OPENING THOUGHTS
Alright everyone, let's just take a minute to fully appreciate the fact that we've just come off of the best opening weekend in college football ever. ESPN did a great job of framing these incredible games and most of them actually did live up to their billing.
Okay, back to reality. Other than a select few (Penn State-Pitt, VT-Tenn, Ark-TCU), the games on tap for this week have gone down significantly in quality. Somehow, Michigan-UCF, Notre Dame-Nevada and Ohio State-Tulsa are on network television and WVU's game is as good of a game as any to watch this weekend.
Even though the Mountaineers haven't played them yet this season, they've scheduled YSU again, so I'm sure it will be an interesting game just because it seems that Jim Tressell and Gordon Gee want to keep this relationship going.
Their mascot is the Penguins, so that gives me some more comic license this week.
WHEN/WHERE
Date: Saturday, September 10th
Kickoff Time: 2:00 PM ET
Where: Mountaineer Field, Morgantown, WV
Tickets: General Public ; WVU Students
WATCH/LISTEN
TV: ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
Radio: WZST Variety 101 (100.9 FM in Morgantown) and the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG (Radio Affiliates)
Streaming Audio: Locate the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on TuneIn Radio (or the TuneIn Radio app for smartphones)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 126; XM 200; Internet 954
ODDS
BIll C:
Spread (Home) | S&P Projection | Margin | Win Prob. | S&P+ Pick (ATS) | F/+ Projection | F/+ Pick |
None | West Virginia (41.0-16.2) | 24.8 | 92.4% | West Virginia by 18.5 | None | None |
No betting organizations really make odds for FBS-FCS games. This game is no different.
WEATHER FORECAST
IT WILL BE ROASTING!!! It'll be nice and humid during the game while we get into highs of the upper 80s/lower 90s. Possibility of some rain on the way back home for some of you southern West Virginians along I-79. Enjoy eating hot food at your tailgates!!
THE ENEMY
Where are they from? Youngstown, Ohio
All Time Series: WVU leads the series 1-0
Last Game: 1938, a whopping 4,000 people went to Old Mountaineer Field to watch the Mountaineers trounce the 'Guins 27-6
Record: 1-0 (5-6, 3-5 MVFC last season); No. 22 in FCS Coaches Poll
Head Coach: THIS GUY!!!
KEYS TO THE GAME
-Don't over work Skyler! As abysmal as Chris Chugunov and William Crest were last week, Dana Holgersen can't afford to over work Skyler Howard. As Dana said on Tuesday, Skyler is still in pain and we don't want to risk a long term injury against Youngstown State.
-Establish a strong running game. The YSU defense should be tough, but we all discovered last week that the Rushel Shell-Justin Crawford backfield is amazing. Let's try to get some work done on the ground, to save some energy for Skyler.
-Don't underestimate the Penguins' defense. Carl Pelini is a great defensive mind and I think it could be a quarter and a half before WVU really looks as good as they should in this game.
HOW AFRAID SHOULD WE BE?
I'm not too afraid. On a scale of 1-10, I'm at around 2. The Penguins defense is talked about. But still, it's Youngstown State. I'm about as afraid as Adam Sandler was of a hallucination of a penguin in Billy Madison.
PREDICTION THAT WILL BE WRONG
I think that Skyler will have some trouble initially against YSU's defense, but Rushel Shell and Justin Crawford should make up for that. The passing game will find its groove by mid-second quarter. When the starting defense comes out of the game mid-way trough the third quarter, Ricky Davis and the Penguin offense will do some scoring to give the Penguins something to build on for the rest of their season.
West Virginia 52, Youngstown State 28.