge powers Mountaineers to win | Rock M Nation
WVU dominated the first and third quarters and rode a strong run game to a 1-0 start.

Mizzou loses season-opener at West Virginia, 26-11 | The Kansas City Star
Missouri wasn’t good enough to beat West Virginia on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium. That’s the simplest way to explain a 26-11 loss in front of 60,125 during the opening game of the Barry Odom era.

Mountaineers beat Tigers in Odom's head coaching debut | Columbia Daily Tribune
The first halftime speech of Barry Odom’s head-coaching career will not receive an encore. Odom tried to rally the troops with his Missouri football team trailing by 10 points at halftime of Saturday’s game against West Virginia. On the first drive after halftime, the Mountaineers marched 70 yards in eight plays for a touchdown, seizing full control in what became a 26-11 West Virginia victory at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Missouri leans on Lock, with Zanders offering relief | Columbia Daily Tribune
In the season opener, both quarterbacks had their moments. Lock took the vast majority of the snaps and did most of his damage through the air, completing 23 of 51 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown. Zanders played situationally and used his speed to gain 47 yards on seven carries. He completed just 1 of 2 passes for 2 yards. Neither had much success putting the Tigers in the end zone, however, as they lost their opener 26-11 to West Virginia on Saturday.

Notebook: Mountaineers' patchwork offensive line keeps Harris in check | Columbia Daily Tribune
West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen predicted this week that Missouri defensive end Charles Harris would be a top-10 pick in next spring’s NFL draft, so he had to be pleased with the job WVU’s offensive line did on Harris on Saturday.

Photos & Videos

Photos from WVU's Season Opening Win over Missouri | WV Illustrated
Take a look at WV Illustrated's images from Saturday's action as the Mountaineers start out the season with a 26-11 victory over the visiting Missouri Tigers at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Big 12 Roundup

Final Score: Baylor 55, NW State 7 | Our Daily Bears
The Bears lost the shutout in the second half but still managed an impressive season-opening win.

Stanford 26, Kansas State 13: Five Things We Learned | Bring On The Cats
It was frustrating as heck, but it also wasn’t that bad.

Oklahoma Sooners Football: OU vs. Houston Recap | Crimson And Cream Machine
The Sooners start the season with a loss in Houston

RECAP: Oklahoma State cruises past Southeastern Louisiana 61-7 | Cowboys Ride For Free
That went exactly how it should have. Pokes roll.

TCU 59, South Dakota State 41: 5 Things We Learned | Frogs O' War
We learned that we’re bad at predictions. That’s what we learned.

One Thought On Texas Tech 69, SFA 17 | Viva The Matadors
What a massacre

Iowa State Loses to UNI, 25-20 | Wide Right & Natty Lite
Same shit, different year.

Kansas Jayhawks batter Rhode Island Rams 55-6 | Rock Chalk Talk
Kansas does what a Big 12 team should against an FCS opponent and wins big.

Episode 305 - Week One: West Virginia | The Mizzodcast
The Barry Odom Era begins with a thud and our new found friends over at The Mizzodcast break it down. Also "Larry from Missouri" from the Paul Finebaum Show calls in.