LATEST

(Photo by Caleb Saunders - WVU Athletics)    According to Rivals, WVU offensive lineman Blaine Scott has entered the NCAA transfer portal. https://twitter.com/rivalsportal/status/1356723386404265990?s=21 Scott, who was rated a three-star prospect coming out of high school, will have two seasons of eligibility left with the possibility of exercising his extra season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He becomes the second WVU offensive lineman to enter the portal today after Briason Mays did so earlier. Scott saw limited action during his time at WVU.

(Photo by WVU Recruiting)  Neal Brown and the Mountaineers added to the 2024 class with the addition of Jack Sammarco, a tight end from Ohio. https://twitter.com/SammarcoJack/status/1659255492336656394?s=20 A three-star prospect according to 247Sports, Sammarco stands at 6’6” and weighs 235 pounds. He currently holds 13 offers - Akron, Army, Bowling Green, and Connecticut among others. Sammarco becomes the 3rd player to commit to WVU in the 2024 class, joining Richard James Jr. and Keyshawn Robinson.

With Neal Brown on the hot seat, we take a look at how his potential replacements performed in week one.   Morgantown, WV - Following a 38-15 loss to Penn State, Neal Brown is now 22-26 at WVU, including 2-3 in season openers. Entering the 2023 season with one of the hottest seats in all of College Football, another loss only furthers the narrative that Brown will be gone by season’s end. With his potential departure looming, names are beginning to be tossed around as his potential replacement. Today, we are going to take a look at FIVE POTENTIAL REPLACEMENTS, and how they performed in week one with their current teams. Here are the week one results for Neal Brown’s potential replacements: Tony Gibson, NC State (Defensive Coordinator)  Former WVU Defensive Coordinator Tony Gibson is on the wish list for many fans should WVU move on from Neal Brown. The West Virginia native finished week one helping his Wolfpack take down Connecticut, 24-14. NC State held the Huskies to under 300 yards and 33% on third down conversions. Curt Cignetti, James Madison Cignetti and the Dukes handled Bucknell, 38-15. The former WVU quarterback will be high on the list for the Mountaineers. Jamey Chadwell, Liberty  Jamey Chadwell is in year one at Liberty, but it’s hard to imagine that he would pass down an opportunity at a Power Five program if given the chance. His Flames took down Bowling Green at home on Saturday, 34-24. Rich Rodriguez, Jacksonville State Not many WVU fans will want him, but the school will likely give him a call if his Gamecocks keep winning. Rodriguez and Jacksonville State improved to 2-0 with a 49-3 victory over East Tennessee State. Willie Fritz, Tulane  Fritz has Tulane in the top 25, and putting up incredible numbers. His Green Wave took down South Alabama, 37-17. (Photo by WVU Athletics) 

(Photo by The Associated Press)  When Les Miles was hired as the head football coach of the Kansas Jayhawks in 2018, many believed he would be the man to turn around the misfortunes of the worst Power 5 program in America. Fast forward a little over two years later and the hiring is looking like yet another misstep from the Jayhawks.   According to multiple reports, LSU, Miles’ former school, has released documents on an investigation that took place in 2013. In this report, Miles is claimed to have allegedly been banned from “being alone with female students” on top of many other things. Miles is said to have had several different inappropriate encounters with young females, even suggesting to one that the two of them get a hotel room, per reports. What is possibly the most disturbing aspect of the investigation is that Miles allegedly wanted “attractive” females around his program to help pull in recruits. For a coach who just finished an 0-9 season, this does not bode well for his future. In today’s political climate, it will be near impossible for Kansas to retain him. Stewart Mandel of The Athletic even suggested that this could be the end for Kansas AD Jeff Long as well. This is a very messy situation, and The Voice of Motown will bring you updates as soon as they become available.

(Photo by WVU Athletics)    To go along with Derek Culver making the All-Big 12 First Team, more Mountaineers have received recognition. The players and their honors are as listed below: Jalen Bridges - All-Big 12 Freshman Team Gabe Osabuohien - All-Big 12 Defensive Team Miles McBride - All-Big 12 Second Team Sean McNeil - All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Taz Sherman - All-Big 12 Honorable Mention https://twitter.com/wvuhoops/status/1369046267012202498?s=21 https://twitter.com/wvuhoops/status/1369046015014297600?s=21 https://twitter.com/wvuhoops/status/1369045763414781960?s=21 https://twitter.com/wvuhoops/status/1369045511928487947?s=21  

It didn’t take long for WVU head coach Neal Brown to receive praise after his team pulled off a 27-21 win in double overtime against Baylor. https://twitter.com/brucefeldmancfb/status/1312488349316177920?s=21   Bruce Feldman, a College Football analyst for Fox, took to Twitter to give his praise to Neal Brown. “Neal Brown is a brilliant dude.” Feldman would continue to state that WVU “is coming.” Not many outlets have shown a lot of respect or confidence in WVU and Neal Brown, but Feldman has always been high on their potential. Possibly the most interesting aspect of his tweet was the statistic that he shared. According to Feldman, WVU is 5-2 in games decided by a touchdown or less under Brown. This dating back to his four close wins in 2019. The Mountaineers have themselves a solid head coach, and many are beginning to take notice - Feldman is just the first.

(Photo by WVU Athletics)   “Bowl Season,” which is now officially the organization affiliated with College Football’s postseason, released their initial bowl projections today. As many do, the outlet has the Mountaineers heading to the Autozone Liberty Bowl on New Year’s Eve. But as with all projections, the opponent has changed from the rest. According to Bowl Season, the Mountaineers will be taking on the Ole Miss Rebels in the Liberty Bowl. The Rebels are in their first season under head coach Lane Kiffin, and currently sit with a 3-4 record on the season.   West Virginia and Ole Miss have played once before in the 2000 Music City Bowl. The 49-38 win for the Mountaineers would be the final game in the legendary career of head coach Don Nehlen. Despite putting up solid numbers offensively, Ole Miss has yielded one of the nation’s worst defenses in 2020. To go along with 535 yards allowed per game, they are surrendering 292 through the air, and 243 on the ground. If these projections prove to be correct, this could be a very favorable bowl matchup for the Mountaineers.

MORGANTOWN, WV - Earlier this morning, the Mountaineers suffered another loss to the hands of the NCAA Transfer Portal. Luke Hamilton, a former Towson turned WVU fullback, has officially entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. https://twitter.com/rivalsportal/status/1747624345357218039?s=46&t=cXIQ4JQG-pp-P6qrRwLwjw Hamilton appeared in 12 games for the Mountaineers in 2023. He accumulated no offensive stats. He will be considered a graduate transfer.

This could finally be the week that we have our first Big 12 Championship Game participant secure their ticket to Dallas. It is set up to be a fun week in the wild, wild west, and we are here to predict exactly how everything will shake out this weekend.   Kansas at Texas Tech, Noon on FS2: Do I really need to give an explanation here? Texas Tech 45, Kansas 14 Oklahoma State at TCU, Noon on ESPN2: This game should be a lot closer than many are expecting. The Cowboys have been the biggest disappointment in the Big 12 this season, and TCU could likely catch them sleeping. I like the Cowboys, but anything could happen. Oklahoma State 31, TCU 21 Texas at Kansas State, Noon on FOX: What the hell happened to Kansas State? It appears as if the Mountaineers broke them. The Longhorns should win this easily, but it won't be enough to save Tom Herman's job. Texas 35, Kansas State 17 West Virginia at Iowa State, 3:30 on ESPN: This game will be the best of the weekend. Two of the conference's best defenses will slug it out, with the one who forces the most mistakes coming out on top. I expect the Cyclones to take care of business at home, but it will come down to the wire. Iowa State 21, West Virginia 20 Baylor at Oklahoma, 8:00 on FOX: The Bears finally snapped their long losing streak last week, but they will start another one against the Sooners. Oklahoma is hot, and nobody wants to play Lincoln Riley's bunch when they're rolling. Oklahoma 42, Baylor 21

The people have spoken. https://twitter.com/cfbonfox/status/1367882288009072647?s=21 In a poll ran by Fox Sports College Football, Milan Puskar Stadium has been voted the best stadium in the Big 12 Conference, narrowly defeating Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium by 1.1%. Mountaineer Field has a reputation of being one of the most difficult places to play in the entire nation. Just this past season, the Mountaineers finished with a 5-0 record on their own turf. We can’t wait to see this place rocking with 60,000 of the best fans in the country again. Let’s Go Mountaineers!

Morgantown, WV - Moments ago, former Troy Defensive End Theodore Jackson Jr. officially announced his commitment to WVU via Facebook. Jackson, who is a former All-Sun Belt First Team member, spent three seasons with the Trojans. He tallied 94 tackles and 11.5 sacks with 2 forced fumbles. Jackson has received offers from Oklahoma State, Boston College, Indiana, Houston, Texas A&M and Jacksonville State, among others, since entering the transfer portal. Stay tuned to The Voice of Motown for more updates on the transfer portal.

No more excuses, this loss was simply bad. I understand that WVU was quite literally set back after the 2018 season, but this is ridiculous. We are in year two of a rebuild, and the team is honestly making no progress. You are playing one of the worst teams in the Big 12, and you literally hand the game away? That is inexcusable, and a sign of a poorly coached team. A feat that I am 100% convinced the Mountaineers fall under right now. If they’re not shooting themselves in the foot, they are failing to execute and sputtering out. When the defense comes up with a big play, the offense goes out and chokes away an opportunity. Absolutely nothing is gelling together for the Mountaineers right now, and that falls on the shoulders of Head Coach Neal Brown. WVU’s 34-27 loss to Texas Tech was bad, and easily the worst loss of Neal Brown’s tenure so far. Losses like this are supposed to come in year one of a new coaching staff, not year two. If you take the Mountaineers’ production from game one to game five, they honestly seem to have made no improvements in any area. The receivers are dropping easy passes, and the team is committing frustrating penalties. Penalties that would even make a preacher cuss. These errors have to be fixed in practice. The coaching staff has to assume responsibilities and fix the problem, and they just aren’t doing that right now. Admit it, this loss was bad for Neal Brown. It was bad for the coaching staff, and overall bad for the Mountaineer program. It is hard to Trust the Climb right now, and the loss has in all likelihood set us back another year. We are all experiencing several emotions right now, but one is consistent - we are all pissed off. Bad game, bad coaching, just bad everything. I feel like we say this a lot as Mountaineer fans, but onto the next one. This one will take a little bit to get over...

WVU Broadcast Legend Tony Caridi gets fans fired up for a Brawl. Morgantown, WV - Earlier this evening WVU Broadcast Legend Tony Caridi got fans fired up for the Backyard Brawl in a video released by WVU Football. https://twitter.com/WVUfootball/status/1702812036982321612?s=20 Caridi, who is generally mild mannered, finished the video with an “Eat Shit Pitt” that was cut off short. Watch the video in the X link above. (Photo by WVU Athletics) 

It feels as if it has been written a thousand times - the Mountaineer rushing game was dismal in 2019. Fans all across the Mountain State questioned how much the offense would be able to improve in that department all offseason heading into 2020.   Now that we are three games into the season, we can begin to compare the numbers of this season to last. In all honesty, it is astonishing how much the Mountaineers have improved running the ball. Even I, probably the most optimistic fan of all, am in complete shock looking at the numbers. Of course, I mean shock in a good way. Actually, a terrific way.   Rushing Yards (2019: 879 yards in 12 games), (2020: 531 yards in 3 games): How about this insanity? Just three games into the 2020 season, West Virginia already has 60% of the rushing yards they had in twelve games last season. This is a true testament to how much the offensive line for the Mountaineers has improved in this department. With hard-running from Leddie Brown, West Virginia has seemingly been able to move the ball on the ground at will. Kansas with their porous defense is next up for the Mountaineers. If WVU can get things rolling against the Jayhawks, they may just be able to nearly eclipse the 879 rushing yards of 2019 in game four. Yards Per Carry (2019: 2.6 per rush), (2020: 4.0 per rush): This is not a stat that most fans pay attention to, but it is important nonetheless. West Virginia couldn't hardly get anything going in the rushing game during the 2019 season, which hurt them on early downs. Improving the yards per rush by just 1.4 yards is huge. Being able to rely on the ground game on early downs is pivotal to a team's success. Averaging four yards per rush means you likely are not met with 3rd & long situations too often. If the Mountaineers can keep this average up, it will give them the chance to win games later in the season. Rushing Touchdowns (2019: 7 rushing touchdowns), (2020: 8 rushing touchdowns):Would you believe it if I told you WVU's last rushing touchdown of 2019 came in game five? Yes, the last rushing touchdown for the Mountaineers came on Austin Kendall's 1-yard scamper against the Longhorns in Morgantown. After that, it was all through the air for the Mountaineer offense. After having five rushing touchdowns against Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia was able to put three into the end zone against Baylor, giving them eight for the season. I think the fact that West Virginia has more rushing touchdowns through three games in 2020 than they did in all of 2019 is just pathetic. This stat is the most proving of how ineffective the Mountaineers rushing attack truly was in year one of Neal Brown. Single-Game 100-Yard Rushers (2019: 0), (2020: 3): Had Leddie Brown gained seven more yards against Baylor, the team would already have four 100-yard rushing performances this season. The Mountaineers were able beat out 2019's zero 100-yard rushing performances in game one. Alec Sinkfield and Leddie Brown both went for 123 yards and two rushing touchdowns. This stat is individual, so it isn't necessarily important. However, having backs go over 100-yards is always a nice feat.

Earlier today, the WVU Men’s Basketball team officially had their 2020-21 season opener set. https://twitter.com/jeffborzello/status/1316407598845964294?s=21   The Mountaineers will be battling the Texas A&M Aggies in November 25th at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN. It will be game one in the Bad Boy Mower’s Crossover Classic. Also included in the tournament is Ohio State, Memphis, Creighton, Utah, Dayton, and Wichita State.   The tournament is held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.