Last week #2 UGA gets firebombed by 'Bama...this week #1 'Bama has the favor returned by lowly (not anymore) unranked Vandy? #9 Mizzou runs into the "12th man" down in College Station Texas as unranked T A&M opens up a can-o-Texas sized whup-ass on those kitty cats! Then tonight, #4 Tennessee "Volunteers" for the upset against unranked Arkansas and the fans go "Hog wild" storming the field after an absolutely HUGE upset of their SEC tormentors!

SEC is no walk in the park on a pleasant Saturday afternoon or evening against unranked teams... Shew!!!!! 🫤

Is this the start of the Allstate Big 12 and a glimpse of things to come with conference teams being featured in commercials for them?

This team is way better than 1-5.

I loved that color combination we were wearing. Loved the blue helmets, blue trousers with the big bold stripe down the leg, and white jerseys with gold numerals trimmed in blue. "Perfect uniforms" for the "perfect game". So whenever we need another road game "perfect win" I suggest we break out these "perfect unis" to get our mojo going!

Folks we have an excellent chance to regain the momentum we all thought this program had lost a month ago after the disappointing losses to Ped State and s*Pitt! Our next two home games are against conference teams currently sitting firmly inside the top 25. Pulling out a couple of nice home cooked "W"s against Iowa State and K-State within the friendly confines of MPS sets us up for a month ending Halloween party out in the desert against a very beatable Arizona Wildcat ball club.

I know we need to take 'em one at a time, but it's also a good idea to take a look ahead where you're going. I'm saying if we can make it to Halloween posting 3 more W's, we could start making plans by Turkey day a few weeks later for Dallas and the Big 12 CCG?

Let's get started with a big coal night W over Iowa State next Saturday and get this comeback train rollin' huh?

Rum barrel at Flamingo Tiki in OKC.

Also had some gochujang wings that were way better than I expected for bar food.

BlueBloods and Big Money programs gonna have to pivot with this new model and mega conferences.

BlueBloods = NOT PLEASED

I expect a strongly worded email or X message by someone in control….

Wait for it….

The centerpiece of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is her promise to bring tax relief to America’s middle class, a plan she announced during an appearance in Raleigh, North Carolina, earlier this month.

Much of the proposal she outlined in that first major campaign policy address is built on Biden administration initiatives. Like President Joe Biden, Harris pledged that no one earning less than $400,000 will pay more in new taxes. But getting that enacted into law is going to be tough.

Harris’ proposals face two hurdles. First, any big tax cut will probably need some way to pay for it, and Congress has had a hard time agreeing on spending cuts or tax increases. Case in point, with the start of the new fiscal year a month away, lawmakers have not agreed on a budget, and chances are they’ll wind up with a temporary fix that will fund the government through the fall.

The other, perhaps bigger, problem will be convincing sympathetic members of Congress that a tax cut plan could be devised that would in fact help most people earning less than $400,000. President Joe Biden has been promising to give those taxpayers a break since he was elected, and has not yet succeeded. Even if he had, independent analysts see little substantial benefit for many middle class taxpayers in Biden’s tax plan.

Help for the middle class?​

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated that the individual tax provisions of Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget, which is roughly similar to the 2025 budget that Harris has endorsed, would cut taxes on average for people making $400,000 or less.

Harris’ promise not to impose new taxes on people below that income level has been a favorite Biden promise for years, As she explained, her plan is building on Biden administration ideas. But Harris added some of her own wrinkles, notably help for first time home buyers and expanded child tax credits.

Independent analysts question how much of a tax cut the plan would provide.

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated the lowest-income households, or those earning less than $30,800, would see an average tax cut of about $650 annually, or 3.6% in individual taxes. Those making $30,800 to $60,400 would save about $630, or 1.5%.

The percentages then continue to decline. Middle income households, making $60,400 to $107,300, would save about $510, or 0.7% less.

There are several variables that could affect these estimates. Harris in her tax plan proposed increasing the child credit, now $2,000, for middle- and lower-income families. It went up during the COVID pandemic to as much as $3,600 per child. Harris wants to restore that amount. She’d also add a new $6,000 credit for qualifying families with a child in the first year of life.

Harris says the expanded credits would be available for middle income families. Currently the child credit is phased out for individual filers earning more than $200,000 and joint filers making more than $400,000.

Harris is also proposing giving certain working families $25,000 in down payment assistance on their first home.

Also in the proposal is a tax incentive for builders who build starter homes and affordable rental housing, and a new $40 billion “innovation fund” that would encourage builders to find new ways to construct affordable housing..

Who gets a tax break?​

The amount anyone gets from a tax break, or avoids paying new taxes, depends on several variables.

One factor involves what tax credits or deductions they can take.

“On average, lower- and middle-income taxpayers would see tax cuts, but that masks how some taxpayers at low- and middle-income levels won’t be better off if they are excluded from the large tax credit expansions,” said Erica York, research director and senior economist at Washington’s Tax Foundation, a research group.

Also important is how, or whether, the government pays for the tax breaks by raising other taxes or or cutting spending. spending cuts.

After unveiling her tax cut plan August 16, Harris’ advisers told reporters she supports the revenue raisers in the FY2025 Biden-Harris budget “that ensure billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share.” That budget has gone nowhere in Congress.

It proposed raising the corporate rate, now 21%, to 28% and raising the top individual tax rate, now 37%, to 39.6%. The Biden plan also proposed a 25% minimum tax on those with wealth of more than $100 million and “modestly increasing” the Medicare tax rate on incomes of more than $400,000.

But Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that the more corporate taxes go up, individuals making below $400,000 see some of that tax increase.

The campaign also has not been specific about how it will tackle any potential debt that might result from tax breaks.

The campaign said in a statement that it will “fulfill their commitment to fiscal responsibility, including by asking the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations to pay their fair share—steps that will allow us to make necessary investments in the middle class, while also reducing the deficit and strengthening our fiscal health.”

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Oct. 5, 2024) – The No. 7 West Virginia University men’s soccer team jumped to the top of the Sun Belt standings, Saturday, with a 2-1 victory over UCF at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The Mountaineers improve to 7-0-3 and 2-0-1 in conference while the Knights fall to 3-3-3 and 1-0-2 in Sun Belt play.



Graduate student Sergio Ors Navarro and junior Marcus Caldeira each scored for the Mountaineers while graduate student Max Broughton, sophomore Sam Nyenka and freshman Isaac Scheer all collected assists.



Overall, the Mountaineers outshot UCF, 11-7, while having a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. West Virginia also took five corner kicks while holding the Knights to just one.



It did not take long for WVU to take the lead as Ors Navarro corralled a long ball from Broughton outside the box in the sixth minute. He made a move and took a shot that got through the hands of the UCF goalkeeper. It was the 10th goal of the season for Ors Navarro which puts the Spaniard back in a tie for most in the nation.



UCF evened up the game in the 21st minute on a goal from Emmanuel Bam.



The score remained tied until halftime, but once again the Mountaineers came out strong, taking the lead in the 49th minute on a goal from Caldeira. Nyenka sent a cross to Scheer, who gave a quick backheel touch, leaving it perfectly for Caldeira behind him.



The Knights only managed one shot on goal in the second half with it coming in the 87th minute, but Broughton was able to break it up before it safely got to goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire’s hands.



West Virginia will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 11, at Georgia Southern. Kickoff from Statesboro is set for 7 p.m.



For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Oct. 5, 2024) – The No. 7 West Virginia University men’s soccer team jumped to the top of the Sun Belt standings, Saturday, with a 2-1 victory over UCF at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The Mountaineers improve to 7-0-3 and 2-0-1 in conference while the Knights fall to 3-3-3 and 1-0-2 in Sun Belt play.



Graduate student Sergio Ors Navarro and junior Marcus Caldeira each scored for the Mountaineers while graduate student Max Broughton, sophomore Sam Nyenka and freshman Isaac Scheer all collected assists.



Overall, the Mountaineers outshot UCF, 11-7, while having a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. West Virginia also took five corner kicks while holding the Knights to just one.



It did not take long for WVU to take the lead as Ors Navarro corralled a long ball from Broughton outside the box in the sixth minute. He made a move and took a shot that got through the hands of the UCF goalkeeper. It was the 10th goal of the season for Ors Navarro which puts the Spaniard back in a tie for most in the nation.



UCF evened up the game in the 21st minute on a goal from Emmanuel Bam.



The score remained tied until halftime, but once again the Mountaineers came out strong, taking the lead in the 49th minute on a goal from Caldeira. Nyenka sent a cross to Scheer, who gave a quick backheel touch, leaving it perfectly for Caldeira behind him.



The Knights only managed one shot on goal in the second half with it coming in the 87th minute, but Broughton was able to break it up before it safely got to goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire’s hands.



West Virginia will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 11, at Georgia Southern. Kickoff from Statesboro is set for 7 p.m.



For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

This game will define the rest of our season. Win, hope; Lose, nope.

I seriously enjoyed the RB thread and hearing your picks! Love the BL brothers

I’ll start…
Brandon Myles

–West Virginia is now 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference with an absolutely dominating performance on the road against Oklahoma State. The 24-points is the by far the biggest Big 12 Conference road win of the Neal Brown era, topping 13-points at UCF last year and is the largest since the 49-19 win at Iowa State during the 2016 season. We can discuss how poorly Oklahoma State played, but West Virginia went out and pushed them around up front and controlled the line of scrimmage on the offensive side, while bottling them up on defense. Nobody could have predicted this type of performance and hats off to all involved for using the bye week to come out and play their best football of the season on both sides of the ball. We’ll see how good this Oklahoma State team is moving forward but this was as convincing of a win on the road as West Virginia has had since Brown took the program over in 2019 and the key is the Mountaineers are now 2-0 in the league.

–The first half of that game might have been the best under head coach Neal Brown considering the fact it was on the road and the opponent. The Mountaineers pretty much moved the ball at will and while they only completed five passes, rushed for a total of 259 yards with 20 first downs. The Mountaineers only had three games where they rushed for 259 yards or more since quarterback Garrett Greene became the starter and it was the most in the first half of the Brown era. It was a clinic offensively as the offense was able to dominate at the line of scrimmage while the defense only permitted 115 yards and was a fourth down stop away from a shutout. The Mountaineers really put together their best overall effort and it showed that potential that was talked about in August.

–West Virginia had one win in Stillwater prior to 2022, but has now won consecutive times.

–West Virginia finished this game with 389 rushing yards. That’s the most since the 424 yards that the program had against Cincinnati last year. It’s the most that Oklahoma State has given up since 2005 when they allowed Texas A&M to rush for 399 yards.

–Senior quarterback Garrett Greene was injured early in this game after a 39-yard run and it didn’t look good at first, but came back and outside a slide too soon on fourth down really played pretty well. He only had to attempt 15 passes, completing 9 of those for 158 scoreless yards and again used his legs to pick up key first downs and move the sticks. Even on a play that was defended well by Oklahoma State, Greene tucked the ball and ran up the middle untouched for a 15-yard touchdown. It was just that kind of day for the Mountaineers offense and while Greene certainly wasn’t perfect he was more than good enough engineering this offense to their best showing against an FBS team this season.

–Hat tip to Nicco Marchiol. He came into the game in a difficult spot and not only threw a dart for a touchdown on third and eight on his first possession to put West Virginia up 10-0, but had an absolute truck stick of the Oklahoma State safety on an 18-yard run and led another touchdown drive to put the Mountaineers ahead 17-0. He only attempted one pass which was the touchdown, but ran the offense well and rushed for 46 yards of his own. True to their word, Marchiol seemed much more comfortable running the offense and it didn’t seem to change at all with him out there. Just like in 2022, Marchiol came in and played well in relief of Greene and played a key role.

–Welcome back Jahiem White. The sophomore came in this game with just 194 yards on the season but really found himself in this one showing patience and good contact balance, while taking advantage of the holes that the Mountaineers were opening up rushing for 158 yards and a score. White looked much more comfortable in this one and decisive. CJ Donaldson also had one of the best stiff arms you’ll see this season while rumbling for 77 yards and 2 scores. Tip of the cap to the offensive line because they controlled this game from start to finish.

–West Virginia ran the ball 63 (!) times in this game the most since the 2006 Sugar Bowl. Tip of the cap to the TV broadcast there, but that’s impressive.

–West Virginia held the ball for double the time of possession of the Cowboys and simply controlled this game in a dominating fashion.

–West Virginia didn’t have to throw the ball much but Hudson Clement again led the team in receiving with 64 yards and a highlight reel 40-yard one-handed catch. Trayon Ray also made some nice plays in this one and it was a good day all around.

–West Virginia came into this game with only one interception on the season, they got two in this one. The Mountaineers kept Oklahoma State off balance holding Ollie Gordon to just 3.8 yards per carry on 13 attempts before he left with injury and keeping the Cowboys from being effective in their RPO offense. The Mountaineers held Oklahoma State to just 162 yards until the game got out of hand and while the backups gave up some yards the defense did its job. You would have liked to see them close the game better but that’s the ups and downs of getting guys experience. The talk all week was how Alan Bowman had only been sacked once all season, but the defense recorded two in this one.

–In what seems to be a weekly occurrence, redshirt freshman Josiah Trotter led the team with 6 tackles and also had a highlight interception on the sideline. He is really developing into a good player although he needs to continue to refine his pass coverage like most young guys. I think the interception that Jaheem Joseph made when Oklahoma State was trying to build some momentum needs to be mentioned, as well. That was an excellent read and he made a great play to snuff out that drive.

–West Virginia was 9-15 on third down and 2-4 on fourth down, with one of those the Mountaineers simply stopping themselves with Greene sliding short of the sticks. The Mountaineers also were 6-7 in the red zone with them taking a knee on the last and scoring 38 points there. Also zero turnovers.

–Special teams were good at times with multiple touchbacks, but the one short kick resulted in a 51-yard return and there was a kick out of bounds. The Mountaineers only had to punt once and that didn’t even count because Ollie Straw was roughed on the play.

–West Virginia is now sitting at 3-2 with momentum heading into a massive home game against Iowa State at night. The Mountaineers have a real chance to announce themselves to the rest of the league and really build some momentum moving forward against a very good Cyclones team. West Virginia is now sitting where many people had them record wise at this point, but I didn’t see it coming this way.

Who wins and why?

Well… I am.

Great win.

Is it us or them? Are we just dominating or does Okie Lite look deflated? A little bit of both? Saw Nicco came in and got some nice snaps.

Never-Trumpers, ‘tax the rich.’ Free healthcare. Kill babies.

"Kill Everybody"

There were few things we didn't do well in this one. We even managed some clock near the end! At this point, it's a sorely needed complete victory. I saw improvement in both the secondary, and linebackers. We were swarming to the ball, making sure tackles, getting a hat-on-a hat and playing smart, aggressive football.

I know Okie lite was missing a few key players, but they still had most of 'em out there and we made 'em look weak, scared, and confused. If this team takes this win and builds on it, we could be very much a factor in the Big 12 CCG sweepstakes. Let's keep it going and get the next one v Iowa State.

Good job guys, and Thanks...we needed that!