Edwards vs Mitchell
Akok vs Wague
Slazinski vs Okonkwo
Kriisa vs Toussaint

I liked the outgoing players, but the skills maybe better overall for the incoming players, and we haven’t even seen Battle yet.

Link to game recap below:

https://westvirginia.rivals.com/news/wvu-football-gets-back-on-track-defeats-ucf-with-four-takeaways

Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM ET on Thursday and televised by FS1.

There's always one

Was reading the article on the home page about WVU getting off to quicker starts. It states "Brown is rethinking what his offense needs to do to get back on the right track early in games". I tend to wonder whether Brown out thinks himself. A few weeks ago, he talked about how he wants to change how they handle bye weeks....basically suggesting that may be why we didn't play well against Houston. Now he wants to rethink what is needed to get off to better starts in games. A couple of times this year, he decided maybe we'll play better if we take the opening kickoff instead of deferring to the 2nd half.

How about just focusing on better coaching and playing better, fundamentally sound football. All this other crap is just a distraction away from what really wins games. I sort of analogize it to my golf swing. Every time I go into a slump, I start tinkering with new approaches that invariably have nothing to do with fixing my issue...and often times makes things worse. And the fix is really to just stop over-thinking it and put a good solid swing on the ball. Stop over-thinking things that aren't fundamental to the game....Neal, you're not going to stumble upon a new magic elixir that delivers more wins.

The last 4 years?

--West Virginia head coach Josh Eilert said Akok Akok is stable and texted his teammates.

--Credit George Mason they were ready to go and this was a dog fight. A lot of things they need to clean up but they got a good test going into the first game. Eilert said that thanks to the fans that came out there was around 9,000 fans. There was a discussion to end the game after what happened to Akok but Eilert made sure they were in a good space to finish the game and they decided to do that.

--Jesse Edwards got the ball late because Eilert wanted to win and he was the best option. He has to stay on the floor and it's his worst nightmare to have his two bigs in foul trouble. They used Quinn Slazinski at the five and they hadn't done that in practice.

--It gives perspective to what's going on with what happened to Akok. Akok is in a good place so they continued playing.

--West Virginia played a lot harder in this game although they made a lot of the same mistakes. Eilert credited playing in front of the crowd and they were competing out there. They'll hit some and go over the film tomorrow to recover and get healthy before the season opener due to how the depth is.

--Ofri Naveh is a special kid and a special basketball player. He has one of the best basketball IQ's as a freshman and asks really good questions. Eilert checks with him every day to make sure he is in a good head space with what is happening back home.

--It's supposed to be the secondary defender in a lot of ways with the block and charge situation and will have to analyze that and dissect it.

--Eilert said they watched a lot of film on Naveh and you had to take a leap of faith with some guys. He didn't think at his size he would be as effective as he is but he is very active and has a high IQ which has allowed him to find his footing.

--Ball movement was good but they need to get to the right spacing. They played unselfish and shot selection was good and worked as a team. Rebounding is a concern. Eilert wants to play fast and get easy buckets, but not give up offensive rebounds.

--Eilert was a video coordinator when he first got here and he took a lot of mental notes on what he wanted to do when he became a head coach and Da'Sean Butler added to that. They have a playbook that they're probably only a third into it. The biggest thing they gave up with the spacing was the offensive rebounding. He loved Tom Izzo's spacing as an influence. You take pieces you see and try to make it work with your personnel.

Quinn Slazinski says that Akok Akok texted the WVU players from the hospital "congrats on the win." Was able and walking around moving. It's an overnight stay and they are running tests.

I'm looking forward to see what we will be doing on offense and how well we get that p n r game going. Also want to see Ofri

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and even if the fates should conspire that they win it all the title will ALWAYS be tainted by the fact that they cheated......the trophy would smell of stale cheeseburgers.......but I personally believe that some team WILL beat meatchicken since the ncaa obviously doesn't have the balls to

With a great deal of sadness I wanted to post that my father passed away this morning after a short but tough battle with throat cancer. He lived and died with Mountaineer football and thankfully the last game he watched was the TCU win.

I have many memories of us at WVU games throughout the years but my fondest was watching him clear out a row of Tech students at Tech in 92’. As we were escorted from the stadium he stated, “I’ll be sore for a week but it was worth it!”

Love ya Dad and you will be missed!

Have one on Mick when you watch Saturday. Preferably a High Life.

I think GG will find him running free today.

Great times.

Article I, Section 8

Away from home trying to follow the soccer match.


UK 1 - WVU 0 1st half

All I can say is this...you never know what to expect.

Please, just win.

Please stop arm tackling, stop making people look like the second coming of Barry Sanders. Please.

Please catch a punt. Or run the hell away from the ball. Please.

Please run with ferocity and make people pay when they try and tackle you. Please.

Please when a pass hits you in the hands and then the chest, catch the damn ball. Please.

Please bring back the optimism for this team.

Please don't be someone else's first win in the Big XII.

Please.

Just win.

Good guys. 35-31. Please.

Thankfully it is nice outside. I have yardwork to do. LGM.

It's getting to be rough sailing for Pedo-Joe.

LINK: But he says inquiry must play out, and it’s too soon to conclude an impeachable offense occurred

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Pedo-Joe is engaged in an "ongoing cover-up" and has "lied repeatedly" about his involvement in and knowledge of Coker Biden’s business dealings, while telling Fox News Digital that the impeachment inquiry against him will continue "methodically" and without a "predetermined" outcome.

Johnson, R-La., was elected speaker of the House of Representatives this week. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., launched the impeachment inquiry against Pedo-Joe in September. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital Friday evening, the speaker said the inquiry will continue under his leadership.

"We are the rule of law team, and so we have to respect and regard due process and do this in a way that the founders would have intended," he said. "Impeachment is an awesome power that Congress has, and it is not intended to be, nor should it be, used as a political tool to be wielded lightly." (Like it was used for under Democrat rule.)

Johnson added, "We take this very seriously."

The speaker said House Republicans will continue investigating, "collecting evidence and following the truth and that evidence wherever it leads."

"We’ve not predetermined the outcome of this. We’ve not pre-judged it," he said. "But I think everyone can see how it is unfolding," he added.

Johnson, a constitutional lawyer and former member of the House Judiciary Committee and House Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, has been involved in the impeachment investigation first-hand.

The inquiry is led by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith.

"They’ve just really done exceptional work uncovering the evidence," Johnson said. "They’ve done a great job, and they’ve been very methodical here."

Johnson said impeachment was "designed by the framers of the Constitution to be a very careful and sensitive thing that has to be handled legally and appropriately, and that’s what has been done by our chairmen."

Legal experts have been torn on whether Congress can initiate impeachment proceedings for alleged treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors that transpired before holding the office of the presidency.

The scope of the impeachment inquiry covers the span the time of Pedo-Joe’s vice presidency to the present, including his time out of office.

When asked for his theory on the matter, Johnson said: "I think I can argue the case that it should extend that far, but I’m not sure that we will have to in this case."

"We have an ongoing cover-up of the important facts as Pedo-Joe is sitting in the Oval Office," Johnson said. "We know that he stared right into the camera as the president and lied repeatedly—I mean, multiple times—he lied directly multiple times about his involvement and knowledge of his son’s business dealings. We all know that now."

Johnson said he believes there is "an overwhelming amount of evidence, and that seems to indicate that he was involved and that they did know about this, and that the family did benefit from it."

"I think we might be arguing about high crimes and misdemeanors, but I’m not so certain bribery is not involved in some way here, either," Johnson said. "And of course, bribery is specifically listed in the Constitution, and so we have an obligation to pursue it."

He added, "There’s a lot of smoke here, and we’re going to find out very soon how big the fire is."

Johnson, pointing to the records being collected by House Republicans in the ongoing inquiry, said "Bank records don’t lie."

"We have receipts now, we're connecting the dots, and I think this will continue in earnest," he said.

Comer, R-Ky., has collected bank records belonging to the Biden family, and is continuing to do so. His panel is currently collecting subpoenaed personal and business records belonging to Coker Biden and James Biden.

Comer so far has said his panel has uncovered that the Biden family and their business associates brought in more than $24 million between 2014 and 2019 by "selling Pedo-Jjoe as ‘the brand’ around the world.

The White House maintains that Pedo-Joe was never in business with his son and had previously insisted he never discussed business with his son or his family. White House officials have blasted the impeachment inquiry against the president as an "evidence-free" political stunt.

Johnson told Fox News Digital that there are "a lot of Americans who are really anxious to have accountability."

"But I want to assure everyone that we are working through the process in the appropriate and constitutional manner," he said. "And I think we’re well-positioned to bring accountability to the American people—they deserve it."

Meanwhile, Johnson had a "pleasant meeting" with Pedo-Joe at the White House this week.

"He was engaging and personable," Johnson said. "This is not a personal thing that I have with him. I have to do my job, and he has to do his, and my job is to bring accountability to people, and so, I don’t make any apology for that."

Johnson was on the impeachment defense team for former President Trump in 2020.

"I saw firsthand how the Democrats took a sledgehammer to hundreds of years of precedent," he said. "And we were decrying that all along the way and pointing out that they were opening a Pandora's box and really just diminishing the institution for, kind of, a political vendetta against President Trump."

When asked how he would respond to Democrats casting the continued impeachment inquiry against Pedo-Joe as political, Johnson quoted John Adams.

"I don't expect anything different from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle with regard to this but as John Adams said, ‘facts are stubborn things,’ and we are going to present the facts and we're going to follow the truth," Johnson said. "And so it doesn't matter what the mainstream media narrative is or what the Democrats say—we’re going to lay the facts bare for the American people to draw their own conclusions, and I think they'll draw the right ones."

As for a timeline, Johnson said he doesn’t have one.

"And I haven't prejudged anything," he said. "If I had, I would be guilty of everything that I've pointed out Democrats have done wrong, but I do believe that we're going to draw a lot of this to conclusion soon.

And I'm anxious to do that because I think the American people are owed that."

Beyond investigating Pedo-Joe’s ties to his family’s business dealings, House Republicans are also probing the alleged obstruction of the Justice Department’s years-long federal investigation into Coker Biden. The allegations stem from IRS whistleblowers who allege politics influenced prosecutorial steps throughout the probe.

I know it’s just a scrimmage but….This is the laziest team I’ve seen at WVU, ever. Not everyone but a lot of the big name players just don’t put in that extra hustle. Edwards is culprit #1. Yes he’s super talented on offense but holy cow he doesn’t try on D. Zero blocking out, zero hustle to balls. And he’s not the only one. No one is hitting the floor like we usually do and no one is blocking out. I say no one but there are a few guys… but it looks like an undisciplined group so far.
Regardless, not really important. Prayers for Akok Akok. Hope he’s ok and it’s nothing too serious or long lasting.

Tipoff is 7 p.m. Friday and will be televised by ESPN+