Noel Devine hoping to impress NFL scouts in The Spring League

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun Throwdown your one stop shop for the latest WVU news and information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.

Turning Up The Pressure:
When West Virginia and Gonzaga face off Thursday night in San Jose for a spot in the Elite Eight, the Mountaineers will look to dial up the press to see if the Bulldogs can respond, or if they’ll fall apart like they did in the second half of their game this past Saturday against Northwestern when they committed 11 turnovers and nearly let their 18-point halftime lead slip away.

Quick Hits:

Ranking WVU's Sweet 16 Appearances | WVU Athletics
Sweet 16s are becoming a habit for West Virginia University basketball. On Thursday night, the Mountaineers will be making their 10th Sweet 16 appearance and their sixth since 2005. Four of those have come under Bob Huggins, now coaching his 10th season at WVU. WVU's John Antonik ranked every Mountaineer Sweet Sixteen appearance, in order from worst to best.

Austin Named Student-Athlete of the Week | WVU Athletics
After leading the West Virginia University baseball team to a series win at No. 10 Baylor and extending his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games, West Virginia University baseball sophomore third baseman Cole Austin has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week

Bright Future Ahead:

It seems like Bob Huggins has found another perfect piece to the Mountaineer puzzle. 2017 signee Teddy Allen was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Nebraska yesterday. Allen averaged 31.7 points, 12.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.3 steals this season.

Return Of Devine:

Yesterday, I told you about former West Virginia players Ellis Lankster and JD Woods making their attempt at an NFL comeback in The Spring League next month at The Greenbrier. Well, they’re not the only Mountaineers you’ll find on the roster when the teams are announced later this month. According to the Beckley Register-Herald, Mountaineer legend Noel Devine will make will make his return to the gridiron in the startup league.

You may remember that Devine returned to Morgantown last Fall to finish pursuing his degree. Devine worked out with the Mountaineers while on campus, and it seems the allure of the NFL has grabbed the speedy back’s attention one last time.

Stranger Things:
Remember all the times we were told the ACC is the premier college basketball league? The best of the best? Remember when the SEC ran the college football world?

Well, sometime over the last year we were all transported to The Upside Down, because the SEC has three teams remaining in the NCAA tournament compared to the ACC’s one, and the ACC is winning college football national championships.

Politics Are Sports:
If you’ve been paying attention to the political circus that’s going on, nothing should surprise you anymore. So, when the Texas-Texas Tech rivalry was brought up during FBI director James Comey’s testimony in the House Intelligence Committee’s hearing about the alleged Russia hacks yesterday, it shouldn’t have caught you off guard.

I’ll be waiting for someone to compare the situation between North and South Korea to the Backyard Brawl.

B-B-B-Bowden And The Zips:
SB Nation’s Bill Connelly is making his way through his annual college football previews, and he’s made his way to Terry Bowden’s Akron Zips. If the stats tell the story, things aren’t looking too promising in Northern Ohio.

I have to take the time here to admit that professional wrestling is one of my guilty pleasures. I’ve been watching as long as I can remember, and one of my favorite wrestling memories is sitting with my grandpa and watching Smoky Mountain Wrestling on Saturday nights. It was at times so bad that it was good, and the production quality was nearly nonexistent. It was delightfully tacky and will forever hold a spot in my heart.

WWE captured that tackiness this past weekend when they released their four-part Southpaw Regional Wrestling web series, featuring John Cena and some of their other top performers portraying the quintessential late 80s-early 90s regional wrestling acts. Just watch, and enjoy.

I need more of this in my life.

Today’s Miss Throwdown is an Italian model who I know literally nothing about other than she is SMOKING hot. You might as well follow Silvia Caruso on Instagram. It seems worth it.