ITG 123 - Big Daddy Kicks Off Baylor Week - video Dailymotion

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ITG 123 - Big Daddy Kicks Off Baylor Week

Transcript

00:00:00 (upbeat music)

00:00:02 In the Gun, episode 123.

00:00:08 It's time for a Cincinnati recap

00:00:10 as the Mountaineers take care of business

00:00:13 in their final home game of the regular season.

00:00:16 What's going on, everybody?

00:00:17 You are in the gun.

00:00:18 I'm Wesley Uhler.

00:00:19 With the best teammates in the business,

00:00:20 we got the signal caller, Jed Drenning.

00:00:22 The beer truck himself, Owen Schmidt.

00:00:25 Big week for Big O, Jed,

00:00:27 as we've got some playoff action.

00:00:29 George, or George Washington, pardon me.

00:00:31 Greenbrier West, the other GW,

00:00:34 making their way to what is now the semifinals, correct?

00:00:38 I believe?

00:00:39 - Yes, final four.

00:00:41 - For, or final four, yes.

00:00:42 For Big O and the boys.

00:00:45 They've got a big rematch on Friday.

00:00:47 It's holiday week as well too here with Thanksgiving.

00:00:49 So his schedule has gotten changed with practice

00:00:52 and all their preparation in the holiday and everything.

00:00:55 So Big O basically tied up through the evenings,

00:00:58 through this week.

00:00:59 So we'll see if we can get him to pop in here at some point

00:01:03 throughout the course of these things.

00:01:04 But you might just have Jed and I for the show this week

00:01:07 as Big O is getting ready for a big game on Friday night.

00:01:10 And of course, Jed, we do not want to be the reason

00:01:12 to mess up any of the GW mojo down there, baby.

00:01:16 - Not at all.

00:01:19 You have, as we mentioned, you know,

00:01:21 a couple of times this week,

00:01:22 we're going to be talking about this.

00:01:26 You have Greenbrier West heading to James Monroe

00:01:29 on one side of the single way semifinal bracket.

00:01:32 On the other side, right here in Tucker County,

00:01:35 the Mount Lions, A.J. Rapp and company, head coach A.J. Rapp,

00:01:39 are hosting Williamstown.

00:01:42 And what many people are calling,

00:01:44 if Tucker County pulls the upset,

00:01:46 upset is the higher seed, you know how that works sometimes

00:01:48 watching high school football.

00:01:50 It might in fact be the biggest win

00:01:52 in the history of Tucker County High School.

00:01:53 I mean, people have been asking me,

00:01:54 "Hey, what was your guys' biggest win

00:01:56 when you had all those playoff runs?"

00:01:58 I mean, my sophomore, junior and senior year,

00:02:00 we were in the playoffs with some pretty big wins

00:02:01 against Bridgeport, couple of unbeaten teams

00:02:04 in Chapmanville and some others in Dependence.

00:02:07 But I'll tell you what,

00:02:08 this would have to be right up there

00:02:10 because Williamstown is one heck of a football team

00:02:14 in the single way class in West Virginia.

00:02:15 So two great battles, two good matchups,

00:02:18 a matchup of the two unbeatens.

00:02:21 And so let's see where this goes.

00:02:24 - Yeah, Wes, I understand why Owen's pretty busy this week.

00:02:27 I understand.

00:02:28 - No doubt.

00:02:29 Now, Jed, I don't know if I've ever shared this

00:02:31 with you before.

00:02:33 You know, obviously about my Dodger County ties

00:02:35 and my family.

00:02:37 Well, speaking of Williamstown,

00:02:39 I haven't told you this, have I?

00:02:40 - No.

00:02:41 - The athletic director at Williamstown High School.

00:02:45 - Okay.

00:02:46 - My oldest cousin.

00:02:47 - What?

00:02:49 - Yep.

00:02:49 - Wow.

00:02:50 - Yep.

00:02:51 - Wow.

00:02:52 - So listen, there's a Euler connection everywhere, baby.

00:02:57 Now her last name is Bryant.

00:03:00 She comes from the Kauffman side, which is my mom's side.

00:03:03 So she's not a Euler,

00:03:04 but you get what I'm saying with the Euler.

00:03:06 With Wes Euler, there's always a connection somewhere, baby.

00:03:09 So I'm torn in that one.

00:03:11 What do I do?

00:03:12 I mean, I got people on both sides.

00:03:15 - Well, yeah, we have representation

00:03:18 in three out of the final four.

00:03:21 We just don't want nobody from James Monroe, right?

00:03:23 - That's right.

00:03:24 - We ain't got no love for them anyways.

00:03:25 - But Greenbrier, Williamstown, and Tucker,

00:03:26 we got them covered.

00:03:27 Yeah, that's right.

00:03:28 - We got them all covered.

00:03:31 Of course, covering us is always here on IFG,

00:03:33 our friends at BetOnline, where the game starts.

00:03:35 Thank you to BetOnline

00:03:37 for being a presenting sponsor of this episode.

00:03:39 It is Thanksgiving week.

00:03:40 It's a big one here.

00:03:42 I've been making a lot of jokes

00:03:45 about how I always feel like the backyard brawl

00:03:47 should still be played this week,

00:03:49 but I'm fired up for Thanksgiving on Thursday,

00:03:52 a little bit of downtime.

00:03:54 I know that's not the case for everybody,

00:03:55 but it's weird.

00:03:56 Like during football season, Jed,

00:03:58 I get every Thanksgiving and every Black Friday off.

00:04:00 And it's like the only two days,

00:04:02 from the end of July when training camp starts

00:04:05 until the end of February where the NFL combine is.

00:04:08 It's like the only time I get two days off in a row,

00:04:10 this entire stretch of like seven months, eight months here.

00:04:14 So I'm going to enjoy it.

00:04:15 Hopefully, if you're, you know,

00:04:17 maybe you're listening to this podcast as you're traveling

00:04:19 along to go see some family or go see some friends

00:04:22 or travel for Thanksgiving,

00:04:24 safe travels to everybody out there.

00:04:25 And we hope you have yourself a heck of a holiday here

00:04:28 as we kick off the holiday season.

00:04:31 Jed, it was a nice stress-free win at home

00:04:35 for the Mountaineers.

00:04:36 Second straight home game that WVU

00:04:38 taking care of business comfortably.

00:04:40 Of course, a couple of weeks ago against BYU

00:04:42 and making that one pretty non-competitive

00:04:44 under the lights at Mountaineer Field

00:04:46 and another very convincing victory, 42 to 21

00:04:50 over our old friends, but new friends in Cincinnati

00:04:54 in their first season in the Big 12.

00:04:56 That pushes WVU to three and one

00:04:58 against the Big 12 newcomers this season, of course,

00:05:02 just to hail Mary down in Houston

00:05:03 from completing the clean sweep.

00:05:06 But Jed, I think this is maybe the place to start, right?

00:05:09 When you rush for over 400 yards and five touchdowns,

00:05:13 a historic performance.

00:05:14 And that's saying a lot because we

00:05:16 have had some great quarterback running back

00:05:19 tandems in program history, without a doubt,

00:05:21 but a historic, historic performance

00:05:24 from Garrett Green and the freshman Jaheim White.

00:05:28 There's absolutely no doubt about that.

00:05:31 And let me start with this.

00:05:32 He made me jealous with your sitting at home on Black Friday

00:05:35 story because it seems like I'm flying just about every Black

00:05:39 Friday.

00:05:40 I was going to say, you're the opposite of me.

00:05:42 And so I've gone back and I've checked.

00:05:43 This will be the fifth year in a row

00:05:45 that we've wrapped the regular season up on the road.

00:05:49 That's weird.

00:05:50 Every year since Neal's been here.

00:05:52 The last time we wrapped the regular season up at home

00:05:55 was the Kyler Murray-Will Greer game.

00:05:57 That was the last time in 2018.

00:05:59 Very strange.

00:06:00 But so it seems like every Thanksgiving weekend

00:06:02 we're flying somewhere.

00:06:03 Texas, Oklahoma.

00:06:04 It seemed like in the early days of the Big 12,

00:06:06 every other Thanksgiving we were in West Des Moines, Iowa,

00:06:10 getting ready to go to Ames.

00:06:11 But yeah, I think that's a great place to start, Wes.

00:06:15 The production that you've seen, and more recently,

00:06:18 I'd even say the production that you have consistently

00:06:21 seen out of West Virginia on the ground,

00:06:25 that has to be discussed here.

00:06:26 I mean, Neal told me coming off the field, I asked him.

00:06:31 I said, hey, you didn't do this against just anybody.

00:06:34 You did it against one of the better rush defenses

00:06:36 in the Big 12.

00:06:37 You did it against the Cincinnati rush defense

00:06:39 that features probably a couple guys.

00:06:41 They're going to be playing on Sundays.

00:06:43 And his response, he said, we didn't make the cut

00:06:47 as an offensive line last week for the Joe Moore award.

00:06:51 They weren't happy.

00:06:52 This group was ticked off.

00:06:54 And for those who don't understand that award,

00:06:57 it's unique in the sense that it's a group award.

00:07:00 It's one of the only college postseason awards

00:07:02 that isn't to an individual.

00:07:04 It's to a group, a unit.

00:07:07 And Phil Steele talks about this quite often.

00:07:09 He's on the committee that helps decide that.

00:07:11 He was trying to champion West Virginia.

00:07:13 He was upset that we didn't make the final cut.

00:07:16 But he says, look, it's a different kind of award.

00:07:19 And he's right in that it's an entire group of kids

00:07:22 that are striving towards something.

00:07:23 And so to not make the cut, yeah,

00:07:25 I think they were a little sore about that.

00:07:27 And they came out and took it out on Cincinnati.

00:07:30 And I think they played one of their more complete games

00:07:33 of football.

00:07:34 And I'm going to start with this, Wes.

00:07:35 I put this on Twitter, or once again on X,

00:07:38 whatever we're calling it these days.

00:07:40 But West Virginia offensive line as a unit.

00:07:42 Now, bear in mind, the other night against Cincinnati

00:07:46 was a unit that was without Doug Nestor,

00:07:48 a starter at right tackle.

00:07:49 So once again, Nick Malone had to step in.

00:07:51 He's played a lot of football for us, next man up.

00:07:54 And then early in the game, Brandon Yates

00:07:56 was lost at right guard.

00:07:57 So here comes Ja'Quay Hubbard.

00:07:59 So really, down two starters, West Virginia

00:08:02 put this type of effort together to run for those 424 yards.

00:08:06 So here's where we stand so far.

00:08:08 This offensive line has paved the way

00:08:10 for the fifth-ranked rushing offense in the country,

00:08:13 233 yards a game, the most rushing yards per game

00:08:17 by a West Virginia offense since Owen Schmitt's senior year,

00:08:22 2007, the highest yards per carry average of 5.1 yards

00:08:28 by a WV offense since 2016.

00:08:31 And the fewest sacks allowed were tied,

00:08:34 for the fewest allowed, by a Power Five team in conference

00:08:37 play all year.

00:08:38 We've allowed three sacks in conference play this year.

00:08:42 That unit didn't make the cut for the Joe Moore.

00:08:45 So whoever does win that award better be pretty damn good.

00:08:49 So they better be pretty daggone good.

00:08:52 They better be pretty salty.

00:08:53 So that's what I would say.

00:08:56 And then you really see this offense starting to click.

00:09:01 Over the course of, really, I'd say the last month,

00:09:04 five games even, we're doing some things offensively,

00:09:08 mixing in a more explosive, pushing the football downfield

00:09:12 pass game with what you've seen in the ground game.

00:09:16 And we kind of got the sense-- and Neil has talked about this

00:09:19 multiple times-- that coming out of the Duquesne game,

00:09:24 we thought, based on where Garrett was--

00:09:27 I mean, there was a certain approach

00:09:29 that Neil and the staff took to the Penn State game

00:09:31 with Garrett, starting the season

00:09:33 in that environment, against that defense.

00:09:34 Talk about NFL guys against a defense populated

00:09:37 with a list of NFL guys.

00:09:40 So you wanted to make sure you game plan in such a way

00:09:42 as to give him some confidence, one way or the other,

00:09:44 coming out of the football game.

00:09:46 So he did enough things to build on that.

00:09:48 Come against Duquesne, after the weather delay, he comes out.

00:09:52 He's playing lights out football,

00:09:53 has a little bit of a swagger, throwing some deep balls,

00:09:56 really making some plays for us.

00:09:58 Coming into the Pitt game, this is the offense

00:10:01 that we were about to unleash on Pat Narduzzi.

00:10:05 This deep ball combination of the run game,

00:10:07 combination of letting Garrett read it and run it.

00:10:09 And then a couple of plays into the game, Garrett's lost.

00:10:13 And Nico has to be inserted.

00:10:15 It only took 25% of the reps that week.

00:10:17 So we didn't get to offensively explode on Pitt

00:10:21 like we felt we could.

00:10:22 So we kind of had to make our way through and just dominate

00:10:25 them defensively, and throttle them, shut them down,

00:10:27 not let them do anything defensively,

00:10:29 and embarrass their offense instead.

00:10:31 So that's what we did.

00:10:32 So we found a way to win that game,

00:10:34 but it wasn't until later that we started

00:10:36 to find our groove offensively.

00:10:38 Now, to what extent did we found our groove?

00:10:40 I put this on Twitter as well.

00:10:42 Something jumped out at me, and that

00:10:44 was when I'm looking through the game book,

00:10:47 there are certain things that my eye goes toward.

00:10:50 And when I saw 9.8 yards per play, I was like, whoa.

00:10:55 That doesn't happen often.

00:10:57 That does not happen often.

00:10:59 So let me go back and revisit some of our top performances

00:11:05 offensively from a yards per play standpoint

00:11:08 since we've been in the Big 12.

00:11:12 Do you know what number three is, yards per play,

00:11:15 since we joined Big 12 play?

00:11:16 Are you talking-- sorry, did you say per game or per season?

00:11:20 Per a game.

00:11:21 OK.

00:11:23 Number three, all time since we joined the Big 12.

00:11:25 That Kyler Murray game?

00:11:27 No, that was not.

00:11:28 That's not a bad guess, but that was not.

00:11:32 Baylor, Baylor 2012, first conference game.

00:11:35 That's exactly right.

00:11:36 Baylor 2012 was number three.

00:11:38 We averaged 9.2 yards per game.

00:11:42 Guess what number two was?

00:11:44 OK, so if the Baylor's off the board,

00:11:46 and I know it's not the Oklahoma battle in 2018.

00:11:53 Oh, man.

00:11:56 Was it--

00:11:56 I'll give you a hint.

00:12:01 Texas Tech 27-- oh, Oklahoma 2012.

00:12:06 At 9.5 yards per play.

00:12:09 That game comes in at number two.

00:12:11 So number one, or number three, I should say,

00:12:13 is the game we all remember, the 70-63 insanity,

00:12:17 offensive insanity.

00:12:18 Number two was the unstoppable Tavon

00:12:22 despite the fact we still lost that game 50-49 to Landry Jones.

00:12:27 Number one was Saturday night against Cincinnati.

00:12:30 9.8, that lends some perspective to the type of offensive burst

00:12:36 that we had for the balance of 60 minutes.

00:12:39 So great job by the entire crew.

00:12:41 Great job starting up front with that offensive line

00:12:44 and what they were able to do.

00:12:46 Banged up with some different guys in the mix once again.

00:12:49 But let's talk about some of the things

00:12:51 that we've managed to do from an offensive standpoint.

00:12:55 OK, here's rushing totals by game,

00:12:57 and I'll give you the leader in that game.

00:12:59 146 yards.

00:13:01 I'm not going to name the opponent

00:13:02 just so we can race through them.

00:13:03 CJ led with 81.

00:13:04 304 yards, these are rushing totals.

00:13:06 Jaheim led with 110.

00:13:08 151, CJ led with 102.

00:13:10 157, Nico led with 72.

00:13:13 201, Garrett with 80.

00:13:15 155, CJ was 66.

00:13:17 Now we start humming.

00:13:18 You ready?

00:13:19 226, Garrett with 117 was the leader.

00:13:22 286, CJ with 121.

00:13:24 336, Jaheim with 146.

00:13:27 176, CJ was 79.

00:13:30 Up to Cincinnati, 424 yards.

00:13:32 And Jaheim, of course, led the way

00:13:34 with 204, the first true freshman

00:13:36 to rush for 200-plus yards among mountaineer backs

00:13:40 since Dustin Garrison did so in 2011.

00:13:44 But just remarkable.

00:13:46 And then when you look at what Garrett has done

00:13:49 from a dual threat standpoint, what he's doing,

00:13:51 not just pushing the football vertical,

00:13:53 but also with his legs, sometimes on script,

00:13:56 many times off script.

00:13:58 Total yards and then touchdowns accounted for.

00:14:00 Garrett has started and played not really nine complete games.

00:14:03 We're not going to count the first three plays of the pick

00:14:06 game.

00:14:06 Total yards, rushing, passing combined, and touchdowns

00:14:10 combined.

00:14:12 233 yards, one touchdown.

00:14:14 273 yards, four touchdowns.

00:14:15 222, two touchdowns.

00:14:17 438 yards, four touchdowns.

00:14:19 366 yards, two touchdowns.

00:14:21 211 with three scores.

00:14:23 228 with two scores.

00:14:24 178 with two scores.

00:14:26 And then he combined two rush and pass

00:14:28 for 364 yards against Cincinnati and four touchdowns.

00:14:32 He's averaging 279 yards per game.

00:14:36 And he's accounted for 24 touchdowns with a game

00:14:39 and a bowl to go.

00:14:40 So on the offensive side, it looks

00:14:42 like we're cresting at the right point.

00:14:45 The Oklahoma game notwithstanding,

00:14:47 we played obviously terrible football in all three

00:14:50 phases at Oklahoma.

00:14:51 But I think this offense is coming together in the way

00:14:54 that they envisioned Chad Scott and Neil Brown

00:14:56 in the offseason at the appropriate time

00:14:58 down the stretch.

00:15:00 Defensively, I think some things are coming together as well.

00:15:03 We played much better defense, obviously, at home,

00:15:07 getting up about 20 points a game than we have on the road.

00:15:10 We'll talk later in the week about some of the concerns

00:15:12 I might have going into Waco to face a struggling

00:15:15 Baylor team.

00:15:15 That's one of them.

00:15:16 We haven't played nearly as solid defense on the road

00:15:18 as we have at home.

00:15:20 And you saw some guys really step up

00:15:22 that we needed to step up.

00:15:23 I mean, I talked in the pregame show,

00:15:26 we need a big game out of Jarrett Bartlett

00:15:27 because four-man pressures were one of the ways

00:15:30 that you could really get at Cincinnati's Emery Jones.

00:15:32 And Jarrett didn't have a sack.

00:15:35 But Jordan Leslie talked about the fact

00:15:37 that's his most complete football game since he

00:15:40 got here to West Virginia.

00:15:41 And when you watched the tape, I don't want to say it

00:15:45 jumps out, but he's right.

00:15:47 I mean, there was a consistent element

00:15:49 to what Jarrett Bartlett was doing, play in, play out,

00:15:52 setting the edge, fitting the run,

00:15:54 sometimes playing two gaps, sometimes folding over

00:15:57 to keep what--

00:15:58 Jordan talked in the presser about a four-yard gain

00:16:00 that really nobody's going to pay much attention to.

00:16:03 Well, guess what?

00:16:03 I put this on social media.

00:16:05 When you watch what could have happened with that four-yard

00:16:08 game, the blocking that was unfolding and lining up

00:16:11 for Cincinnati, that could have been a splash play

00:16:13 for Cincinnati.

00:16:14 But Jarrett snuffed it out.

00:16:16 So you had some unsung heroes on the defensive side

00:16:18 of the football.

00:16:20 Beanie Bishop, of course, we've talked many times.

00:16:22 He's in a race for Brian King's school record

00:16:24 of 21 pass breakups.

00:16:26 He now sits at 20.

00:16:27 He had two taken off the board, one with a DPI,

00:16:30 which I'm pretty sure--

00:16:31 I needed to check the numbers--

00:16:32 was his first defensive pass interference of the year.

00:16:35 He's had a defensive folding.

00:16:37 But he's been targeted, I think, the third most in the country.

00:16:41 And he's been very productive against those targets.

00:16:43 He's been able to hold up with one DPI with all those targets.

00:16:46 Pretty incredible.

00:16:47 And then he had the other one that initially was

00:16:50 ruled an incompletion.

00:16:51 Upon review, they overturned it and called it a completion.

00:16:54 That took away another PBU.

00:16:55 Otherwise, he would have had the school record in that game

00:16:58 with three instead of one.

00:16:59 But the defense did what it needed

00:17:02 to do to help put Cincinnati away,

00:17:04 help hold them at bay while the offense separated.

00:17:07 And then it wasn't until the fourth quarter

00:17:09 when we started substituting that some things went awry.

00:17:12 And you'd like to see more production out

00:17:13 of those twos and threes.

00:17:14 But it's going to happen.

00:17:15 Again, we've talked about we have depth issues.

00:17:17 We're dinged up.

00:17:18 We're banged up.

00:17:19 It's going to happen.

00:17:20 But before we go any further, because I

00:17:23 want to get some thoughts from you, Wes,

00:17:24 before we get big daddy in here.

00:17:26 But let me jump real quick on my soapbox.

00:17:29 And once again, this is a conversation about metrics.

00:17:34 There are many sites out there--

00:17:36 and more power to them.

00:17:38 I'm glad they do it--

00:17:39 that supply all these different metrics and wonderful numbers

00:17:42 and analytics that we can tap into and enjoy.

00:17:47 But be very careful if you're just

00:17:50 using those metrics without thoroughly vetting it

00:17:53 with film study.

00:17:53 And I don't just mean getting the highlights from the film.

00:17:56 But say, oh, yeah, that guy had three good plays.

00:17:58 That stands up to what his number said.

00:18:00 No, no, no.

00:18:01 That's not what I'm talking about.

00:18:02 So here's a couple of examples.

00:18:04 Zach Frazier, when you wash the tape against what

00:18:08 he was facing in Dante Corleone, he

00:18:10 had a reach advantage against Dante Corleone.

00:18:12 And boy, did he use it.

00:18:13 Dante Corleone could not get into his chest plate.

00:18:16 And Zach did a great job of holding him at bay

00:18:18 for the better part of the day.

00:18:20 Not just that, but a movement in zone schemes,

00:18:22 applying pressure, sometimes even on the second level

00:18:24 when he climbed.

00:18:25 But Neil said he graded out at 95%.

00:18:29 And that was consistent with what I saw,

00:18:30 studying the balance of the game.

00:18:32 He had 43 production points, according to the staff.

00:18:35 He had 10 great blocks.

00:18:37 That's a category the staff checks.

00:18:40 And he had two knockdowns.

00:18:42 One of the analytic sites graded Zach in the same game.

00:18:47 His run grade was 61.4, which was fourth among our alignment.

00:18:51 His pass grade was-- his pass pro grade was 52.4,

00:18:54 which was fifth among our alignment.

00:18:56 So please, please, please, if you're using the metrics,

00:18:58 if you're using the analytics, here's what you do.

00:19:01 You take it, and you do get a sense of who's watching the tape

00:19:04 and who's evaluating it for these metric sites.

00:19:07 Once you get 2/3 of the way through the tape,

00:19:08 yeah, that's pretty much on point with what I'm saying.

00:19:11 Don't pay so much attention to the 10 best plays they make.

00:19:14 Don't pay so much attention to the 10 worst plays they make.

00:19:16 If they play 60 plays, the gold is

00:19:18 going to be found in the 40 in the middle,

00:19:20 not the ones that show up for one reason or another

00:19:22 on the highlights on SportsCenter,

00:19:24 not the ones that just make you say, oh, he graded high.

00:19:26 So there's three great plays I saw on SportsCenter.

00:19:28 So yeah, that makes it no.

00:19:30 The 40 in the middle that aren't among his best

00:19:32 and aren't among his worst, that's

00:19:34 where you can get a true sense of how that eval is going.

00:19:37 Case in point again, we'll close with this.

00:19:39 Jarrett Bartlett, we talked about what

00:19:41 an incredibly consistent game he had

00:19:44 and how he contributed snap after snap.

00:19:46 One of the analytics sites graded him at 63.3

00:19:50 overall defensively, 12th among West Virginia defenders.

00:19:54 So please, if you're going to use metrics and analytics

00:19:57 sites, evaluate the tape.

00:19:59 And when I say evaluate the tape and vet it,

00:20:01 I don't mean the best plays or the worst plays.

00:20:03 Scrap those out and look at the ones

00:20:05 in the middle that will truly tell you how the evaluation is.

00:20:08 A lot of times, you can get 2/3 of the way through the game,

00:20:11 halfway through the game, you're like, yeah,

00:20:12 it must be a former coach that's grading this tape

00:20:15 because it's right on point with what I'm seeing.

00:20:17 Other times, you're thinking that's not a former coach.

00:20:19 I don't know who's doing this, but whoa.

00:20:22 So that would be my public service announcement

00:20:26 before we go any further, Wes.

00:20:27 No, I think you're absolutely right.

00:20:29 That's something that I kind of wholeheartedly agree with.

00:20:33 I think, listen, I think if you're

00:20:35 somebody who completely relies on analytics and numbers

00:20:39 and things like that, you're missing the plot.

00:20:41 I think if you're somebody who completely ignores them,

00:20:44 you're missing the plot.

00:20:45 I think the true answer is somewhere in the middle.

00:20:47 And the balance is using the numbers

00:20:51 to back up or confirm what you think your eyes are

00:20:54 seeing and vice versa, using your eyes to back up

00:20:57 or confirm or deny or disagree with what the numbers are.

00:21:03 You don't want confirmation box, right?

00:21:03 Yeah, exactly.

00:21:04 In other words, sometimes you're pursuing a narrative.

00:21:06 Boy, I hope that grade's accurate.

00:21:07 Let me look for a couple of plays

00:21:08 to corroborate it to prove that they are.

00:21:10 But it's kind of fun, Wes, that when you're watching the tape,

00:21:14 when you do get the sense that whoever's

00:21:17 evaluating for the metric sites, whichever metric site it might

00:21:20 be-- I use different ones--

00:21:22 you do get the sense, wow, they're onto something.

00:21:24 OK, good.

00:21:25 I can trust this.

00:21:25 I can have faith in it.

00:21:26 When you reach that point in the game,

00:21:28 it's a pretty cool feeling.

00:21:30 So there's a lot of quality people

00:21:32 that are doing this as a side hustle for some

00:21:35 of these analytic sites.

00:21:36 But also, some of them, I think, are just

00:21:38 looking for a quick buck.

00:21:39 And I'm not so sure what goes into that.

00:21:41 Correct.

00:21:42 And I do always get a kick out of--

00:21:44 like, fans love it.

00:21:45 Let's use pro football focus for an example, right?

00:21:48 Fans love it when their guy's rated highly.

00:21:50 Oh, just see, he got an 88 grade.

00:21:53 And then the next week when their guy

00:21:55 isn't ranked where they--

00:21:57 oh, well, pro football focus is a bunch of malarkey anyways.

00:21:59 I do always love that balance.

00:22:01 Like, everybody who's listened to this podcast

00:22:03 for more than five minutes knows I work in the NFL, right?

00:22:06 I work for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

00:22:07 And it's hilarious.

00:22:08 Like, it'll be like, oh, pro football focus sucks.

00:22:11 They never rate TJ Watt good.

00:22:13 And then the next week, it'll be like,

00:22:14 did you see what they gave Jalen Warren this week?

00:22:16 They gave Jalen Warren a 92.

00:22:17 Oh my goodness.

00:22:18 Yeah, I always love pro football focus.

00:22:20 You're right.

00:22:20 I'm with you, Wes.

00:22:21 I'm a guy who likes information.

00:22:23 I don't think too much information is a bad thing.

00:22:25 Exactly.

00:22:26 It's kind of the eye of the beholder.

00:22:27 The more data points you can have, right?

00:22:30 Yeah.

00:22:31 But Jed, we do have Big Daddy waiting.

00:22:33 So real quick, I just--

00:22:36 man, I love how this offense has come together.

00:22:39 I love how they have, Oklahoma aside,

00:22:41 made a habit lately of starting so fast, right?

00:22:44 At one point there, Jed, towards the end of the first quarter,

00:22:48 we had eight first downs.

00:22:49 Cincinnati had none.

00:22:51 I mean, you look at the final number, 31 first downs

00:22:55 for the Mountaineers on offense.

00:22:57 Six for 11, over 50% on third down efficiency.

00:23:01 Two for two, once again, efficient on fourth downs.

00:23:04 I love how we've gotten aggressive and confident

00:23:07 in that department this season.

00:23:09 And Jed, once again, you win the turnover battle, right?

00:23:13 You have one interception and no giveaways.

00:23:16 They have no takeaways.

00:23:18 That's something we've been keeping an eye on as well too.

00:23:21 We did throw a pick.

00:23:22 Did we throw a pick?

00:23:24 Oh, wait.

00:23:24 Yeah, sorry, you're right.

00:23:25 I'm thinking the other way around.

00:23:27 We lost the turnover battle.

00:23:30 I did see a box score that had it the way you said it.

00:23:33 So there was something with that.

00:23:34 I don't know what that was.

00:23:35 You're right.

00:23:36 There was something.

00:23:38 No, you're right.

00:23:39 I just-- I totally--

00:23:40 I got myself discombobulated.

00:23:43 It's out there somewhere, because I have seen a box score.

00:23:45 I'm doing the confusing my Saturdays and my Sundays thing.

00:23:49 That's what you're doing.

00:23:50 Yes.

00:23:51 The Steelers, despite an affront--

00:23:53 despite an affront to football on Sunday in Cleveland,

00:23:55 they did win the turnover battle against the Browns.

00:23:57 Guess who leads the nation with an 8.24 yards per carry

00:24:03 rush average?

00:24:04 The nation.

00:24:04 He might.

00:24:06 Yes.

00:24:06 Yeah, buddy.

00:24:07 Yeah, he might, baby.

00:24:09 Also, one more for you.

00:24:11 We punted the ball one time in that game.

00:24:13 One time.

00:24:14 It was a touchback.

00:24:15 You know I know that?

00:24:16 Because I went up to Ollie and I said,

00:24:18 I bet me and you are the only two in the stadium

00:24:20 that know that's your first touchback of the year,

00:24:22 don't we?

00:24:22 And he said, well, my coaches do too.

00:24:24 He wasn't happy.

00:24:25 He was not happy.

00:24:26 He said, good on you, mate, but my coaches know that one too.

00:24:30 Yeah.

00:24:30 He was acutely aware that that was his first touchback

00:24:33 of the season.

00:24:34 Jed, it's weird, because sometimes, right,

00:24:36 you see, oh, your team won by 21 points,

00:24:38 but it maybe wasn't necessarily that comfortable.

00:24:41 This is one of those games.

00:24:43 I mean, it was every bit--

00:24:44 I mean, it was what, 42 to 7 at one point.

00:24:47 This was a start to finish from the opening kickoff

00:24:50 to the final musket shot.

00:24:52 A complete 60-minute performance from the Mountaineers

00:24:55 on defense, certainly, on offense, where it really

00:24:58 seems like they're humming.

00:24:59 And what do we always say?

00:25:01 Two things that travel are a run game and a defense.

00:25:04 Let's take those on the road to Baylor

00:25:06 and keep this thing going for the final week

00:25:08 of the regular season.

00:25:09 We got to get to a break.

00:25:10 When we come back, it's Big Daddy.

00:25:12 We'll talk to him about the emotions of senior day

00:25:15 there at Mountaineer Field.

00:25:16 Don Nealon getting immortalized as well, too,

00:25:20 with his name being added.

00:25:21 There in the terrace in the end zone.

00:25:24 So we'll discuss all those things with Big Daddy.

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00:27:13 Let's go, Mountaineer fans.

00:27:15 You're tuned in to In the Gun with Wes, the runaway beer

00:27:19 truck, and the signal caller.

00:27:21 Back in the gun here, it's time to put a bow on this Cincinnati

00:27:27 recap with our buddy, big daddy, Sean Mariner,

00:27:31 our handsome tubby man of gold.

00:27:33 And Sean, you are a big guy, right?

00:27:36 Yes.

00:27:37 But you know what?

00:27:37 I think it was Owen Schmidt who said this many moons ago

00:27:40 on this podcast.

00:27:41 Big guys are often the most emotional guys.

00:27:45 You're looking at him.

00:27:46 And so listen, I know senior day is always one full of emotions.

00:27:50 But man, a lot of big time Mountaineers,

00:27:54 a lot of guys with West Virginia ties as well, too.

00:27:58 It's always special.

00:27:59 But I think when you've had a season like this, right?

00:28:02 The last couple of years have been difficult.

00:28:03 These guys have been able to get that thing turned around.

00:28:06 We're having a lot of fun again.

00:28:07 You finish that off going 5 and 1 at home this season.

00:28:11 I was telling you guys, I was at a wedding.

00:28:14 I hardly ever make exceptions.

00:28:16 But one of my best friends from high school

00:28:18 got married on Saturday.

00:28:19 So I did have to miss the game to go to the wedding.

00:28:22 But man, I wish I was there for that,

00:28:24 because that was just a special day all around.

00:28:27 It was awesome.

00:28:28 I mean, senior day is always really good.

00:28:30 Pre-game wasn't as emotional as it's been in the past.

00:28:33 But Neil had talked about trying to curb some of that emotion

00:28:36 because you still have a game to play and how difficult it is.

00:28:39 But post-game, whenever we win, I always

00:28:41 scamper down there as fast as I can

00:28:42 so I can help out with whatever is necessary.

00:28:45 And the guys are coming in.

00:28:47 And Frazier doesn't really show much emotion.

00:28:49 But he's wearing a little something.

00:28:51 Nestor comes in.

00:28:52 And it's his last time here.

00:28:54 So Zach and Wyatt are with him.

00:28:57 And they're going around.

00:28:58 And it was just--

00:29:01 Thornton comes in.

00:29:01 Jalen comes in.

00:29:02 And he's smiling.

00:29:04 But there's a little emotion behind it, because they just

00:29:06 got to do country roads.

00:29:07 A lot of the seniors came in late

00:29:09 and were late to the party because they're out there

00:29:11 to soak it up one last time.

00:29:12 And then I came back down after the press conferences

00:29:16 to do one last sweep before I went out.

00:29:18 Locker room is empty, completely empty,

00:29:20 except for Doug Nestor just sitting in his locker.

00:29:23 And I go, yeah, buddy, soaking it up a little bit.

00:29:25 And he thought I was chirping at him.

00:29:27 So he had some kind words for me.

00:29:29 And I turn around and go, no, I'm serious.

00:29:30 Like, are you absorbing it?

00:29:32 And he just looked at me and gave me a little nod.

00:29:34 And I GTFO so he could have his moment

00:29:36 without a fat moron in there.

00:29:39 Like, are you sad?

00:29:40 This is sad, right?

00:29:41 [LAUGHS]

00:29:44 Big daddy.

00:29:45 It's weird, too, though, like the end of the game, right?

00:29:47 My mind's everywhere.

00:29:49 I've got to run down, help with postgame, all that.

00:29:51 We launch country roads.

00:29:53 And I'm high-fiving and knuckling Bill and his spotter

00:29:57 Sean and Chris O and Lucas.

00:29:58 And Chris O just goes, hey, hell of a season, man.

00:30:00 Thanks a lot.

00:30:01 And I was just like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:30:02 Thanks, guys.

00:30:03 And as I'm walking down, I was like, we're

00:30:06 done with home game.

00:30:07 Like, I'm thinking about Baylor next week.

00:30:09 I still have a game to go to.

00:30:10 That was our last home game for the year.

00:30:12 And it didn't even sink in until this morning.

00:30:14 And I was like, oh, man.

00:30:16 Like, we're done.

00:30:17 We won't be back there till August 31.

00:30:19 Well, spring game, but--

00:30:21 Spring game, but--

00:30:22 That was a downer.

00:30:24 Doug Nester came out-- again, it's

00:30:26 always different on senior day.

00:30:30 I didn't even run out with the team.

00:30:31 I kind of came to the edge of the end zone

00:30:33 and let everything unfold because it's so elongated.

00:30:36 And so then when the rest of the team comes out--

00:30:38 of course, the seniors run out to around midfield

00:30:40 and meet their families.

00:30:42 And so I'm going out there to wait on the captains

00:30:44 as the officials approach.

00:30:46 And the thing that stood out to me,

00:30:49 Doug Nester's family was out there.

00:30:51 His parents were out there.

00:30:53 His dad embraced him with a hug that I can only describe.

00:30:58 He was hugging him like he was in the second grade.

00:31:00 I mean, I was thinking, I'm watching

00:31:02 this 6'6", 300-plus pound mountain of a man,

00:31:06 and his dad is hugging him like a second grader.

00:31:08 And I just thought--

00:31:10 and then when everything started to calm down

00:31:14 after the chaos in the postgame locker room, Big Daddy,

00:31:17 I walked out with Doug.

00:31:19 And you talk about red-eyed because he

00:31:21 was going to meet his parents at the corner of the end zone.

00:31:24 Zach was down there to see Ray and his mom.

00:31:26 And when I walked out with Doug, he and I were just chatting up.

00:31:29 And I said, dude, I remember I was talking to your coach.

00:31:32 And I remember when I first got news

00:31:34 that we were getting you from Tech.

00:31:37 Because when we signed Wyatt, I talked to their high school

00:31:39 coach, and he said, we're working on getting you

00:31:40 another one.

00:31:41 So I kind of got that sense.

00:31:42 And then it was made official.

00:31:43 And I said, I still remember where I was, how excited I was.

00:31:46 And it really meant so much to him.

00:31:49 So he went down in the end zone, spent some more time

00:31:51 with his family, and then back in when you saw him.

00:31:53 But it's-- Neal's talked about it.

00:31:55 Look, some high schools are starting to move this

00:31:57 to earlier in the season because it is such an emotionally

00:32:01 in-charge experience that it's difficult to go

00:32:04 from that with all these memories flashing

00:32:07 through your mind.

00:32:08 I mean, I remember when I had to do it on senior day.

00:32:11 It's very difficult to re-harness your focus

00:32:14 so quickly and recalibrate.

00:32:16 And the next thing you know, four minutes later,

00:32:18 there's a whistle blowing and a ball being kicked off.

00:32:19 And here comes everybody trying to smack you around again.

00:32:22 It's difficult to do that.

00:32:24 So I wouldn't mind seeing a movement

00:32:25 because it really is special for those guys.

00:32:27 And it's special for those on the team

00:32:29 and even special for those like you and I around the team.

00:32:32 And I know that sounds weird, like, oh, but you play football.

00:32:36 It's what you do.

00:32:37 But I mean, you obviously, Jed, did it.

00:32:39 And Wes, you and I have been around long enough.

00:32:41 Like, the pregame ritual with sacrosanct,

00:32:44 like the guys do what they do every pregame for a reason

00:32:48 to get mentally ready for this and that.

00:32:51 So for them to go and have to then get out of football mode--

00:32:55 Change that routine, yeah.

00:32:56 --be in emotional mode because, oh my god, this is it,

00:32:59 and then get right back into football mode,

00:33:01 like you said, Jed, four minutes later.

00:33:04 It's a weird, almost like bipolar swing

00:33:07 where you've got to try to recalibrate yourself.

00:33:09 And I know it sounds simple, but it can be weird.

00:33:12 So then when they just hit the gates running, it was like,

00:33:14 OK, we're doing all right here.

00:33:16 This will work.

00:33:16 That's what I mean.

00:33:17 It could be weird.

00:33:17 It could be tough sometimes, but not when you're up 42 to 7

00:33:20 in the fourth quarter.

00:33:21 Then we're like, oh, OK.

00:33:22 --put your ultimate comfort zone, your family.

00:33:25 You let your guard down around your family like nothing else.

00:33:29 So you go from that, the warm embrace of your parents,

00:33:34 the most comfortable, safest, secure, most secure place--

00:33:37 Punch somebody in the mouth.

00:33:38 --in the world--

00:33:39 Now here's a 6'8", 400-pound nose guard.

00:33:41 I got to--

00:33:43 It's tough.

00:33:44 It's tough.

00:33:45 You know, throughout the season, obviously, it's

00:33:48 been so great to be around some of these guys,

00:33:49 some that are going to leave and everything.

00:33:51 And in the locker room, I'm obviously all excited.

00:33:53 I go over and I see Jaheim, and I'm just

00:33:55 giving him the look like, holy hell,

00:33:57 seeing some of the other guys.

00:33:58 But you are who you are, right?

00:34:01 And no matter where I go in that locker room,

00:34:03 Coach Moore sees me and goes, come take a picture.

00:34:06 And I got to take a picture of all the offensive linemen.

00:34:08 Were you the one who snapped that famous picture?

00:34:09 I was the one that took the--

00:34:10 And I'm like, yep, I can go wherever I want.

00:34:13 They're always going to think, oh, lineman,

00:34:15 bring his tubby ass back over here

00:34:16 and take a picture for me, buddy.

00:34:18 Like, yep, you got it, guys.

00:34:19 Here we go.

00:34:19 I love it.

00:34:20 I love it.

00:34:21 No, I'm kidding.

00:34:21 I want to go with it real quick.

00:34:22 I want your thoughts in the locker room

00:34:24 with what you saw out of Garrett.

00:34:25 Because let's jump in the seniors real quick.

00:34:28 I didn't tell this story.

00:34:30 In the postgame, when we win the game, the protocol is normally

00:34:34 Montoro makes his way--

00:34:35 Mike Montoro makes his way down in the final couple

00:34:38 minutes of the game.

00:34:38 And he and I have to coordinate.

00:34:40 All right, in addition to me interviewing

00:34:41 Neil on the field, I'm also going to interview a player.

00:34:44 Who's it going to be?

00:34:45 So we chatted it up real quick.

00:34:46 And we decided, all right, well, let's do Garrett.

00:34:48 That makes the most sense, right?

00:34:49 So we were going to do Garrett on the field.

00:34:51 So TV wanted Garrett and Neil at the same time.

00:34:55 I'm like, fair enough.

00:34:56 Tony will hold.

00:34:56 He'll throw down to me.

00:34:58 As soon as TV's done.

00:34:59 And I'll do both.

00:35:00 So that's the way it was working.

00:35:02 And I went ahead and I interviewed Neil.

00:35:04 And as I interviewed Neil, I looked around

00:35:05 and Garrett was behind me.

00:35:06 And then he's gone.

00:35:08 And so we wrapped things up with Neil.

00:35:10 And I told him to go enjoy the final minute or so of the song.

00:35:12 And I looked around.

00:35:13 And Montoro and Fergale told me, they said, hey--

00:35:17 Garrett said, hey, it's either the radio interview

00:35:19 or to sing a song with my teammates and the fans.

00:35:21 I'm going to sing the song.

00:35:22 And I'm like, I don't blame him, to be honest with you.

00:35:24 That's the kind of guy we're talking about.

00:35:26 He don't want the media.

00:35:27 He don't want the spotlight.

00:35:28 He don't want the interviews.

00:35:30 He wants to sing the song with his teammates.

00:35:32 That's exactly the kind of guy who's leading this team.

00:35:34 Was it like the scene in Slapshot, right?

00:35:36 Where the Hanson brothers, they're

00:35:37 listening to the national anthem.

00:35:38 And the referee comes over and he goes,

00:35:40 I don't want any funny business from you guys.

00:35:41 I'll throw you out of here.

00:35:43 I'm listening to the song!

00:35:44 I'm listening to the song!

00:35:45 Did you see him in the locker room, Big Daddy?

00:35:51 Oh, yeah.

00:35:52 I love it.

00:35:53 Because what was happening, I was right in the middle

00:35:56 of the sea of bodies as Neil.

00:35:59 And you saw Neil do his thing, his little signature.

00:36:02 He's all calm.

00:36:03 Hey, great job today, guys.

00:36:04 Nice win over the University of Cincinnati.

00:36:06 And then he just loses it and screams

00:36:07 and jumps into the crowd.

00:36:08 Well, I was behind Jaquay, because I

00:36:10 was standing near Garrett, because I

00:36:12 had to get Garrett for postgame to do

00:36:14 the interview with Tony and Dwight.

00:36:15 So I'm in the middle of the players.

00:36:17 Well, Jaquay was right in front of me.

00:36:18 And when Neil did that thing, I thought, oh, no.

00:36:20 I'm going to get crushed.

00:36:21 Because Jaquay jumped two feet off the ground

00:36:23 and almost landed on me.

00:36:25 But that place was fired up.

00:36:26 It was really cool.

00:36:28 And again, little things, all the seniors

00:36:30 getting to do the fight song at the end.

00:36:33 And it's just like, this is what you work for.

00:36:36 When you win on senior night, that's exactly the moment

00:36:40 that they're going to be able to carry with them forever.

00:36:43 100%.

00:36:44 And I think it's pretty cool.

00:36:45 Jed and I were talking about how some of the things,

00:36:48 some of the numbers, finals, a little skewed at the end

00:36:51 there, right?

00:36:51 Because by the fourth quarter, you

00:36:52 had called the dogs off and put some other guys in.

00:36:54 But that's got to be the best for those guys.

00:36:57 You get to spend the final minutes of the game just

00:36:59 kind of looking around and soaking it all in

00:37:01 and just basking in that comfortable victory.

00:37:05 I agree with you guys.

00:37:06 I don't hate the idea of moving a senior day away

00:37:09 from the last game of the year.

00:37:10 But at the same time, when it plays out like it did on

00:37:13 Saturday, there's not much--

00:37:15 there's not much better in athle--

00:37:16 I don't care if it's high school sports or collegiate

00:37:19 athletics.

00:37:19 There's not much better than an afternoon like that

00:37:23 or an evening like that for your senior day

00:37:25 and to go out in that regard.

00:37:27 And gentlemen, I mean, speaking of emotion,

00:37:29 speaking of a perfect Saturday and all these different things,

00:37:32 Don Nealon, end of the first quarter, just, man,

00:37:36 the reception.

00:37:36 Like, I thought it was so cool.

00:37:38 Jed had talked about this a little bit, how

00:37:41 this last game of the season, this kind of time period,

00:37:45 right, whether it's the Saturday before Thanksgiving

00:37:47 or the Saturday after Thanksgiving,

00:37:49 you're always a little skeptical about the crowd

00:37:51 because the students are on Thanksgiving break.

00:37:53 It's the start of hunting season.

00:37:55 It's cold out.

00:37:56 People are traveling for the holidays.

00:37:58 Like, it's just a time of year where there's so much going on.

00:38:01 But man, that crowd was ready from the jump.

00:38:04 That crowd was ready for Don Nealon.

00:38:06 That crowd stayed to be there for the end of that senior day

00:38:09 and one last country roads until we get to August and September

00:38:13 and a new season and all that.

00:38:16 I love just seeing the representation,

00:38:18 the outpouring of love there for Don Nealon.

00:38:21 And for anybody who hasn't seen it, our guy Chris O,

00:38:23 that we reference all the time, putting together

00:38:25 that video, hell of a video.

00:38:28 And we give Ren Baker credit for a lot of things.

00:38:31 I think we're all Ren Baker stans here on this podcast.

00:38:35 But man, for him to get that done with Don Nealon,

00:38:39 while Don-- because we all know, listen, I mean,

00:38:41 father time's undefeated.

00:38:42 Don Nealon, he's getting a little bit older.

00:38:45 For him to still be able, though, to be there,

00:38:48 to bask in that moment, to really enjoy it with his family

00:38:52 and some of his former players, I mean, you combine that,

00:38:55 you combine the senior day, you throw in the big,

00:38:58 comfortable victory against a familiar old friend there.

00:39:01 I mean, that was just-- that was perfectly

00:39:03 scripted for Saturday.

00:39:06 Jake Prady, friend of the pod, Jake Prady,

00:39:09 works with the equipment staff but is also a member of the MAC,

00:39:12 helped organize that whole thing for Friday night

00:39:15 with Don and all those former players coming back

00:39:17 at the new place over at the Coliseum.

00:39:19 And any time the players come back, Prady is 25, 24.

00:39:23 He's a young guy.

00:39:24 But he knows what a historic psycho I am about WVU.

00:39:27 So every time they have something, he's like,

00:39:29 Shawnee, just come over.

00:39:31 And I was like, no, let those guys have

00:39:33 their night and everything.

00:39:34 And then I'm just scrolling through Twitter Friday night,

00:39:36 having the most FOMO of my life.

00:39:38 Like, my god, everybody was there.

00:39:41 And I could have been walking around like a second grader,

00:39:44 Jed, just smiling up at people and handing them

00:39:46 pieces of paper and praying they signed it.

00:39:48 The turnout was incredible.

00:39:50 And then two things from the presentation

00:39:52 with Don on Saturday.

00:39:54 So obviously, they let everybody get out there.

00:39:57 And like you said, Wes, Don is getting up there in age.

00:40:00 And when you look at him, you're like, oh, he looks so much

00:40:03 older.

00:40:03 He does have a little trouble getting around and everything.

00:40:06 But talk to him for three seconds.

00:40:09 And that's Dandy Don from 1988.

00:40:12 He's still got the fastball.

00:40:13 It's incredible.

00:40:15 So they get everybody out there.

00:40:16 And we start the video and start the presentation.

00:40:18 And I was busting Danny Nealon's balls today.

00:40:21 Because I was cutting the melt. I'm laying down highlights

00:40:24 so I can put together our melt of melt.

00:40:25 And in every clip I see, Danny's just behind him,

00:40:28 just soaking it in, bouncing back and forth, so excited.

00:40:31 And then the other side of it is when they drop the tarp

00:40:35 or whatever it was to show his name,

00:40:38 obviously a huge moment.

00:40:39 And some of the folks in the suites

00:40:41 were able to help our facilities guys do it,

00:40:43 one of which is one of the heads of WVU Medicine, Darren,

00:40:47 who's on every trip with us.

00:40:48 And he is just pumping.

00:40:50 He's just pumping in the end zone the entire time

00:40:52 after he drops the tarp.

00:40:54 So I know, Jed, keep your ears open.

00:40:56 Because when we get on that plane Friday,

00:40:58 Darren is going to be crushing Danny.

00:41:00 Like, Danny, dude, I got to drop the tarp for your dad.

00:41:03 He's just going to be blowing it up.

00:41:04 So just be ready.

00:41:05 You know what I remember most about the on-field part of that?

00:41:08 And I thought you were going to mention this.

00:41:11 I was down there like an idiot with my phone,

00:41:13 trying to stay out of everybody's way.

00:41:15 So I'm six feet in front.

00:41:16 And Haas was a couple of people down from his father-in-law,

00:41:20 Don Nealon.

00:41:21 And Haas had one of the grandkids.

00:41:23 Yeah, bouncing.

00:41:24 He was holding him up.

00:41:25 And that kid was just having the time of his life.

00:41:29 And I thought, this might be the most perfect part

00:41:32 of the most perfect ceremony that I've ever

00:41:35 seen take part in this.

00:41:36 That kid-- didn't even know what was going on.

00:41:38 Was oblivious to everything.

00:41:40 But he was in the arms of granddad.

00:41:41 And he was just loving every second of it.

00:41:43 And there's his great granddad.

00:41:44 And I'm like, nothing represented Don Nealon

00:41:49 better than that part of what was taking place there.

00:41:52 I thought that was just absolutely awesome.

00:41:55 And the cheer that when the tarp did come down, it was special.

00:42:01 And I came off the field, guys.

00:42:03 Everybody was moved.

00:42:05 Ren came by me and said something,

00:42:07 talking about how cool that was.

00:42:08 We were all just moved.

00:42:09 Jeff Castile.

00:42:12 Jeff had three words for me.

00:42:14 Pretty, blanking, cool.

00:42:16 He just looked at me.

00:42:17 And if you know Jeff Castile, that's

00:42:20 what he's looking for.

00:42:21 Pretty stinking cool, right?

00:42:23 Stinking, that's what the word was.

00:42:25 We're all old, soft dads on this podcast.

00:42:29 How incredible of a moment is that with your--

00:42:32 That's upper echelon stuff.

00:42:34 And what I'd love, too, is we're always worried about timing.

00:42:38 TV timeouts are only so long.

00:42:39 We have got to fit in so much stuff.

00:42:41 We thought we had plenty of time with that.

00:42:43 The video wasn't that long.

00:42:44 Bill timed his readout.

00:42:45 We thought, we're going to have a minute to play.

00:42:47 And then the ovation is so loud and so long.

00:42:51 The TV crews off the field.

00:42:53 The game's back on.

00:42:54 TV is on.

00:42:55 When TV comes on, it's supposed to be play.

00:42:58 Get right back into it.

00:42:59 Even the officials were just watching everybody

00:43:01 leave the field.

00:43:02 They gave us another 15, 20 seconds

00:43:04 because they were just like, I'm not going to be the guy

00:43:06 to be like, get the hell off of here.

00:43:07 We've got a football game.

00:43:08 They were just like, yep, take your time.

00:43:10 We'll get to it.

00:43:12 And to your point, Wes, that moment

00:43:14 late in the game of a blowout, the let's go chant started.

00:43:20 And I'll say this.

00:43:22 It would have been neat anyway, but right

00:43:25 on the heels of our rival up north having--

00:43:30 it's always hard to tell because even when they're winning,

00:43:32 it kind of looks like it did the other night.

00:43:34 But the fact that they're not winning,

00:43:37 Pitt can't draw fans for anything.

00:43:39 And the most hilarious part to me is their fans actually--

00:43:43 Oh, no.

00:43:46 Wait, what did you say?

00:43:48 What did you say?

00:43:48 Meanwhile--

00:43:49 Wait, hold on, Jed.

00:43:49 Wait, hold on.

00:43:50 You just froze there for a second.

00:43:53 You've got to say that again.

00:43:54 Taylor County got you.

00:43:55 Taylor County got you.

00:43:58 Pitt's hexing my internet connection.

00:44:00 But I was saying Pitt can't draw fans anyway.

00:44:02 But the best part about it is we're all making fun

00:44:05 of that embarrassment they put out

00:44:08 with 17 people at Akershore Stadium Thursday night

00:44:11 against Boston College.

00:44:12 And they're all trying to claim, well,

00:44:13 that's because we're 2 and 8.

00:44:15 Otherwise, well, no, I've seen your crowds

00:44:17 when you're winning the ACC.

00:44:19 I don't see much difference.

00:44:20 You can't draw unless you're playing Penn State, Notre

00:44:22 Dame, or West Virginia.

00:44:23 That's just the truth of it.

00:44:25 Meanwhile, as Big Daddy touched on,

00:44:28 we had the holy trinity of reasons to not have a crowd.

00:44:31 Students out of town, the dorms shut down on Friday.

00:44:33 That's always an issue that weekend.

00:44:35 Hunting season, get ready to start.

00:44:36 Everybody's at deer camp.

00:44:38 We live in West Virginia, after all, in much colder weather

00:44:40 than we thought.

00:44:41 It was cold on that field.

00:44:42 I mean, that sky cover dropped that temperature a couple

00:44:45 degrees.

00:44:45 It got cold.

00:44:45 So 3 for 3 with the excuses to not be there.

00:44:49 And I'm not saying it was a sellout.

00:44:50 But what I'm saying is it was a robust crowd that stayed,

00:44:54 endured, and got loud late in a blowout game.

00:44:58 And that was just really cool.

00:45:00 I thought that was a really neat moment

00:45:02 when that chant started, for no real reason,

00:45:04 in the fourth quarter of a blowout game.

00:45:06 And Wes, one more thing with that senior day.

00:45:08 It popped into my head earlier.

00:45:11 You know, we did the old basketball substitution

00:45:13 that our fans caught on to, too.

00:45:15 We are on that last drive.

00:45:17 We get a first down.

00:45:18 We sub out Zach Frazier, let him walk off the field one more

00:45:21 time, right?

00:45:22 Fans recognize it, start cheering.

00:45:24 Then they call a couple of timeouts.

00:45:27 So when Justin Johnson gets that last first down,

00:45:31 Neil subs in, go.

00:45:33 We're doing victory formation.

00:45:34 Doug Nester, get in there.

00:45:35 Zach Frazier, get in there.

00:45:37 Like, let's send him in.

00:45:38 And now they have that moment forever.

00:45:41 His only snap of the game.

00:45:42 You got that forever.

00:45:43 His only snap of the game was victory formation.

00:45:45 Your last play at Mountaineer Field as a senior

00:45:48 is victory formation.

00:45:50 Yep.

00:45:50 Can't beat it.

00:45:51 And again, that's why-- like, again,

00:45:53 I know these senior day things.

00:45:54 Sean, you made a great point in how all athletes,

00:45:58 but I think particularly football players,

00:45:59 are so regimented in how they prepare for games.

00:46:02 It's a physical, violent game.

00:46:04 You've got to get your mind in the right place

00:46:06 to get ready to go out there and perform

00:46:08 like that for 3 and 1/2 hours on any given Saturday.

00:46:11 But like I said, when it all comes together,

00:46:13 when it all goes perfectly, you get those magic moments

00:46:16 like you did.

00:46:16 And again, you couldn't have scripted it much better

00:46:19 or any better, I think, than what we saw there.

00:46:24 Well, guys.

00:46:25 And it was awesome.

00:46:26 That emotion, that energy, and everything

00:46:28 was palpable through the broadcast as well, too.

00:46:31 I'm not going to lie to you guys.

00:46:32 When I'm sitting at the bar in Cleveland at 2:30

00:46:35 on Saturday and the broadcast starts, I'm like--

00:46:39 I don't want to say worried, but in the back of my mind,

00:46:41 I'm like, oh, man, I hope this crowd looks good on TV.

00:46:44 I hope there's energy there, all this stuff.

00:46:46 And after the first kickoff, they

00:46:48 do that first kind of wide shot.

00:46:50 And I was like, oh, hell yeah, brother.

00:46:52 Lower bowl's completely-- lower bowl's completely full.

00:46:56 Upper bowl's 70% full.

00:46:58 All right, let's rock it.

00:46:59 Cincinnati doesn't stand a chance today.

00:47:01 And then, Sean, I was laughing.

00:47:02 I said this to Jed earlier.

00:47:03 I was like, end of the first quarter,

00:47:05 I looked up at one point, we had eight first downs.

00:47:07 They had none.

00:47:08 We were just rolling.

00:47:10 It was a tough scene.

00:47:11 It was a lot of fun.

00:47:12 And you know what?

00:47:13 It's always good to have-- we talk about getting Cincinnati

00:47:16 back, not a rival, but a familiar foe.

00:47:18 And there's some history there.

00:47:19 And it's a border state and all these different things.

00:47:22 And man, it really felt like old times.

00:47:23 And by old times, I mean us kicking the crap out

00:47:25 of Cincinnati, because that's what's happened most of the time.

00:47:30 It's like, on our beat the crap out of list,

00:47:32 number one is Rutgers.

00:47:34 But Cincinnati's not far behind as number two.

00:47:38 You posted it earlier.

00:47:40 And I said something to him after the game.

00:47:42 Garrett's first touchdown, Nick Malone

00:47:44 had a nice inside seal block.

00:47:46 I was like, oh, way to go, Nick.

00:47:47 Well done, buddy.

00:47:48 And then you posted that.

00:47:49 And I've gone back and watched it.

00:47:51 And Jaquay on that--

00:47:52 he pulls unreal finding his guy.

00:47:55 But Traylon Davis, sweet baby Jesus,

00:47:58 laying big number nine down.

00:48:00 I haven't seen him yet.

00:48:02 But just like, my god.

00:48:04 And then the other side--

00:48:05 Sidebacker.

00:48:07 As the game--

00:48:07 He just came in so high.

00:48:09 I'm like, what are you doing?

00:48:10 And Traylon's like--

00:48:11 And it was all over after that.

00:48:14 And then as the game went on, I legitimately

00:48:16 did feel a little bad for the guy

00:48:18 because there was a play late in the game

00:48:19 where he actually threw his hands out.

00:48:21 But number 10 for Cincinnati on the defensive side.

00:48:24 Garrett shook him for two touchdowns.

00:48:26 They were picking on him in the pass game.

00:48:28 And old boy did not have a good game.

00:48:30 And near the end, I'm just like, oh, that poor guy.

00:48:32 This is going to be a tough day for that guy.

00:48:33 I do feel kind of bad that this is what

00:48:35 he's had to go through today.

00:48:36 What, the 75-yard touchdown?

00:48:38 I broke this down on Twitter with the game film.

00:48:41 But the 75-yard touchdown was a sail flat route.

00:48:45 It's kind of an air raid staple, right?

00:48:48 Well, we had that jet motion we'd been using.

00:48:50 They reacted to it.

00:48:51 They rolled their coverage.

00:48:52 We were running to the wide side.

00:48:55 It's a long developing route by a running back.

00:48:58 Normally, that's a slot running that sail route.

00:49:00 It's kind of a mini version of a post corner, a flag route.

00:49:04 Well, guess who was running it?

00:49:05 Jaheim, next to Garrett, was running it

00:49:08 from the backfield, which takes a little longer to develop.

00:49:10 So you had a high-low concept created

00:49:14 by Jaheim exploding out of the backfield

00:49:16 to take the top and run the sail.

00:49:19 And then the underneath portion of it--

00:49:21 you're stressing that flat player to the wide side--

00:49:23 was the jet motion sweep by Gallagher.

00:49:27 He becomes the swing man.

00:49:29 Well, Garrett recognized the idea of the flat player.

00:49:32 And he's like, OK, I think that he

00:49:34 bid on that just long enough that I can sneak that

00:49:36 in behind him with enough touch.

00:49:38 I mean, we like to indict Garrett for having

00:49:41 no touch on the RPO throws, because he's

00:49:43 throwing a couple like Darryl Talley, knocking guys over.

00:49:46 But I'm telling you, he has touch

00:49:49 in his tool bag, in his arsenal.

00:49:50 And you saw it really on display on that play,

00:49:53 because they had a free runner come off the edge defensively.

00:49:56 So we were outnumbered to that side.

00:49:58 So the free runner, the blitzer, was going to light Garrett up.

00:50:02 And Garrett had a choice to make.

00:50:03 He's like, OK, I'm going to stand tall and take this hit.

00:50:06 But I'm going to trade it for an opportunity

00:50:08 to buy Jaheim just an extra time to float that thing

00:50:12 with nice touch, drop it in the bucket.

00:50:14 So he had to throw it sooner than he wanted to.

00:50:16 And as soon as he did, he got crushed.

00:50:18 And he got crushed high.

00:50:20 Go back and watch the film, guys.

00:50:22 He hit that thing, got hit high, and flew back

00:50:24 and took a whale of a shot.

00:50:26 Arched it over the defender right into that small pocket.

00:50:29 Jaheim hits the extra gear, catches it on the run.

00:50:32 And then Big Daddy, did you notice

00:50:33 who the only guy on the sidelines

00:50:35 in the stadium who nearly caught Jaheim?

00:50:36 Chad Scott.

00:50:37 As always, Chad Scott was in full speed.

00:50:40 Who else could it ever be?

00:50:42 He was running a 4.5 down our side.

00:50:45 The headset flies off.

00:50:46 The play call sheets fly in everywhere.

00:50:50 When I see something like that, guys,

00:50:51 I could talk about it for 20 minutes.

00:50:53 It's just, to me, that's time capsule worthy, thing of beauty.

00:50:56 Perfect execution.

00:50:58 It's just an explosive athlete catching

00:51:00 a perfect pass from a quarterback who stood tall,

00:51:02 traded that blow for the throw.

00:51:05 That was just a thing of beauty.

00:51:06 And how could you not like to play for Chad Scott?

00:51:08 How could you not?

00:51:09 He's the best, man.

00:51:10 He's the best.

00:51:11 Chad, that's a good way to put it, actually.

00:51:13 I think a lot of Saturday was time capsule stuff.

00:51:17 And it makes you feel really good.

00:51:19 It gets you jacked up.

00:51:20 It gets you fired up.

00:51:21 Puts a smile on your face heading into Thanksgiving week

00:51:24 here.

00:51:24 That's one of my weird football fan quirks.

00:51:27 You never want to lose heading into Thanksgiving week.

00:51:30 Because you still got practice.

00:51:31 You still got business as usual.

00:51:32 You got travel or whatever.

00:51:34 You don't want to head into the holiday week with a loss.

00:51:37 So going with a big, comfortable victory in senior day

00:51:39 and all those things is just absolutely fantastic.

00:51:43 It was a perfect Saturday, like I said, in a lot of ways.

00:51:46 Yes, you did.

00:51:47 I meant John Talley.

00:51:48 I think everybody knows that.

00:51:49 But yeah, for some reason, I just realized John Talley

00:51:52 was notorious.

00:51:53 Of course, this is way before Wes's time.

00:51:55 Big Daddy, you might remember.

00:51:56 He was notorious.

00:51:57 He had a cannon of an arm.

00:51:58 And he was not at all afraid to use it.

00:52:00 And that meant if you were 8 feet from him or 80 feet from him

00:52:03 or 80 yards from him, he was going to knock you over with it.

00:52:06 It worked both ways, though, Jed,

00:52:08 because Darryl Talley did, in fact,

00:52:10 knock people over quite often.

00:52:11 That's true.

00:52:12 It could still work.

00:52:13 It could still work.

00:52:14 It's true.

00:52:14 We can repurpose that one.

00:52:16 Yeah.

00:52:17 Thank you to JR and our friends at Toothman Ford

00:52:19 for presenting this episode of In the Gun.

00:52:21 We all know cars cost less in Grafton.

00:52:23 They're doing great things for our NIL and WVU athletes.

00:52:26 Make sure you're supporting those

00:52:28 who support the Mountaineers and support this podcast.

00:52:30 All right, before we go, it is Thanksgiving week.

00:52:33 Best day of the year.

00:52:34 My favorite holiday.

00:52:36 I know Sean's got some love for Thanksgiving, too.

00:52:38 So this is maybe putting you a little bit on the spot here.

00:52:40 But I need your boldest Thanksgiving take.

00:52:44 Ooh.

00:52:45 I can give you mine if you need a second.

00:52:47 But I feel like you got this ready.

00:52:49 The quick one for me-- and it's not even that much of a hot

00:52:52 take--

00:52:53 the Mariners and the family that I married into, the Hickses,

00:52:58 nobody has ever touched anything cranberry.

00:53:01 Get it out of here.

00:53:02 Get it out of here.

00:53:03 OK.

00:53:04 Adios.

00:53:05 Not even straight from the can.

00:53:06 Adios, sweetcheeks.

00:53:07 It's gone in 10.

00:53:08 I don't need the ridges.

00:53:09 We are kindred spirits, me and you, when it comes to food.

00:53:13 Because I--

00:53:14 At least I might know yours.

00:53:15 I got no--

00:53:16 I guess.

00:53:17 Go for it.

00:53:19 Mac and cheese.

00:53:20 Yeah.

00:53:21 Now, see, is that a bold take?

00:53:22 But yeah, you got to have mac and cheese.

00:53:24 Is that a bold take?

00:53:25 I know that's controversial.

00:53:26 We don't do that.

00:53:27 I feel like that's a Southern thing.

00:53:28 It's not a staple for us.

00:53:31 But this is--

00:53:33 Yeah, it's a--

00:53:33 --turned away--

00:53:33 Well, we don't do it.

00:53:34 We've never done it.

00:53:35 But yeah.

00:53:36 Morgan's-- my wife Morgan, her grandmother

00:53:39 makes mac and cheese that--

00:53:41 oh my god.

00:53:42 This stuff could stop wars.

00:53:44 It's so good.

00:53:46 And I'm with Sean.

00:53:47 I'm not a big cranberry anything guy.

00:53:50 I'm just not.

00:53:51 I live in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.

00:53:53 But I'm not a big--

00:53:53 I'm not a big cranberry guy.

00:53:56 I got two for you.

00:53:57 One is that green bean casserole is the most essential side dish

00:54:01 on Thanksgiving.

00:54:02 OK.

00:54:03 OK.

00:54:04 You got to get the fresh green beans.

00:54:05 I do mine on the smoker.

00:54:07 I do it in a cast iron on the smoker.

00:54:09 Oh, boys.

00:54:10 Of course you do.

00:54:11 And the second is, if you're one of these people who

00:54:13 likes to do the cool hipster thing of,

00:54:15 oh, turkey's not actually that good,

00:54:18 just admit that you suck at cooking.

00:54:20 Yeah.

00:54:21 Because if you do turkey right, if you deep fry it,

00:54:24 or you smoke it, or you do it right, it's fantastic.

00:54:27 We bought our house.

00:54:28 We had Thanksgiving the year after we bought our house.

00:54:30 We had it here for the first time ever.

00:54:33 And your fat buddy dominated turkey.

00:54:35 And I never want to have it here ever again,

00:54:38 because I hit it so hard.

00:54:39 You set the standard so high.

00:54:40 It's never going to live up to it ever again,

00:54:42 regardless of what I do.

00:54:44 So--

00:54:45 Sean and--

00:54:46 Vicki Mariner, huge homemade noodles gal.

00:54:48 And they were incredible.

00:54:50 I mean, thumbs up.

00:54:50 We get it.

00:54:51 We love Vicki.

00:54:52 And then my great uncle--

00:54:53 I can't do it.

00:54:54 My pap's twin had a homemade yeast roll recipe

00:54:59 that is the Mariner family secret.

00:55:02 One person gets it.

00:55:04 When that person passes, one person in their family

00:55:06 gets it, nobody in between.

00:55:08 That's the good stuff.

00:55:09 That's how you know that's the good stuff.

00:55:11 Yeah, Sean--

00:55:12 You guys used--

00:55:14 Well, this is a trick we tried for the first time last year,

00:55:17 because my oldest in college saw it on YouTube.

00:55:19 It turned out all right.

00:55:20 Surprised it wasn't--

00:55:21 Mayonnaise to baste the bird, because it's oil and eggs.

00:55:25 It was great.

00:55:26 It was perfectly brown.

00:55:27 It was--

00:55:28 I don't hate it, Jed.

00:55:29 I'm an OG butter guy, but I don't hate it.

00:55:32 There's--

00:55:32 Mayo hater.

00:55:33 Mayo hater in the building, right here.

00:55:35 Mayo hater or Miracle Whip hater?

00:55:37 All of the above.

00:55:38 Listen, this is going to get into my weird food quirks,

00:55:41 despite being fat.

00:55:43 And it's I hate ketchup.

00:55:44 I hate condiments.

00:55:45 I hate ketchup.

00:55:46 What's ketchup?

00:55:47 Vinegar and tomatoes with some sugar.

00:55:49 You know what I eat every day?

00:55:50 Vinegar, tomato, sugar.

00:55:52 I hate, hate mayonnaise.

00:55:54 What's mayonnaise?

00:55:54 Eggs and oil.

00:55:55 Eat eggs and oil every day.

00:55:56 You don't like condiments.

00:55:57 So wait, what condiments do you like?

00:55:59 I'm a big condiment guy.

00:56:00 Barbecue sauce, but it has to be very specific.

00:56:02 And I know, here's where everybody goes,

00:56:04 barbecue sauce is just ketchup with other stuff.

00:56:06 I'm aware.

00:56:07 But I'm able to disassociate enough

00:56:09 that as long as it-- like Sweet Baby Ray's is not just ketchup

00:56:12 with something else in it.

00:56:13 That is a barbecue sauce of its own creation.

00:56:16 I am a big gold barbecue sauce guy.

00:56:19 Mustard, get it out of here.

00:56:20 I'm a big condiment guy, either way.

00:56:22 I mean, everybody that knows me knows

00:56:24 that I'm all about the condiments.

00:56:26 Cheeseburgers, plain.

00:56:27 Ranch.

00:56:28 Ranch counts.

00:56:29 OK.

00:56:30 Honey mustard.

00:56:30 We're going to take the elite this year, guys.

00:56:32 We're going to do the--

00:56:33 Get out of here.

00:56:33 --out in the driveway.

00:56:34 Honey mustard, period.

00:56:35 We're going to deep fry the game bird.

00:56:39 The game bird.

00:56:40 We're going to turkey in a game bird.

00:56:41 I got a smaller game bird.

00:56:42 I've never done it.

00:56:43 Jed, I've been told, make sure you put it in frozen.

00:56:46 Completely frozen when you put it into the deep fryer.

00:56:48 Right?

00:56:48 That's what you're supposed to do.

00:56:49 So it explodes everywhere?

00:56:49 There will be no reaction whatsoever.

00:56:50 That's what you're supposed to do, right?

00:56:51 Yeah.

00:56:52 So it explodes everywhere.

00:56:54 So I got a smoker in 2020, OK?

00:56:57 During the pandemic, nothing to do, losing my mind.

00:57:00 So like any--

00:57:01 I hear that.

00:57:02 Like any pushing 30 male, I went out and bought a smoker.

00:57:06 And I did-- it was like one of those, OK, Wesley,

00:57:09 you do a small turkey on the smoker,

00:57:11 and we'll still do one in the oven,

00:57:12 because we don't want you to ruin Thanksgiving.

00:57:15 Ever since then, my family, it's like I

00:57:18 have to do the turkey on the smoker,

00:57:20 or else I'd be kicked out of the family.

00:57:24 Wes, are the girls starting to put together

00:57:27 their menu for you?

00:57:28 Like are they like, daddy, this is what--

00:57:30 this is what's coming.

00:57:31 Olivia, the old-- I mean, our youngest is still just six

00:57:34 months old today, actually.

00:57:36 But--

00:57:37 She'll get some gobble in her.

00:57:38 The oldest Olivia is very bossy when it comes to the food now.

00:57:42 And you'll love this, Sean.

00:57:43 I texted you.

00:57:45 My oldest Olivia is super into Monsters, Inc. right now.

00:57:47 Like we are watching-- and I love it.

00:57:49 It's like one of my favorite movies.

00:57:51 I love Monsters, Inc. And we have been watching like,

00:57:55 you know, like a few-- like 15, 20 minutes

00:57:57 before bed every night.

00:57:58 You know, nothing crazy.

00:57:59 Then read a book and go to bed type thing.

00:58:02 And she-- oh, man.

00:58:05 She got-- we got her like Danimals yogurts

00:58:08 the other day that have Mike Wazowski and Sully

00:58:12 on the outside.

00:58:13 And she is obsessed.

00:58:15 Like she comes ripping down into the kitchen every morning

00:58:18 and busts open the fridge and wants--

00:58:20 give me my Mike Wazowski.

00:58:23 So she's getting the foodie tendencies for sure.

00:58:26 Disney World, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Factory, if any of you

00:58:30 have been and gone, the lovely show

00:58:33 that took over for Stitch's Great Escape

00:58:35 and the creepy alien one before you go in.

00:58:37 It's a comedy show where they interact

00:58:40 with the crowd and everything.

00:58:41 They pick members of the crowd to be certain characters.

00:58:44 Any idea who might have been chosen

00:58:46 to be Sully for the only show that I've ever been there on?

00:58:49 So every time they did a joke about Sully or something--

00:58:52 Who's you?

00:58:53 --I would get cameras.

00:58:54 So they would just cut to me.

00:58:55 And there's my big fat face up on the screen

00:58:57 in front of the entire arena.

00:58:58 Like, hey, guys.

00:59:00 Fantastic.

00:59:01 And D's the same way.

00:59:02 Every single day, every single day, Declan is,

00:59:04 I'm having this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this.

00:59:07 Like, yep, you're my son.

00:59:08 Go get it.

00:59:09 I love it.

00:59:10 I love it.

00:59:10 Well, everybody, enjoy the Thanksgiving.

00:59:14 Let's have a great Thanksgiving.

00:59:16 Let's beat the crap out of Baylor on Saturday

00:59:18 and this season on a high note.

00:59:19 Take 30 seconds from Big Daddy because we

00:59:23 won't see him again till after.

00:59:26 Thoughts for dining on Friday night in Texas?

00:59:29 I sent the email out yesterday because we

00:59:31 had women's basketball.

00:59:32 So I had some time to kill.

00:59:34 Pignettis, Pignettis, Pignettis.

00:59:36 I'm not sure the pronunciation.

00:59:38 But Italian in Temple, Texas, we're A plus.

00:59:42 Bird Creek, Baruch.

00:59:43 Italian in Texas, interesting.

00:59:45 Yes, so we're flying into Killeen, staying in Temple,

00:59:48 and then flying out of Waco.

00:59:50 But Temple's got a couple of good brew pubs.

00:59:52 That Italian place looks molto bene.

00:59:56 They've got a steakhouse there, but it's like $80 for a steak.

00:59:59 And your fat buddy ain't an $80 a steak guy.

01:00:02 So.

01:00:03 You going to a Temple game yet?

01:00:04 We went and saw Temple seven or eight years ago.

01:00:07 It was after Lake Seastrunk because that's his high school.

01:00:10 Yeah.

01:00:11 But we went and watched it.

01:00:12 They weren't very good.

01:00:13 So that's why they apologized for only having like 23,000 people

01:00:15 there.

01:00:16 Nice, yeah.

01:00:16 They said, look, we're only four and four.

01:00:17 What do you expect?

01:00:18 Sorry, guys.

01:00:19 Me and Dwight and Tony caught them several years ago.

01:00:21 Pit would kill for that crowd.

01:00:22 You're not kidding.

01:00:23 That's four pit games.

01:00:24 That's four games worth.

01:00:27 Wait.

01:00:27 That's a good way to get out of here.

01:00:29 Just one?

01:00:30 Perfect.

01:00:31 Oh, fireworks.

01:00:33 [LAUGHTER]

01:00:36 They ruined my weekly ritual.

01:00:38 I couldn't listen to a Narduzzi's postgame press

01:00:40 conference because they--

01:00:41 Well, Jed, they do have this-- they do it-- well,

01:00:43 I guess that's true.

01:00:44 Yeah.

01:00:44 That's all right.

01:00:45 They had to get three wins on the season.

01:00:47 I mean, you know.

01:00:49 They had to finally beat a second FBS team, all right?

01:00:52 I mean, you know.

01:00:53 There was a guy posting those pictures.

01:00:56 He's been to all 130 plus FBS stadiums.

01:01:00 He's the guy who was--

01:01:01 I think I sent you the same tweet.

01:01:02 College stadium tour or whatever.

01:01:04 Yeah.

01:01:05 OK, one of our projects in the off season

01:01:07 needs to be to get him on as a guest,

01:01:10 if for no other reason than to discuss his Thursday night

01:01:13 at Actors Shirt Stadium experience as one

01:01:15 of the 26 people who were there.

01:01:17 Because otherwise, you know, the only reason

01:01:19 they had 26 people instead of 29 is because they're

01:01:21 not very good this year.

01:01:23 Yeah.

01:01:25 So that's how we'll close that.

01:01:26 Listen, it's Thanksgiving week, so it

01:01:28 should be Backyard Brawl week.

01:01:29 Yeah.

01:01:30 We had to get some shots in there.

01:01:32 Had to get some shots in there.

01:01:33 A final thank you to our friends at Fortis

01:01:35 for Roof Performance and Financial Certainty.

01:01:37 Guaranteed.

01:01:38 Visit fortis.us.com.

01:01:41 This has been a lot of fun.

01:01:42 We'll be back the rest of the week.

01:01:43 Obviously, Wednesday with our Pick 'Em.

01:01:45 We've got the Baylor preview.

01:01:47 And of course, Phil Steele still to come.

01:01:49 So get your fixings on ITG here for Thanksgiving week.

01:01:54 For Big Daddy Sean Mariner and the Signal Caller Jed

01:01:57 Drenning, the one thing we ask of you is to be in here

01:01:59 and tell in here about your new favorite WVU football podcast.

01:02:02 Take care, everybody.

01:02:03 We'll talk to you soon.

01:02:04 You've been in the gun.

01:02:06 (door closing)

01:02:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]

ITG 123 - Big Daddy Kicks Off Baylor Week

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