The Shotgun/Throwdown (12/7/18): The Backyard Brawl looms as a must win for the Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers

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

Football

WVU’s Collins Still Sees Orange After All These Years | West Virginia Athletics
When word came down last Sunday afternoon that West Virginia was playing Syracuse once again in the 2018 Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Florida, at least one dude's systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings began to rise.

Redshirts Still Available For WVU Half-Dozen Who Have Played | WV News
On its 107-man roster this season, West Virginia has 22 scholarship newcomers and 14 first-year walk-ons.

A look back at the highs, lows and oddities from West Virginia’s 2018 season | WV MetroNews
We take a look back and commemorate the ups, downs and Gary Busey cameo appearances that marked West Virginia's 2018 football regular season.

‘The Sweet Spot’ podcast: Bowl ticket-buyers in limbo over Grier | WV MetroNews
Don’t drink the bowl conspiracy Kool-Aid that says West Virginia deserved a trip to the Alamo. And how can anyone actually be outraged when upperclassmen are skipping bowls anyway?

Basketball

Even in early December, Pitt looms as a must-win for West Virginia | WV MetroNews
It is rare air the West Virginia basketball team finds itself in these days. For all of the wrong reasons. The calendar says we are still 18 days away from Christmas, and generally that is way too early to start talking about the state of any college hoops team. Yet you must wonder in which direction the Mountaineers are heading these days.

Huggins highlights familiar problems, challenges players | WV News
West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins highlighted the familiar problems of bad passing and lack of preparation as factors in his team’s hideous 66-56 loss to Florida on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic, but he also made as direct a statement as he ever has in singling out a player. He didn’t say the name, but the message was clear.

West Virginia Athletics

Thrasher Second at Selection Match | West Virginia Athletics
Senior Ginny Thrasher of the No. 3-ranked West Virginia University rifle team finished second at the USA Shooting Smallbore Rifle Selection Match on Dec. 5, at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Piatczyc Adds All-America Honors | West Virginia Athletics
West Virginia University men's soccer senior midfielder Joey Piatczyc has been named to the All-America Third Team by United Soccer Coaches, it was announced Thursday night.

St. Georges Named Academic All-America® of the Year | West Virginia Athletics
West Virginia University senior defender Bianca St. Georges has been named the Google Cloud Academic All-America® of the Year for Division I women's soccer, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Former WVU Hoop Assistant, Fundraiser McPherson Dies | West Virginia Athletics
Twenty-year West Virginia University men's basketball assistant coach Gary McPherson died Wednesday evening, according to a Facebook post made by his daughter, Missy.McPherson's affiliation with West Virginia University spanned 40 years until his retirement in 2013.

Around the NCAA

44 reasons Barry Sanders’ 1988 is the greatest season in football history | SBNation
The year everyone already regards as the best ever was somehow even better than that.

How Kyler and Tua created one of the best Heisman races ever | SBNation
The Heisman finalists and Playoff opponents were both amazing, in ways similar and not.

College Football Awards: Tua Tagovailoa wins, Kyler Murray best QB | SI.com
Heisman finalists Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray were among the night's early winners.

Hugh Freeze to Liberty lmao | SBNation
This is perfect.

Geoff Collins will try to make Georgia Tech cool, fun, and successful | SBNation
The Jackets have the right kind of guy. Can he upgrade the culture on and off the field?

Army vs. Navy: Football’s most fascinating 12-month chess match | SBNation
How do you prepare for a team that looks like you and runs the same triple option offense, knowing it’s also doing the same?

Jim Delany: Big Ten considering eliminating divisions | SI.com
The Big Ten commissioner said on Wednesday that conference leaders have discussed making changes to the Big Ten championship game so that it features the two best teams and not division winners.

Beating your younger siblings so bad in video games that they cry is a moral obligation | SBNation
Your siblings need to learn how cruel this world is eventually so why not teach them through "Street Fighter."

How Bears head coach Matt Nagy unlocked the real Mitchell Trubisky | SBNation
Head coach Matt Nagy shares how he reinvented the team’s offense

The Best Movies of 2018 | The Ringer
Harlem. South Korea. Mexico City. Wakanda. The finest films of the year went everywhere and showed us a new way to live.

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