The Rundown, 10/16/17: West Virginia/Baylor Betting Line, Dana vs. The Offense, Nash Grier and Stranger Things

Good morning, folks! Welcome to The Rundown, a new daily feature where I’ll be sharing some of the most relevant stories of the day to help you stay up-to-date on what’s going on in the world of Mountaineer sports.

”But, Michael,” you’ll say, “isn’t that what the Shotgun/Throwdown was? Why can’t you just bring that back!?”

I’ll be completely transparent here; The Shotgun/Throwdown became increasingly difficult to write due to a couple factors. For one, the changing landscape in sports journalism led to many of the sources from which we pulled stories drying up. If you didn’t notice, my last (failed) attempt to keep the Throwdown going ended up basically being an advertisement for Chris Anderson and Mike Casazza at EerSports.

Secondly, because the Throwdown had such a concrete format, it was hard to find content to fill every section on a daily basis. Half of the videos of interest I shared toward the end were as far from interesting as you can possibly get. Miss Throwdown became the same 6-7 girls roatating on a daily basis, with random Instagram models thrown in. It just became Not Fun.

That’s why I’ve decided to retire the Shotgun/Throwdown and start this one. The Throwdown was wildly successful for a long time, but times change. This new series won’t follow the same formula on a daily basis. It’s hard to tell what I’ll include in this thing. It’s going to be a journey, and I’m going to try to keep it fun.

Now that we’re clear on all of that, ON TO THE RUNDOWN!

In Mountaineers news...

DEGENERATE GAMBLING: West Virginia opened as a 9.5 point favorite in this coming Saturday’s matchup with the Baylor Bears in Waco, according to VegasInsider. The Mountaineers been favored in all four games they’ve won this season, and are 3-3 against the spread.

Last week’s advanced stats had West Virginia beating the Bears by an average margin of 3.9 points. We’ll monitor how that changes following the Mountaineers’ victory over the Red Raiders.

DANA VS. THE OFFENSE (WV Metro News): No, it’s not what you think. Dana Holgorsen initially sent Mike Molina out to kick the game tying field goal on Saturday, but five fired-up offensive lineman and their quarterback begged the West Virginia head coach to give them the chance to take the game into their own hands. Of course, we all know how that 4th-&-short decision paid off for the Mountaineers.

WHEN IT RAINES, IT POURS: Kwantel Raines, a four-star safety from Aliquippa (PA), is scheduled to announce his commitment later this month, and it sounds like West Virginia is embroiled in another recruiting battle with Pitt for a Western Pennsylvania standout. Things may be trending in the Mountaineers’ favor though, as Raines no-showed his official visit with the Panthers over the weekend.

I can’t say I blame him - I wouldn’t want to watch a 2-5 team in a half-empty stadium either.

BROTHERLY LOVE: I’m not sure how many of you are aware of this, but Will Grier isn’t the most famous or successful member of the family. Will’s brothers Nash and Hayes are YouTube sensations, getting their start on the now-defunct Vine app with their 6 second videos - some of which featured the Mountaineer signal caller. The duo are doing very well for themselves out in Los Angeles, but that doesn’t mean they’ve forgot about their older brother.

Nash made the trip to Morgantown with his family this past weekend, and donned the Old Gold & Blue to support his brother and the Mountaineers. He even found some time to meet some of his adoring fans.

Around the League and Beyond...

2007 II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO (SB Nation): If this past weekend was any indication, the 2017 college football season may be shaping up to be just as weird as the season that was cancelled because of the war. Seven ranked teams, including four that were inside the top ten, fell in the chaotic two day stretch.

WHAT’S THAT PIRATE SHIP DOING IN THAT CORN FIELD!? (SB Nation): Nebraska just stole Washington State’s athletic director away from the Cougs. With Mike Riley not looking too hot in Lincoln, could we see Mike Leach bring his air raid to the terribly boring Big 10 Conference? It seems like it may be more likely than you think.

Procrastination Corner...

Season two of Stranger Things comes out in less than two weeks. Netflix released the final trailer for this season on Friday, and I can barely contain my excitement.

And that’s it!

Have another link you’d like to share? Feel free to do so in the comments or as a FanPost. Let’s meet back here tomorrow. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.