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MORGANTOWN, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers used a strong second half to take down the Cincinnati Bearcats on Wednesday night, 69-65. WVU, now 8-13 and 3-5 in Big 12 play, were led by a strong performance from Senior Jesse Edwards. The Amsterdam native finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds. After a long break from action due to injury, Edwards finally looked back to strength, and it made all the difference. Despite leading at halftime, Cincinnati simply could not hold off a Mountaineer squad that wanted it more. The Bearcats, now 14-7 and 3-5 in Big 12 plays, were solid throughout the night while dominating the glass with 42 rebounds. https://twitter.com/wvuhoops/status/1752846670314750390?s=46&t=cXIQ4JQG-pp-P6qrRwLwjw WVU returns home on Saturday night against the BYU Cougars. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+. (Photo by WVU Athletics) 

West Virginia forward Oscar Tshiebwe has a very bright future playing basketball professionally in the NBA, but imagine if he chose to play football for the Mountaineers instead of basketball. This scenario was actually imagined by Jeremy Phoenix of the Raspy Voice Kids last summer before Tshiebwe had even stepped foot on the Coliseum floor.  Tshiebwe reposted the question"What If?" and replied "What y'all think?" https://twitter.com/Oscartshiebwe34/status/1144011759164018689?s=20 Although further exploration into the topic didn't go on, the bottom line is that Tshiebwe's size and athleticism would be virtually unstoppable if he was placed out wide as a receiver. At 6'9 and 260 pounds, Tshiebwe would be an absolute specimen as a wide receiver or tight end. His size is the not the only thing that would make him an offensive force; Tshiebwe also runs better than most athletes his size. According to West Virginia Head Coach Bob Huggins, "“He can really run.  I don’t know that I’ve had very many bigs or played against very many bigs that can run better than he does.” Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin both caught 114 passes in 2012 and share the record for single-season receptions at West Virginia.  That record would be difficult to surpass for Tshiebwe, who grew up playing soccer in Africa and has likely never played American football, but his upside and potential would be through the roof.  With real practice and time, he could easily grow into the most dominant offensive force in West Virginia football history. Not only could he be virtually unstoppable offensively, he would certainly excel as an edge rusher on the defensive line. His quickness, athleticism and length would be a problem for any offensive lineman.  Again, rushing the passer is something that football players are trained to do at an early age and it would take time for him to develop, but it's hard to imagine a more prototypical raw athlete to become a force on the defensive line as an edge rusher. Like LeBron James, who would also be an incredible football player at several different positions, Oscar Tshiebwe will likely never put on a helmet or pads, but he has the physical talents to be one of the very best players ever if he did.

Brad Paisley is a beloved West Virginia native. Known for being an avid fan of the Mountaineers (and yes, sadly, the Tennessee Volunteers), Paisley is someone that everyone in the Mountain State associates with the Old Gold and Blue. He even had the opportunity to sing Take Me Home, Country Roads at Milan Puskar Stadium in 2015 prior to the Mountaineers' 45-6 win over Maryland. Making him only the second person to do so at Mountaineer Field.   https://youtu.be/hgOhr0W_a0g   Today, the legendary Paisley celebrates his 48th birthday.   https://twitter.com/BradPaisley/status/1321428766527283205?s=20 If you have the opportunity, be sure to wish Paisley a very happy birthday on Twitter, as well as his other social media outlets. Celebrate his day by listening to his adored songs Mud on the Tires and I'm Gonna Miss Her.   And then of course, there is my personal favorite... https://youtu.be/B9mpDAJOPac

Pro Football Focus recently released early accolades for the Big 12 Conference with the start of spring practice. In a completely ignorant and biased turn of events, Texas Quarterback Sam Ehlinger was named “the best returning player in the Big 12 Conference.” While Ehlinger is a superb quarterback, ignoring a player like Chubba Hubbard of Oklahoma State is uncalled for. Last season, the Cowboys running back ran for over 2,000 yards. This is a feat that only a handful of players have ever accomplished in a single season. To ignore this is a blatant sign that the folks at Pro Football Focus may not be as knowledgeable about football as they appear to be. Though it cannot be changed, it must be noted that Hubbard was snubbed. Not only is the Oklahoma State the best returning player, but he is the best overall player. Ehlinger will have a successful season, but nowhere near the caliber of what Hubbard will accomplish this season. https://twitter.com/texasfootball/status/1237204113093525504?s=21

West Virginia beat Wichita State, 75-63, to win the 2019 Cancun Challenge championship Wednesday night. That's the trees. Here's the forest: If this is the version of Bob Huggins squad we're going to see for most of the remainder of the season, the Mountaineers are back from their one-season nightmare. After a semifinals, 60-55, come-from-behind win over Northern Iowa on Tuesday night that could be described, charitably, as a slog, West Virginia (6-0) put on its best performance of the young season in Wednesday night's championship game. The Mountaineers came out fast and strong, with a spring in their step that was missing the night before. They had a team-wide defensive intensity that suffocated the Shockers through most of the night. WVU's front line owned the glass. The Mountaineers forced turnovers. They sped up Wichita State and the Shockers were visibly uncomfortable on the offensive end all night. It wasn't exactly vintage Press Virginia, as the full-court press of the past is employed more sporadically than during the Jevon Carter-Daxter Miles era. But it was vintage Huggins defense. Tough. Relentless. Physical. Rebounding. Rebounding. And more rebounding. A night after an invisible effort worthy of the Witness Protection Program, freshman Oscar Tshiewbe displayed the kind of domination expected of his five-star pedigree. Tshiewbe was the best player on the floor in the finals. That wasn't disputable. Tshiewbe finished with his third double-double in six career contests, leading the Mountaineers with 19 points and tying a Cancun Challenge rebounding record with 18 boards. When he is on his game, Tshiewbe is West Virginia's best player. He was able to tally those dominating numbers despite finishing with four personal fouls - again. Tshiewbe has a chance to be the Big 12 newcomer of the year. He has a chance to earn all-conference first-team honors. He is just that good. His combination of size, strength, quickness, hops, smooth feet and soft hands haven't been seen by a big man in Morgantown since...ever. He probably won't be a Mountaineer long. But he has a chance to be special in the time he does have. But he has to become more consistent and learn to better avoid picking up fouls. He's young. This should improve as the season goes on. Should. This was the best combination effort with the Mountaineers version of the twin towers - Tshiewbe and sophomore forward Derek Culver. Before Wednesday night, either Tshiewbe or Culver carried the Mountaineers front-line effort alone. Culver added seven points, nine rebounds and two blocks Wednesday. If WVU is going to return to the NCAA Tournament and be a factor in the Big 12, this kind of combined effort has to be the rule - not the exception. Another positive sign for WVU was Huggins decision to play sophomore point guard Jordan McCabe much of the second half and all of crunch time. While Tshiewbe was persona non grata some of the time, McCabe has been all year. Wednesday night was McCabe's sixth start, but his first meaningful contribution. McCabe's numbers weren't spectacular - nine points and just two assists. But Huggins relied on McCabe to handle the defensive pressure the Shockers tried to apply in an effort to get back into the game. This is what McCabe does best. He was brilliant at it Wednesday night. During the Carter run at WVU, the one area the Mountaineers struggled was handling the opponent's press. It led to numerous blown big leads late in games. For all that Carter did well, he wasn't a good ball handler for a point guard. McCabe is. WVU needs him on the floor more than he's off it. Especially for this exact situation. His ability to beat the press is going to be needed again. WVU is a young team that is trying to find itself. The journey didn't end in Mexico Wednesday night. But it took a big step forward.

(Photo via 12Up) It is always nice to see a Mountaineer succeeding, even if he has decided to take his talents elsewhere through way of transfer. Trey Lowe, who transferred to Southern Miss from WVU earlier this year, had a solid performance tonight against the Florida Atlantic Owls. In a 45-31 win, Lowe led the Golden Eagles’ offense with great confidence. The former Mountaineer completed of 13 of his 19 passes with 209 yards and two touchdowns to one interception. He would also get going in the running game, finishing with 70 yards on 16 carries, all while scoring his first rushing touchdown of his career. Southern Miss finished 3-7 in Lowe’s first season on the scene. He will have the opportunity to earn playing time next season as his solid finish to 2020 should gain momentum going into 2021. Though it did not work out at WVU, seeing Trey Lowe do so well at another school should still excite WVU fans all the same.

5 for the 10s is a four-part series reflecting on the most memorable West Virginia athletics players, games, news and events of the concluding decade of the 2010s. Last of four parts: In this installment, we rank the Top 5 West Virginia University sports news events of the decade. These are the decade’s stories that took place off the playing field, but their impact was certainly felt between the lines. 5. West Virginia announces plans to sell beer at football and basketball games (2011) In a forward-thinking way to increase revenue, WVU Athletic Director Oliver Luck announced that the university would allow beer sales in the concessions stands at football and basketball games beginning in the fall of 2011. WVU and Luck were trailblazers in this area, bucking the baffling hypocritical puritanism universities had/have regarding alcohol. Drinking has been a part of the fan experience at college games from the beginning, but the NCAA and its institutions acted like allowing alcohol consumption inside the stadium walls would result in absolute chaos. Luck realized that selling beer was an untapped (pun intended) revenue stream that universities were foolish not to tap into (also intended). Beer sales began in WVU’s last season in the Big East. When the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 a year later, they were the only conference school permitting on-campus alcohol sales. WVU remained the lone Big 12 school to permit beer sales at athletic events until 2015 when Texas followed WVU’s lead. With TCU’s announcement in August that it would allow beer sales in 2019, by decade’s end seven (WVU, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Kansas and TCU) of the 10 Big 12 schools allow alcohol sales at on campus games. 4. Dana Holgoren leaves for Houston, Neal Brown arrives (2019) On the surface, Holgorsen leaving a Big 12 school to take an AAC job is a bad look for West Virginia. It looks better upon deeper inspection. Holgorsen’s 2018 team was one of – if not the most – talented WVU teams he had since taking over in 2011. The Mountaineers had an offense stacked with talented skill position players coupled with an experienced offensive line. Expectations were sky high. An 8-5 record and a spot in the Camping World Bowl did not meet those expectations. Reports were that Holgorsen wanted an extension but WVU AD Shane Lyons wasn’t interested. With most of his talent leaving, coming off a season that fell short of expectations, and his boss refusing to extend his contract, Holgorsen saw the Houston offer as a safe landing spot from an unstable situation personally. Facing his first big hire as WVU athletic director, Lyons appeared to nail it. Lyons brought in Brown after Brown’s four-year tenure as head coach at Troy. Brown was 35-16 and 3-0 in bowl games at Troy. Both coaches had losing records at their new schools in 2019. Brown’s WVU team was 5-7 and Holgorsen was one game worse, finishing 4-8. 3. Oliver Luck hired as West Virginia athletic director (2010) In June 2010, West Virginia announced that the university hired former WVU quarterback Luck to replace retiring athletic director Ed Pastilong. Luck had the job for five-plus years. They were certainly eventful. Luck’s most consequential move was getting West Virginia invited to join the Big 12 Conference. As the Big East Conference crumbled around WVU, Luck’s efforts were crucial to finding a landing spot in the incredibly turbulent world of conference realignment. Luck will always be remembered for this move. Luck showed his out-of-the-box thinking soon after his arrival when he worked to get the university to accept allowing beer sales at football and basketball games. Few schools did that at the start of the decade. By the end of the decade, more than 50 schools allow on-campus alcohol sales. Luck was a trailblazer in opening this revenue stream. Getting WVU into the Big 12 was Luck’s most important accomplishment. The second-most important decision of Luck’s tenure was hiring Holgorsen to replace Bill Stewart as football coach. That didn’t go as smoothly. Luck left WVU in December 2014 to take a job with the NCAA. He is currently the commissioner of the XFL, which is slated to begin play in February. 2. Bill Stewart resigns under pressure, replaced by Dana Holgorsen (2011) The process that resulted in the hiring of Stewart as WVU football coach was bizarre. The circumstances that led to his forced resignation were surreal. WVU officials hired Stewart without conducting a coaching search and likely without sobering up. Stewart was named WVU’s interim coach in December 2007 after coach Rich Rodriguez left to take the job at Michigan. The plan was for Stewart to coach WVU in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma, then the university would conduct a thorough search for Rodriguez’s replacement. Stewart wasn’t even considered a viable candidate. Then WVU throttled Oklahoma, 48-28. The next day, the school announced Stewart was now the full-time coach. A major college football coach had just been hired without a search. At all. None. And that’s just the hiring of Stewart. The story of replacing him gets weirder. When Luck was named WVU AD in 2010, the football program was solid but had withered from its heights under Rodriguez. WVU won two Big East titles in Rodriguez’s last three years. They didn’t win any under Stewart. Luck felt the program had stagnated into mediocrity and decided a coaching change was in order. Luck announced that Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen would replace Stewart. So far, completely normal. But then Luck went full bore into his outside-of-the-box thinking. Way outside. Holgorsen would replace Stewart, but not for the 2011 season. Holgorsen would serve as Stewart’s offensive coordinator for a year, then take the reigns in 2012. For some reason Luck didn’t forsee that forcing Stewart – who didn’t want to leave - to have his replacement on his staff for a season might be an issue. Almost a decade later it still is completely baffling that a man as smart as Luck didn’t see the pitfalls in this plan. This Stewart-Holgorsen arranged marriage appeared to be set to play out. But in steps...

WVU Head Coach Neal Brown claims that we have a winner in the quarterback competition. However, he will not be publicly naming the winner prior to their season opening game at Penn State.  Morgantown, WV - As we reported yesterday, a winner has emerged in WVU's quarterback competition. According to a reliable source, Garrett Greene is expected to make his third career start against Penn State on September 2nd. However, following Neal Brown's comments about the competition earlier this evening, fans and the media will have to wait until game day to learn who officially won the job. Per a tweet sent out by Nick Farrell of Gold and Blue Nation, Brown has stated in his weekly press conference that a decision has been made on who will start at quarterback for the Mountaineers. While he claims that the team knows who the starter is, he will not publicly name them prior to their September 2nd contest against Penn State. https://twitter.com/ByNickFarrell/status/1693671827451658315?s=20   According to sources close to the situation, Greene was clearly the better quarterback during WVU's scrimmage on Saturday. While nobody was quick to deem Nicco Marchiol terrible in any way, the buzz surrounding Garrett Greene indicates that he has a much better control of the offense, and the team. Stay tuned to The Voice of Motown for updates on the situation. (Photo by WVU Athletics)

  “I can’t control what those three blind mice do.” That line has become the most expensive rodent-related banter outside of Disney. The quote, and the $10,000 fine the Big 12 Conference levied against West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins because he uttered it, have become legendary on social media. For those just waking up from a week-long nap, Huggins used the “three blind mice” line as a pejorative aimed at the Big 12 officials who worked the West Virginia-Kansas game in Lawrence, Kan., Saturday afternoon. Huggins was upset about what he perceived to be inconsistent foul calls in the game. Mountaineers fans are in a fevered uproar online, with statements ranging from wanting to start GoFundMe accounts for Huggins to decrying the fine as a blatant violation of Huggins constitutional right to free speech. West Virginia fans are, to quote the kids, “raging” about the Big 12 punishment. Sorry WVU fans, but this is going to be a wet blanket thrown upon your inferno of outrage. But some of you really need to hear it. Let’s put out a few of these rage fires. The actions of the Big 12 were neither excessive nor draconian. This was Huggins third time publicly criticizing conference officials, and the $10,000 fine was in step with the conference’s progressive discipline regarding the issue. Huggins wasn’t fined any more than, say, TCU coach Jamie Dixon would have been if he were to receive a third-strike punishment in this area. This has nothing to do with constitutional free speech. Let me rephrase that. This. Has. Nothing. To. Do. With. Constitutional. Free. Speech. “Free speech,” as understood in the U.S., refers to the First Amendment protection. This protection only covers speech regulated by federal, state and local governments. It has nothing to do workplace communication. And that is what Huggins rant and subsequent fine fall under. It’s a workplace issue. If Huggins is imprisoned for mocking basketball referees, then call the ACLU. Not only wasn’t the officiating disparity in the game bad – it wasn’t a disparity. WVU was called for 18 fouls in the game. Kansas was called for 19. There is no orchestrated grand conspiracy by the Big 12 Conference to stymie West Virginia University athletics. Yes, many times when WVU has gone into Allen Fieldhouse, the Mountaineers have come out on the short end of the officiating stick. So has everyone else. And guess what? When Big 12 teams come into the Coliseum, they often get the short straw from the refs. There have been empirical studies showing that crowds are the biggest propeller for home-field advantage. But it’s not in the ways traditionally believed (the energy of the crowd boosts the home team, the crowd noise make communication difficult for the opponents). The biggest reason for the advantage is that officials are biased towards the home team. This isn’t part of a grand conspiracy. It’s human nature and subconscious bias. Calls that go against the home team draw a negative response. Calls that go against the visiting team draw a positive one. As humans, we want to be liked and we crave approval. Here’s a secret: Contrary to popular belief, referees are human https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070403112044.htm. Bob Huggins doesn’t need, nor does he want, your GoFundMe account. Huggins is millionaire. You are not. Huggins saves more than $10,000 a year by not wearing suits. He’s fine. If you want to donate to Huggins, support one of the cancer research charities he champions. Huggins knew he was getting the fine before he stepped to the podium. It’s likely he sees this as an investment in his team’s future calls. He loudly made his protestation known with the knowledge that while he would be fined, his protest will linger in the subconscious of conference officials. If just a few calls go his team’s way that otherwise would not, he will consider it money well spent. College sports fans are nothing if not passionate. And when they feel an injustice has been done to their team, the protests are loud and strong. The reaction to Huggins criticism of the officials and the fine that resulted are stark evidence to this. It’s great to be passionate. It helps to be rational.

Former West Virginia quarterback Will Grier is expected to get the start this week for the Carolina Panthers, according to NFL insider Ian Rapaport. Carolina plays at Indianapolis on Sunday. Grier, drafted by Carolina in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, has served as backup to Kyle Allen since week 3, when Allen took over for injured starter Cam Newton. Allen started well in relief of Newton but has struggled mightily since. The Panthers (5-9) have lost six straight and have been out of the playoff chase for weeks. The mid-to-late season swoon cost Carolina head coach Ron Rivera his job. Rivera was fired Dec. 3. Interim coach Perry Fawell stuck with Allen the past two games despite his – and the team’s – struggles. If Grier gets the start Sunday it will be his first action of his NFL career. Grier was the West Virginia starting quarterback in 2017 and 2018. Grier redshirted in 2016 after transferring to WVU from Florida, where he played six games as a freshman in 2015 before being suspended by the NCAA for testing positive for a performance enhancing substance.

5 for 10s is a four-part series reflecting on the most memorable West Virginia athletics players, games, news and events of the concluding decade of the 2010s. Third of four parts: In this installment, we rank the Top 5 most painful West Virginia losses of the decade. These are the losses that, for various reasons, hurt the most. 5. No. 17 Oklahoma 50, West Virginia 49 (Football, Morgantown, November 17, 2012) West Virginia brought a two-game winning streak over Oklahoma into this contest. The Mountaineers routed Oklahoma, 48-28, in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl and beat the Sooners, 41-27, in the 1982 season opener in Norman, Okla. The Sooners got their revenge in the teams first meeting as Big 12 Conference foes. In a game that typified the Big 12 Conference overall and the Mountaineers in particular, the contest was filled with scoring and seriously devoid of defense. Oklahoma led, 31-17, at halftime. The Mountaineers spent most of the second half playing catch up, twice rallying from double-digit deficits. With 2:53 left to play, WVU quarterback Geno Smith hit receiver Stedman Bailey for a 40-yard touchdown pass to give West Virginia a 49-44 lead. Unfortunately, that left just enough time for Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones and the Sooners. Oklahoma marched down the field and inside the Mountaineers 10. WVU’s defense had an opportunity for a game-winning stand under the shadow of its own goalpost. It was a stand that did not come. Jones hit receiver Kenny Stills with a 5-yard strike with just 24 seconds on the clock, giving Oklahoma the touchdown and a one-point victory that silenced a ruckus night-game crowd at Mountaineer Field. The defeat overshadowed an incredible, record-breaking performance from WVU receiver/running back Tavon Austin. Austin ran for a team-record 344 yards on just 21 carries and scored two touchdowns. Bailey also had a monster night in the loss with 13 catches for 205 yards and four touchdowns. Smith finished with 320 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. But the senior was uncharacteristically out shined by his counterpart. Jones finished with 554 yards and six touchdowns. 4. Stephen F. Austin 70, West Virginia 56 (Basketball, NCAA Tournament, East Region, First Round, New York, March 18, 2016) West Virginia was riding high coming into the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers, on the heels of their Big 12 Tournament runner-up finish, were the No. 3 seed in the East Region. It was the Mountaineers second-highest seeding ever, only behind their No. 2 seeding in the 2010 tourney. For the opening round of the tournament, the Mountaineers would play in Brooklyn, N.Y., an area of the country they were familiar from their Big East days. WVU’s first opponent was 14th seed Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks had the nation’s longest winning streak (20), but the Mountaineers were expected to quickly put that to rest. They did not. The Lumberjacks didn’t just upset the heavily favored Mountaineers, they dominated WVU. SFU’s bearded wonder Thomas Walkup looked like he could be the mascot for either school. But he played like he was the best player for either. WVU searched but never found an answer for Walkup, who dominated the contest. Walkup was a one-man wrecking crew, leading SFU in scoring, rebounds and assists. He finished with 33 points, including hitting 19-of-20 free throws. The loss was the biggest upset defeat in WVU’s NCAA Tournament history. 3. Texas A&M 11, West Virginia 10 (Baseball, Morgantown, NCAA Regional, elimination game, June 2, 2019) The 5 for 10s are made up almost exclusively of revenue sports (football and men’s basketball) items. The reason is those are the sports that, overwhelmingly, garner the most interest (and, hence, “revenue”) of fans. For something outside of the big two sports to get a spot on the list, it must be extraordinary. The 2019 NCAA Morgantown Regional elimination game more than qualifies. The Mountaineers baseball team had its best season in school history in 2019, culminating with the Mountaineers hosting a regional. In an elimination game of the regional, WVU faced Texas A&M. The Mountaineers went up, 9-1, after scoring a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning. At that point, WVU had a win probability of 99.73 percent. The Aggies made a big rally in the bottom of the seventh, scoring six runs, led by Logan Foster’s grand slam. That cut the WVU lead to 9-7. The Mountaineers got an insurance run in the eighth, extending lead to 10-7. They needed full coverage. WVU blanked A&M in the eighth and took the three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth. WVU pitcher Sam Kessler loaded the bases but had the Aggies down to their final strike with a 3-2 count to A&M second baseman Bryce Blaum. Blaum drove the full-count delivery from Kessler over the left-field fence, capping a heartbreaking collapse that ended the Mountaineers season in an 11-10 loss. 2. Gonzaga 61, West Virginia 58 (Basketball, NCAA Tournament, West Regional, Sweet 16, San Jose, Calif., March 23, 2017) The fourth-seeded Mountaineers and top-seed Gonzaga went toe-to-toe in a battle in the NCAA Tournament West Regional semifinals that featured a pair of defensive stalwarts. In a game where points were at a premium, the difference was a 3-point shot that went in - and a pair that did not. With the scored tied and less than a minute left, Gonzaga’s Jordan Mathews took an outlet pass to the left wing, pulled up and drained an open 3-point shot, giving the Zags a three-point lead. The Mountaineers had multiple chances to send the game to overtime, but Jevon Carter twice missed on game-tying 3-point shots. WVU got the rebound after the second Carter miss, but West Virginia unable to get up a third potential game-tying effort, and the Mountaineers season and upset hopes ended. What made the loss so disheartening was the path the laid out for this game’s winner. Second seeded Arizona was upset by No. 11 seed Xavier in the region’s other semifinal. Gonzaga destroyed Xavier, 83-59, to advance to the Final Four. In the Final Four, the Zags faced a seven seed, South Carolina, beating the Gamecocks, 77-73, to advance to the championship game. Gonzaga lost...

To go bowling, West Virginia needs to end the season on a three-game winning streak. The Mountaineers got one-third of the way there with a 24-20 upset at Kansas State. Today, WVU tries to make it two-thirds of the way towards bowl eligibility when the Mountaineers host No. 21 Oklahoma State in their home finale. WVU's chances got a boost with the announcement that Cowboys quarterback Spencer Sanders will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing thumb surgery earlier in the week. While a change at signal caller figures to hamper OSU, the Mountaineers move to Jarrett Doege as starting quarterback last week jump-started the WVU offense. Doege's presence behind center should help what has been a season-long middling passing game. Unfortunately, there's not much Doege can do about the Mountaineers anemic running game. If that doesn't improve, and don't expect that it will, WVU will struggle to get past OSU. Oklahoma State 24 West Virginia 17

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia -- West Virginia starting quarterback Garrett Greene was injured and hobbled off the field in the 1st quarter of the Backyard Brawl against Pitt and will not return. Greene, a junior from Tallahassee, Florida, was 0/2 for 0 yards passing and 0 yards rushing. X-rays on Greene's ankle and lower leg showed no structural damage, but he has been ruled out for the rest of the game. He has a boot on his right leg and is in street clothes. Greene was seen in the West Virginia training center "sobbing and crying" while limping around trying to get himself ready to return. However, Greene clearly is too hurt and will not be able to return. Stay to the Voice of Morgantown for more updates on this developing situation as they become available!

We dominated the game and lost. Same exact thing we did under Holgorsen year after year and game after game. Our players would out-play and out-hustle the other team, yet undisciplined penalties, a lack of fundamentals and questionable play calling and clock management would cause us to lose. The game Saturday against the Pokes resulted in the same exact script. Before I go any further, let me establish that I supported going after Coach Neal Brown before his name was even mentioned for the job, and I do still support him and haven’t given up on him. But he hasn’t yet shown me anything to back up a reason for believing in him. Last year was a complete joke. We blew four games, FOUR, in the 4th quarter. Blowing games in the 4th quarter is a result of play calling and clock management. We were either ahead, tied or within one score going into the 4th against Iowa State, Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma State. We could have gone 9-3 and should have at the VERY worst gone 6-6 and to a Bowl. On top of blowing four games late and giving WVU our first losing season in six years and only the second in seventeen years, ol’ Coach refused to bench a QB that was obviously not good enough to start in a Power 5 conference. Kendall just doesn’t/didn’t have the arm strength to make the necessary throws. People that do not know football saw our rushing stats last year and think that our Offensive Line was terrible, but that just isn’t the case. We couldn’t run the ball because no defense was afraid of our QB throwing the ball and therefore loaded the box. Kendall just couldn’t throw the ball downfield. Throw after throw looked like a wounded duck that hung in the air all day. He finished with 12 TDs and 10 INTs, that is absolutely horrid at any level but especially college where the year before – WIll Grier threw 37 TDs to 8 INTs. I understood starting Kendall out of the gate, he was highly rated from the time he was graduating high school through the time Lincoln Riley said that the QB battle between he and Kyler Murray was neck and neck. But after a handful of games it was obvious that he just didn’t have the arm for Power 5. Yet Coach refused to bench him and not even give a CHANCE to ANYONE and especially not Holgorsen recruit Trey Lowe that was supposed to be our future and could’ve been our Starter for the next four years as a Redshirt Freshman. No offensive line can run block when eight or nine defenders are in the box. And as far as pass blocking, we were very good. We gave up less than 2 sacks in half of all our games and our Left Tackle (Colton McKivitz) got drafted in the 5th round. If you’re wondering why I’m rehashing a lot of last year – I'm pointing out that this past Saturday was déjà vu. We absolutely dominated the Pokes and STILL got beat by 2 touchdowns. We had double digit penalties and multiple fumbles (one for a scoop and score reminiscent of 2018 against the Sooners). At one point we had nearly double the yards but were still down 17-0. Which brings us to the muffed FG that continues the mediocre Special Teams from the Holgorsen era. I picked us going 6-4 before the season started, hoping that Brown’s game management had improved over year 1 to the point that we would win a few of those games that come down to the wire in the 4th Quarter. Unfortunately, if what happened against Oklahoma State continues throughout the season, it will be another below .500 year when we should be a bowl team. I gave Coach Brown a pass last year, he had a new team, new program and new Conference, so I said, “fine, yes we had the talent to go 9-3 but I’ll give him a pass in the first year while figuring out what he has and what to do with it.” But he doesn’t get a pass this year. No one expects(ed) him to go 9-1, I don’t even care if we went 2-8 (because the only games that should be a given are Eastern KY and Kansas. You won’t hear it from the “academic Gods of the Big 10” but The Big 12 is the toughest Conference from top to bottom, the only bad team is KU) as long as we left everything on the field and it wasn’t more of the Head Coach blowing the games like it’s been for the past 8 years. Mountaineer fans deserve better than having that sick feeling of being the better team yet still losing that we've had for large portions of our history and especially since 2012. I still believe in Coach Neal Brown but he needs to right the ship starting this week against Baylor. If he gives us our 3rd losing season in 8 years, he's going to lose a lot of the base, including me. We just saw against Ok State how good we can be, they are supposed to be a favorite to win the Conference, along with OU and Texas - and we should have beaten them. So there is no reason for us finishing below 500 again. I don't buy into the mediocrity accepting motto of "Trust The Climb." We should've/could've won 9 games last year so there is not much "climbing" to do, we're already there.