Backyard Brawl Preview & Predictions | CRW Pod S6 Ep. 165| WVU Football | West Virginia Mountaineers

foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] they want to have a 707 drill we want to make it a fist fight doesn't see nothing already from West Virginia football from the heart trailer it's Mountaineer Prime West Virginia is a special place people is a state that had great crime in this WB logo it is night to be a mountaineer wherever you may be and now it's the show brought to you by melnir fans for Mountaineer fans the Country Roads webcast [Applause] institutions what's going on Mountaineer Nation welcome in to episode 165 of the crw podcast we're excited we're ready it's Backyard Brawl week it's pit hate week and it's time for us to preview the Backyard Brawl talk about the matchups and provide our predictions here on this episode of The Country Roads webcast but before we get there let's kick this thing off the way we always like to with a little bit of mountaineer news [Applause] all right just going to lead off Mountaineer news here with a bit of an injury update as far as some people that were out last week in the game against Duquesne Justin Johnson will return for West Virginia on offense as will Devin Carter on defense Marcus Floyd is believed to make his return in this game make his season debut asani Redwood may also make his Mountaineer debut in this game along the defensive line as he is finally available to play according to head coach Neil Brown this week and potentially joining him and making his West Virginia debut could be E.J Horton at the wide receiver position on offense a player a lot of people have been excited about throughout the off-season due to the speed he could bring to the position for the malnir so look out for him on the field on Saturday additionally treyland Ray a true freshman wide receiver we heard a lot about through fall Camp was banged up didn't play against Duquesne West Virginia hopeful that he will play Saturday but he remains questionable at this point as does Oliver straw who had a sprained ankle on a punt against Duquesne Leighton bechdale finished the game for the Mountaineers in that one so hopefully the West Virginia punter after having a week to rehab will be able to go and punt against Pitt we'll keep an eye on that one as well moving forward and then lastly on the West Virginia Defense we continue to wait to hear more news about cornerback montre Miller but we do know that he will be out for now and from the sounds of it according to Neil Brown sounds like it could be out for some time moving forward on this season so seems like it may be a long-term injury there for Monterey Miller so wanted to update the injury news a little bit here in Mountaineer news additionally there is a basketball topic I wanted to cover briefly we had covered this on the Country Roads webcast in a live stream but I wanted to talk about it and cover it here on the podcast as well and that is of course West Virginia basketball completing their roster for the upcoming season with the addition of another big man a seven-footer who is joining the roster as a walk-on in Ali ragab he is coming over from Gannon University as as you see detailed in this article from Ethan Bach over on wvsportsnow.com seven footer originally a native of Egypt so he has a great frame seven foot 270 pounds for the Mountaineers to be able to work with also we'll have two years of Eligibility remaining coming to West Virginia as a junior really rounding out that front court that West Virginia needed to add some depth to that he can now provide to go along with Pat sumnick Quinn slosinski the St John's transfer and of course Jesse Edwards the big man from Syracuse and to cook a cook they transfer from Georgetown who are believed to be your two starters there in the front court so there's a little bit of an update West Virginia basketball wise let's switch back over and talk a little bit more football here in Mountaineer news before we close things out our final topic here in Mountaineer news that I wanted to cover of course was the fact that the kickoff time for West Virginia's fourth game of the 2023 season has now been announced over this past week and and that is of course the game against Texas Tech taking place in Morgantown the final game of West Virginia's three-game home stand here Pittsburgh coming up this weekend being the second West Virginia and Texas Tech will kick off at 3 30 p.m and that game is going to be on ESPN plus so mark your calendar September 23rd it'll be a 3 30 kickoff against the Red Raiders and you'll have to tune into ESPN plus if you want to watch that one and that will put a bow on our opening Mountaineer News segment here on season six episode 165 of the crw podcast and now it's time to dive in on our main segment the good stuff as we get set to preview the matchups between Pitt and West Virginia in this upcoming 106th edition of the Backyard Brawl and what will be one of the most anticipated games to hit Morgantown in quite some time gonna be an absolutely absurd Saturday night atmosphere up there at Mountaineer field can't wait to see it as I'm sure you guys can't either and I know you're ready to hear our keys to Victory and here are score predictions so with no further Ado let's get into it here as Brad and I preview the upcoming game between Pittsburgh and West Virginia in the third game of the 2023 WVU football season [Applause] all right Mountaineer Nation it's that time I mean you can almost feel it in the air this week it's pit week and here to help me talk about the 106th Backyard Brawl we're gonna break down the matchups give our key to Victory and provide our score predictions and then take a look around the Big 12 and pick some games there as well but joining me as always my crw co-host at Big bubbabrad crw what's going on Brad eat [ __ ] pit hey that's right you know it's that week exactly ain't nothing else that needs to be said man absolutely it's that time I'm so ready for it I'm just like looking I got tomorrow it's currently Wednesday and we're recording this I've got a long day tomorrow Thursday and then I start my Trek up to Princeton and then we're headed straight to Morgantown uh actually ready to Grafton on Friday and then headed to Morgantown on Saturday gonna be blue lot and all damn day uh beautiful gonna be a good time I need it bad a little little break away from work get up to Morgantown and just you know sir Cut Loose for a hot minute yeah I can't wait man you know just a little over 72 hours away I guess under now it's time that we're recording this but uh you know get up there and uh it's gonna be a great time man that's upset I can't wait to see what this atmosphere is gonna be like it's gonna be one of the most wild atmospheres in quite some time you know I think the last one that I can remember was 2011 LSU that's probably the last really really loud game that I can remember being to not that it hasn't got loud at times in between them but that game was just a whole nother level and I'm certainly expecting this game to hit that same level and maybe even surpass it yeah I think for me if I'm thinking like the rowdiest home game I've ever been to I went to the Texas game I think in 20 15. I'm I didn't really go to games until I went to college just for everybody uh my little background um didn't really have the chance and so like there's one Texas game that got pretty route up for I think the most anticipated I was ever at for a game that I went to other than the Backyard Brawl last year thinking about Milan pushkar Stadium um I think it was Oklahoma will Greer's second year so that's why 2017. oh yeah uh 18 18 yeah 2018. and Oklahoma came into Morgantown I think we we had just we were feeling good about something because if we won we were going to the big 12 title yeah that's what it was right it was gonna be crazy and I think that it dumped snow it just absolutely weather was atrocious and Not only was the weather atrocious but we got dogged on in the first half and like couldn't even come back if we're thinking about oh no that was uh that was the 2016 scholar team because yeah because that was the first I think they were both ranked in like the top ten and it was the first top ten matchup in Morgantown in like a long time okay because I don't know why I was thinking it was Will grip I knew I knew it was big I knew it was big game yeah yeah that's what it was I remember now yeah because when you said snow then it hit me because I remember that because they got up like it was like 28 7 or something because we started off muffin a punch and they jumped out and then finally we rallied back but yeah it was I remember watching the first half like oh man biggest game in a long time and we're just did not show up yeah absolutely so luckily we came back I felt like I was at in Morgantown and it just went really South so you know I'm hoping this game is going to be absolutely ecstatic but I think so I think so I overall I think I like the matchups more but we'll dive into them a little bit here um talking about those matchups but uh before we do just in regards to you know the Backyard Brawl kind of its history just everything involved there's a ton of story lines there already just with this rivalry but you know I wanted to talk a little bit about the magnitude of this game Brad and kind of get your perspective on things you've seen a lot of things come out in the media in regards to this game being you know very important for Neil Brown ultimately could be what his future at WVU hinges on and thus a lot of people are saying this season could hinge on that and then if you know Brown's tenure hinges on this game then the future of the West Virginia program in essence could hinge on this game as well so a lot of people are calling this the most important game for WVU football and you know close to a decade maybe what are your thoughts on how important this game is for WVU as a program and for Neil Brown himself off and his career if he wants to you know remain at WVU and try and get off that hot seat that he's on right now so approaching Neil Brown first I don't think it's a hot take to say that this is without a doubt the most important name of his career like undoubtedly like whether or not you have a job at the end of this if you lose a pit like I don't see a world which I've been blown away by WVU Athletics so far right but I just don't I can't imagine a world in which Neil Brown loses the pit twice has the record that he has there's no chance you absolutely this is the most must-win game I've ever seen in my life for a coach and it's there's no question about it and I'm not even hyperbolizing that in the least I agree but I think when it comes to like West Virginia University and like our football program I don't I think that this hurts I think that this is not great but if this was like six years ago you know in a world we lived in seven eight years ago where nil and transfer portal didn't exist this might be the nail in our coffin for a while you know but I think that West Virginia has the structure there I think that we have even though right now Gordon key in the University are going through some tumultuous times and change in University policies and cutting programs and being short on money but I think our football Collective football separating away from the academics whether people like it or not you know and the money's there to support the football group program if we're being honest and the structures there in place so I think that you know even if Neil Brown was removed from the situation I think that fans would rally around a new head coach if they were excited about it I mean obviously you go out and hire a dud that's gonna you know a no-name but we would put some thought into it and so I think that if they were to bring in a fresh face a new name I think the fan base is strong enough to stick around and I think that we've got the structure and the money to make us competitive in the new Big 12 you know we just gotta fire in the right pieces yeah it's great points right there I can't disagree with you I think that there's been multiple examples here in the past couple years that show that quick rebuilds are possible yeah so I don't know you know a loss I can't say a loss would be detrimental to the program necessarily maybe you know kick your back set you back for a year or so but I think that more so it would just be I guess really hurt the morale because you know a lot of people have talked about when Neil Brown was hired how much everyone lauded it as a home run National media local media otherwise and if you lose the pit I think everyone's kind of at that point accepting okay this is kind of the end of this this is probably going to be the last year so I think it might you know make the morale feel down make it make us feel down on ourselves a little bit just disappointed in the way things turned out as opposed to how we thought they would be with Neil Brown so I think the morale as a fan base would be low for a while but like you said I think the program could easily turn around but I completely agree that this this is certainly the biggest game of Neil Brown's time at West Virginia and you know like I said what his career could ultimately hinge on especially after the way last season went that's when a lot of people really they were kind of on the fence about him turned and have been against him ever since with the results of that game but you know you can talk about the fourth down and all that I don't want to get into that too much you know that's been discussed Ad nauseam at this point but having said that I think that Mike oste over at WV Sports now put out a great article talking about it all coming down to this pit game for Neil Brown and I completely agree with a lot of the points that he made in that article and um if you want to find Great West Virginia sports content you can find it there and he does a great job with it on wvsportsnow.com where you'll also find our show I'm here on the Country Roads webcast We Appreciate You tuning in to the video version there on our YouTube channel and hit the like button if you're in here doing that really helps this video's performance and future videos performances on the channel and be sure to subscribe if you're a West Virginia fan gets more of this Mountaineer Sports content out to me on your nation what's helps grows the West Virginia brand bigger and better which is the ultimate goal and of course we appreciate you guys that listen on the audio side anywhere that you find us Apple podcast Google podcast Spotify Amazon music I Heart Radio we appreciate that there leave us a rating and review that helps on that side as well but haven't said that Brad we've talked a little bit about the magnitude of this game we know it's the 106th edition of the Backyard Brawl first time pits coming to Morgantown since 2011 so over a decade now since we've seen this game played in Morgantown it's going to be a raucous environment rowdy crowd and it's also you know the first quote-unquote true night game in Morgantown since 2016. West Virginia's had some but they've been on weekdays as far as Saturday night with a post 7 30 kick this is the first one in seven years so that's just another reason this crowd's really going to be amped up so that's got to be an advantage for West Virginia but let's see what other advantages the Mountaineers may have let's talk a little bit about the matchups in this game Brad let's talk a little little bit about the pit offense going up against the West Virginia Defense because I think that that is the area that a lot of mountaineer fans are going to have their eyes on especially with the secondary struggles that West Virginia has had but in turn with that the pit passing offense really struggled last week and that loss to Cincinnati their new quarterback Boston College transfer Phil drakovic 10 of 32 in that game pit fans were not happy with him he was actually booed there in that home loss and let them know that he wasn't happy about that in the presser which he's probably going to hear it in Morgantown for sure but in the backfield they have some great backs and you know Pit's a run first team under offensive coordinator Frank signetti and then head coach Patton arduzzi there Rodney hambett I think is the main one he's a bulky guy then they have Daniel Carter who's actually currently leading them in rushing he's kind of similar build to CJ Donaldson 230 240 and they also have sibo flemister the Notre Dame transfer that can hurt you there as far as their pass catchers bub means has been the most targeted receiver for them but he only has a couple catches on the season I think you're going to look to see Canada month field get more involved in this game he's a really talented guy out there for them and then DeJean Reynolds a guy that transferred in from Florida has been involved as well and of course they have multiple tight ends that can hurt you we saw Bartholomew make plays in the game against them last year so watch out for Gavin Bartholomew on their offense and of course as far as the West Virginia Defense is concerned we saw what they've kind of brought to the table thus far this season the front seven been pretty strong the secondary been lacking at times but we also know and have heard from the coaching staff that the Mountaineers of implemented implemented some changes in coverage both how they're going to do things who they're going to play there and they didn't break those out against Duquesne kind of saved some things for Pittsburgh so having said that Brad do you think West Virginia has kept enough close to the vest that maybe they're going to surprise us with how they play defense against this Pittsburgh offense and how do you think they match up overall with this Pittsburgh team I I would love to Hope and think that um things are going to change our defense is just going to get it together and we've been holding things close to the vest that that would surprise me but I just don't I haven't seen it yet so I'm not going to be convinced of it you know what I mean I'm keeping the gold blue glasses off for now just because it's been an area of weakness for two years we brought in a bunch of guys over the summer and now we're down already again people are getting hurt and it's just you know um some people have shown up some people have been surprises but I'm not going to expect them to get it together this game if I'm being honest I just haven't seen our capacity to do that yet and so I just don't but that being said I do like our matchup and I think that when you look at the front seven they're really strong and I think that we've had a great run defense and so we were really good against Penn State who had a two top ten running backs you know what I mean and so you add in like that factor I think that we're gonna have a chance to stop them at what they're doing and so I I think that bodes well for us on that front and I think that our defense is strong enough to get it done I think our front seven is really that good and there's adding asani Redwood who I really really like I was I was wondering if you had heard about that yet that he's supposed to be expecting that yeah and I like that because West Virginia already has shown that you know to me why durajay the Kentucky transfer the red shirt freshman has really shown some pass rushing capabilities coming off the edge there two and a half sacks in the first two games for the Mountaineers and he's only played about 25 snaps so in my head I'm just picturing maybe a pass rushing package where you get duraget asani Redwood and Sean Martin all on the field together that would be scary in my in my opinion yeah absolutely and so you know but also again and I'm I'm going to keep harping on this because again it's me being critical of our coaches they say us on the Redwood could play this weekend and I if we're being honest we'll probably see like two snaps like literally yeah that is just what they've shown so far and it's so frustrating and like I want to hope that they're going to change it for the pit game because this is no Brown's most important game of his life like we already talked about right but can he do it can he actually make that job Neil Brown can you make the jump from year to year like come on well that's one thing I'm gonna be interested to see because there's a lot of guys we've heard about throughout this off season that we haven't really seen you know get involved a ton yet and I'm kind of wondering West Virginia well I'm I'm kind of wondering if we took a page out of Kansas's Playbook from last season because if you remember last season Kansas that before they played us in that second game of the season they didn't really showcase anything in that first game they played yeah yes component and so now I'm not saying that we could do that to the same extent where we had a power five opponent before our FCS opponent but I'm looking at it this way as far as we played Duquesne you know we didn't put a ton of different you know we were pretty vanilla for one but also look at our wide receiver position in that game we played Hudson clementiton we targeted him a good bit he ends up five catches 177 yards three touchdowns gets a scholarship after the game he's the story of the week so who's pit probably scouting a lot and looking for on film they're probably watching a ton of Hudson Clement game playing it against him maybe Devin Carter as well because that first performance against you know Penn State but you know who they're not game planning for trailing Ray E.J Horton to Sean Polk so maybe just maybe there's a little bit of a chess match going on you know prior to this pit game and I think that maybe there's some things that we have up Our Sleeve I don't know you know I'm I'm just saying that maybe it's golden blue glasses on maybe it's me wishful thinking but you know that's just something I've been thinking about leading up to this game that I think we might have some you know tricks up the sleeve I guess you know for lack of a better term well let me let me put it this way I think that our coaching staff is smart enough to do that right I think that they're like clever enough to be like oh we're gonna pull a Kansas did last year and then it's gonna flop because we're not gonna have like you know what I mean like that's just like how it's used to go We're not gonna have creative enough plays for him or something bro actually our guys like are just not that crisp right now like it's the same thing five years in a row you know what I mean because it feels like no Brown's done that he's been like the creative guy he's like done something you know this game plan the analytics following this and then the Jimmy's and Joe's just aren't there you know what I mean or they're just like the coaching's bad and the fundamentals are poor if if it's going to be that then it needs to be that this game too you know what I mean like it has to be like that's where we talk about it could be a new Brown's most important game like if that scenario that you're talking about is like ideal that's like beautiful that's what I want my coaching staff to be but like if it's going to be that then it's got to be that now you know what I mean like there is no hiding it it's either that or it's nothing and like that's scary but there are things I think to make you hopeful um as far as the match up with this West Virginia offense and the pit defense mainly uh pits Rush defense has not shown you know the to be up to the normal I guess pit standard you could say um that Pittsburgh defensive line you know they kind of Pride themselves on that front they've led the nation in sacks I believe three years in a row are being top two at least the three years past three years I know they led the nation in sacks last year so far this season haven't graded out that well on run defense or rushing offense uh for that matter so I think you know as far as the Mountaineers going up against the Pittsburgh defense that's another thing that maybe that you know they know a lot about CJ Donaldson they're going to game plan for him but how much do they know about jaheem white Jalen Anderson Justin Johnson didn't play last week as well I'm sure they got a film on Justin Johnson but Jalen Anderson only has you know nine or ten carries this year so they got a little bit of film on him from last year they got a little bit of film on Jaheim White against Duquesne but the only ran and I think one or two different plays for jihim White against Duquesne so I'm sure there's more in the back for him as well yeah absolutely and I think that that's going to be an exciting matchup I think our offense is definitely going to look better in general I think that they're getting more cohesive as they get playing time together and I think that's nice to see and I know I got a little bit of ahead of us there switching over to the West Virginia offense but I wanted to bring that up when we were talking about you know secret weapons when we got brought up a sunny Redwood because I know if I didn't bring it up then I would have uh it would have slipped my mind but as far as the West Virginia defense against this Pittsburgh offense who would you give the advantage to ultimately there from what you've seen thus far over these two games this season yeah I'm gonna give it to our defense and like I said I I expect the back end to not be great but I think that we're going to be better at stopping them doing what they like to do and I think that our linebackers have been very impressive so far I think that they've really exceeded expectations and so you know that gives me a lot of um hope for this defense yet yeah I would agree with you I think for me though this game is going to be a good barometer because like I said we've seen that the Pittsburgh passing game has struggled uh thus far this season and West Virginia has done a great job stopping the run so it's likely that West Virginia will you know probably do a good job stopping the run again against Pittsburgh so to me what this game is going to go to show is has West Virginia's secondary improved any at all from last season have they improved you know from the first two games of the Season till now because with what the Pittsburgh passing offense has shown if they come out and throw for you know 250 300 yards High completion percentage then I'm putting that on our secondary more than anything because it especially coming off a game where you just went you know 10 of 32 so I think that this game is going to show us a lot of where our secondary is at right now currently and I'm hoping that they show some improvements in those adjustments they made pay off but I think overall West Virginia's defense does have the advantage because of our front seven and how well our run defense is played and how much the Pittsburgh offensive line is surprisingly struggled overall yeah absolutely and then let's flip it over a little bit we you know kind of gave you a sneak peek there but let's talk about the West Virginia offense against the Pittsburgh defense should be a good match up here on this side as well Pittsburgh really has some standout players on that defensive side uh the defensive backfield remains strong they're going to get up in the in your face there on the receivers press man be very physical on you on the outside with those Corners we know MJ Devonshire will forever live in infamy in the minds of malnir nation following the pick six to close the game last season it wasn't enough that he spurned Us in recruiting and went to Pitt then he had to do that as well but he's back again for the Panthers this year then uh Bengali Kamara I think is going to be a very good linebacker right there in the Middle East or places of ossier Dennis who was very good for them last season and then past Russian wise day on Hayes is very good coming off the edge for them and like I said Pittsburgh usually is known to have a very strong defensive line uh they gave up some things last week Cincinnati actually had 180 yards rushing in the first half but they cleaned that up in the second half and I think now having some things on film to diagnose we'll probably see a better Pittsburgh run defense certainly than what they put on tape against Cincinnati but we know West Virginia's strength on offense is going to be the Run game so that appears to be a good matchup for the mountain players at this point then you just gotta look to the passing game we spot we talked about it a little bit with some of the receivers that West Virginia is going to get back for this game Devin Carter expected back Trail and Ray hopeful that he'll be back E.J Horton probably is going to make his season debut so you got some guys to get involved there gear green looked better passing the ball in week two than he did in week one but I'm assuming that Pittsburgh game plan is probably going to be to load the box like I said man up the corners and dare us to beat them throwing the football so I think West Virginia's passing game is going to be tested here but what do you think about this matchup against the Pittsburgh defense for this West Virginia offense that's coming off a performance in which they just put up 600 plus yards yeah I I think the potential is there I think the potential is high I I have more faith in our offense getting it together and being able to like get some kind of game plan together um to make it work I'm going to be looking at who do I think is calling plays right because there's a little bit of that something there that you know a little bit something there where it's coach Scott started calling the place after the break or in the second half you know and it's a little inkling that you got back there and it's like you know what if um just like something if I notice it you know what I mean and I I'm really going to be looking at does it you think you know playing Hudson Clement and Duquesne could be a distraction away from Devin Carter Etc I I think it's impressive what he did you know what I mean and I sent you guys in the chat the other day that Neil dropped the other day that he ran a 22.7 on the GPS guys that's insane that is like kids shoot for being in the 21 Club and that's like exciting for them they're like oh I'm in the 21 club like I'm an elite level of speed 21 gun this guy is Bree like right right there like I'm sure it takes a lot of strides to get to 23 but he is 22.7 that's I mean he's top two top three top two fastest receivers on the team and probably top five fastest players on the team with that type of speed absolutely I I mean up there and so put him out there man like that's one of Neil Brown's cruxes has been like not even trying them seeing Preston Fox do something and then we don't see him for another year and a half you know until this year and it's just you know that's that Neil Brown afraid to play the young guy afraid to try him out test them out it could be a distraction but man why not six foot one he's got a little bit of weight on him just put him out there see what the hell he can do you know what I mean like if nothing else is like working try them don't don't be don't beat a dead horse right and like it's got to be again it's got to be this game if you're gonna try to try it like you can't you can't go out there and be losing and not try to change things up yeah I think and I'm hoping so anyways it certainly seems that way from the outside looking in that no Brown learned a lot of valuable lessons in last year's matchup I feel like especially as much as he's been harped on about that fourth down not going forward I'm sure he's heard about that a million times since then and I think he knows how important this game is to Mountaineer Nation to the fans so I certainly hope and expect him to pull out all the stops in this game but we'll see what happens but I do like the fact of West Virginia having players that have been around this program for a while and know what this means especially I'm thinking with the leaders like Garrett green he really has been around this program you know the entire Neil Brown era essentially he knows a lot about West Virginia now you've heard him even saying his uh press conference that he likes to consider that he grew up in West Virginia this is where he became a man even though he was born in Florida and so I think he probably takes a lot of pride in this game and wants to win this game pretty badly and then you know you look on the other side where you know Djokovic for Pitt is you know from the area but he's never really been around the Rivalry up close yet this is going to be kind of his first taste of it up close and in person and you know being in Morgantown it's going to be rabid but it's nothing that our team I don't think is going to be surprised by but he very well may be you know at first it may be a little bit of shot going on there so I like that a little bit of advantage for us uh there as well but speaking of Garrett green what are you looking at for him in this game do you think that having the added extra element of his running ability could really hurt Pittsburgh because that's something we didn't see last year he didn't get into the game any in that first matchup which we know Pitt ultimately won 38-31 but Garrett green having him in there like I mentioned earlier Pittsburgh's a very attacking defense like I said they're going to come at you but they're also going to be man-to-man a lot on the outside and the thing is if they're man-to-man on the outside and they're not keeping a spy or even if they are keeping a linebacker as a spy we've seen Garrett green make that guy Miss outrun him but man-to-man on the outside means to me if Garrett green breaks containment there's not going to be a lot of eyes on him he could get you know 10 15 yards downfield against that man-to-man coverage so this could be a game I think where Garrett green scrambling ability and ability to make things happen on an improvisational level really you know his ability to improvise could really help West Virginia in this game I think he could be a Difference Maker what do you think yeah he's definitely gonna have his moment to shine you know what I mean and I love what you're talking about where he's been in the program the whole time and like you said he's got a deep love for West Virginia and so I think that can only help us out tremendously honestly and I think he's going to give it his all and haven't been able to run he's a lead athlete so definitely definitely couldn't hurt for me it's just I'm looking more for him to have that it Factor you know what I mean and that's just like what our program's like for a hot minute and I think he's got it in Spades he's just got to turn that on and so I think getting a few yards under his belt running and getting comfortable and making the defense cheat up a little bit and then being able to kind of get the throwing game going which I'm sure we're going to talk about that in a minute but you know just talk about Garrett green when I'm wanting to see from him it's just get your confidence young man you're a hell of a ball player and when you believe in yourself and you go out there and play like it I think you're going to be killer yeah I agree because I'm glad you brought that up and I want to transition right into that uh passing game and talk a little bit more about Garrett green because you know for the deficiencies that we've seen at times this season it seems like a lot of his you know quote-unquote layups he's been missing is what Neil Brown has been calling him it's been sometimes in the short intermediate throws but his accuracy on deep balls has been phenomenal thus far this season even the ones that he's missed a lot of those have been catchable and right there where the wide receiver can get them and you know even looking on PFF you can arrange it by uh the rating by you know distance of Target and his 20 plus yard throws have the by far the highest rating for Garrett green and so I think that that could bode well as a recipe for West Virginia especially if we're talking about you know a pit defense that if West Virginia starts running the football is going to load the box and may try and load the Box anyways with how West Virginia ran the ball against them last season you know Pittsburgh's a defense that finished top 10 on the a country in rushing defense last year in West Virginia ran for nearly 200 yards of them I think it ended up being 190 but they're certainly not going to be surprised by CJ Donaldson they're going to be trying to stop the West Virginia running game if they do that I think this is going to be an opportunity for us to see you know we talked about Hudson Clement speed maybe him maybe Trail and Ray and the guy I'm looking at you know my bullet prediction I made you know I think I made this week ago now when I heard he's probably making his debut in this game is I think EJ Horton makes a big play for West Virginia in this game so I think that West Virginia especially if they can establish the run a little bit and really get pit creeping up uh play action over the top can be a weapon in this game as well with how good Garrett greens learned the Deep ball and how West Virginia has some Speedy receivers coming back and getting involved in this game or at least are expected to Saturday night yeah and it's like I felt like those stories to Hudson Clement like they they were well timed throws and that doesn't matter who you're playing against you know what I mean like you can kind of create those classes and then the least little bit slacking in the defense or if defense says it's done chew off the Jump like that play is always going to be there and so it like you said forget the Run game going and just that allows us to get The Passing game if we can establish a pass whatsoever the game's over if we can establish a passing game in general like we've got a like a much better chance at the season you know and so if it takes running the ball for 150 yards before we can do it then as long as we can do it you know yeah I agree with you I think that's going to be the difference because you know we're talking about the matchups here and I think if I'm looking at the offensive side to me I can't say West Virginia has an advantage but I can't really say Pitt has an advantage either because when I'm looking at West Virginia's offense versus Pittsburgh's defense I think rushing offense I would give the advantage to West Virginia but I think passing the match up I would probably give the advantage to Pittsburgh there because I'm not sure how West Virginia is going to fare against that man-to-man physical press coverage uh we saw them struggle to get separation at times last season hopefully this year they're a little bit better at it but we'll see so I think all in all this matchup for me is a wash what about you so then I would turn around and ask you how do you feel like our line compares to their line if it comes down to you know Run game did I like our offensive line I do I think that our offensive line against their defensive line is a good matchup for us mainly because uh pit I think their strength is a lot on the edges I think they're a very fast defense so maybe our stretch plays our outside zones might not work as much in this game but unless they've corrected it a ton which I don't know how much you could correct it in a week's time if you go back and watch last week's game against Cincinnati a lot of Cincinnati's very successful runs they had in that game were coming directly behind the center right up the gut so that appears to be the weakness of the Pittsburgh defense right there up the gut and if we're talking up the gut we're talking about coming behind the center and I think West Virginia has arguably the best center in all of college football so give me Advantage Mountaineers there in the trenches on on this offensive defense matchup yeah definitely I I have a lot of faith in our linemen but mostly the one thing I'm going to give us is their Mountaineers baby you know they're they're you know golden blue boys they understand what it is and there about it and I think that we're going to probably see the best game from our offensive lineman that we might see even this year yeah that's awesome great point three West Virginia natives along that offensive front it's going to mean a lot to them they're going to want this one bad that's awesome Can't Fail to take that into account so we've talked a little bit about the matchups here Brad now let's get into the fun stuff here key to Victory and score prediction let's run key to Victory first what's your key to victory for West Virginia getting the Revenge that they so deserve on these Pittsburgh Panthers sending them home sad as they travel back up I-79 to Pittsburgh back there to Heinz Field slash aquifer Stadium how are they going to handle my nail what's the key for the Mountaineers to emerge Victorious and the 106th Backyard Brawl Saturday night in Morgantown Neil Brown It's You you're gonna be the key to this win either you have grown you have changed you've got a whole team that you built you've got every Foundation you could have asked for your team your time make it your Morgantown get you guys ready go into this game and [ __ ] win that's awesome I love it it is it is this is 100 percent this is his moment make or break right here I think he's either going to get some people back on his side cool off his seat or the temperature is going to be hotter than it ever has been and it could all be over for Neil Brown here so certainly a great pick there for key to Victory um as for mine here I think that we went over it a little bit here when we talked about the matchups it's passing offense and passing defense I think you know we talked about it if West Virginia's able to pass the ball on offense love their chances in this matchup but I think in the same goes with the other side of the football the secondary is the question mark of this West Virginia Defense for what looks like the second consecutive season they've said they've made some changes there they said they're going to play tighter they said they're going to play some different people even let's see what they do there let's see if that Rings true and see if we see improvements if we do in West Virginia is able to you know continue to keep that pit passing offense looking like it did last week against Cincinnati then I think West Virginia stands an excellent chance to win this game and win it I don't want to say easily but I think that you know I like this matchup for West Virginia a lot more than I did last season uh when they met but that's the thing with these rivalry games so you can be the absolute 100 favorite on paper doesn't matter throw it all out the window in these rivalry games Pitt's gonna come ready to play they're going to be pissed off after losing the Cincinnati as well so I think West Virginia is certainly going to get their best shot so we're going to need that secondary to be good we're going to need Garrett green to be on and we're gonna need those Speedy receivers to show up on the outside as well so passing offense and passing defense are my key to West Virginia securing a victory in this one but haven't said that Brad do you think they'll be able to do just that does West Virginia get that revenge over Pittsburgh and send a packing with a nail on Saturday night 28-24 good guys Good Guys full seven right on it's gonna be a crazy one it's gonna be serious man it is man I can't wait that's why I was texting somebody the other day because we were I was talking you know telling them like how important this game is how excited I am how this atmosphere is going to be and I was like literally once it hit Sunday once a Duquesne game wrapped up it the calendar turned to Sunday I started getting nervous for this game already because it's just so much on the line I'm so excited for it but I'm right there with you I think West Virginia is going to win this game I hear a lot of people talk about it being low scoring could even be like a race to 20 points I don't know about that but I do think it has the possibility of shaping up that way but you know I think I've kind of tipped my hand a little bit here to which way I'm leaning when I've talked about these matchups and obviously sometimes I've been known to wear gold and blue glasses a time or two and maybe I am again but I've just got a good feeling about this one so I'm going to go West Virginia 27 Pittsburgh 13. two score win man I think uh I would love that I would love for the anxiety to be off I would love for the stress to not be there if given the chance I hope Neil runs it up oh yeah I would um right there chef's kiss absolutely but we're super excited for it 106th backyard we're all coming up can't wait it's going to be a fun one can't wait to talk about it with you guys following the game be on the lookout for our review podcast where we're hopefully discussing a West Virginia win in this rivalry but either way this is going to be a really fun one Saturday night looking forward to it tune in to ABC 7 30 p.m Saturday night to watch this game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia Mountaineers given our thoughts there key to Victory and score predictions Brad what do you say we take a look around the big 12. [Applause] all right to close things out here on season six episode 165 of the crw podcast really appreciate you guys tuning in here for this one to our Backyard Brawl preview and predictions episode I want to close it out by taking a look around the conference got a full Saturday slate of action including a Big 12 Conference matchup this week that we're going to have as our game of the week for our final picks here but me and Brad are just going to run down these games real quick and each give our pick for who we think is going to win these Big 12 Conference games this week and we'll kick it off with Kansas State in Missouri playing at Missouri noon kick there that's going to be on the SEC network um who do you like in this one Brad Kansas State's good Missouri is bad I think Kansas State's going to win this one with a pretty good score margin can't argue with that logic Kansas State certainly looks like one of the top tier Big 12 teams this season I think they go in there and hand on SEC opponent as well I like Kansas State too Iowa State uh coming off the loss in the cyhawk robbery good game there they're traveling on the road actually to take on a group of five opponent that West Virginia will play here in the coming seasons in the Ohio Bobcats that also is a noon kick on ESPNU there I'm gonna ride with the Cyclones here Brad what are you thinking um my best friend's wife Elena she's from uh she went to Miami Ohio or sorry Ohio Bobcats and uh yeah I think Ohio State loses okay yeah I'm gonna give it to the Bobcats man I like it pulling for the upset they're pulling for the upset you know they're going to be excited I'm sure with the power five team coming in they're playing in Athens Ohio yeah you never know you never know I like it I like the upset pick uh then we get Long Island traveling to Waco to take on Baylor Baylor started this season owing to in desperate need of a win after watching West Virginia play Long Island I certainly think uh Baylor has nothing to worry about this week they'll get the win there at noon on ESPN plus uh what do you think Brad I think they'll get the win but I don't think it's going to be as impressive as they think yeah they better hope that they show something because they've ran the seats starting to get a little worn there unfortunately as well moving on along here uh Oklahoma traveling to take on Tulsa so we got another uh Big 12 team traveling to a group of five team on the road there that one's going to be at 3 30 on ESPN2 I'm gonna ride with the Sooners I like what they've shown so far this season uh Bradley you picking another upset or you think Oklahoma gets it this time nah it's going to be Oklahoma for me Fam yeah gotta be gotta be Sooners look improved this season uh next up we got a big 12 newcomer in action Villanova heads down to the Bounce House in Orlando there to take on UCF 6 30 kick there on ESPN plus Brad who you got in this one yeah Villanova's about to get bounced up out of that house I see what you did there I like it you know I don't think I've picked against UCF hardly any this season I'm not going to start now um Gus malls on fan I feel like I say that every time I talk about UCF but hey I like the guy so I got to bring it up I think that they get it done I think they're going to be without John Reese plumly if I'm not mistaken but either way I think that they've still got the horses to beat Villanova I'm Ron with UCF as well then we get South Alabama traveling to Oklahoma State playing in Stillwater also on ESPN plus that's going to kick at 7 p.m Oklahoma State played three quarterbacks in both of their first two games got a bit of a carousel going there but you know Mike Gundy found a way to win against the power five opponent last week in Arizona State so I certainly think they get the win over South Alabama what do you have in that one yeah I'm not going to bet against Michael Gundy never bet against Gandhi next up we got Texas Tech taking on Tarleton State in Lubbock another seven o'clock kick on ESPN plus I'm riding with the Red Raiders here to get uh on the win inside this for the first time this season yeah it's a that's a chocolate lab on that pizza Dub yep dubsky there for the Red Raiders and then we got Miami of Ohio traveling to Cincinnati but if an in-state match up there seven o'clock kicking that one as well also on ESPN plus I'm gonna ride with the Bearcats you know early in the season I had them projected as one of the lower tier Big 12 teams but after what they showed against Pittsburgh I think they actually look like they're going to maybe make some noise and maybe be one of the better new additions to the Big 12 Conference out of these four new teams that have joined the conference this year I think I like what Cincinnati's showing their defensive line looks really good I think they have two or two or three guys at the nose tackle position that are 330 plus pounds so their defensive line looks really Stout I'm getting them to get the win over Miami Ohio here Bradley William thinking on that one yep I'm taking the team from Ohio [Laughter] team from Ohio coming out on top absolutely but uh we talked about the Backyard Brawl we're rolling with the Mountaineers in this one uh be sure to let us know your picks for the West Virginia Pittsburgh game down in the comments below and give us a good old eat [ __ ] pit give it give us some chip hit in the comments yeah throw any chip hit in the comments as well Gotta Have It I've been getting everybody from my work to say it because I'm down in Charlotte now so like a lot of people don't know and so um you got to teach them get them on the West Virginia side of things there uh the next up we'll have a BYU traveling to take on an SCC opponent Arkansas we talked about the Big 12 newcomers BYU is another one there traveling to take on an SEC opponent tough match up there 7 30 kick at Arkansas that's going to be on ESPN too I think Arkansas is going to manage to uh defeat BYU there um what's your pick though Brad give me the bacon okay yeah right there pick Suey baby and then we got Wyoming traveling to take on Texas we've seen Wyoming upset a big 12 team already once this season but Texas sure is Riding High beating Alabama that's going to kick at 8 o'clock P.M on the Longhorn Network not picking against Texas right now they certainly looked apart this season yeah horns down but definitely not gonna lose this one Wyoming's playing on the Longhorn Network that's embarrassing it is isn't it sheesh well then we'll go uh we'll skip the next one like I said that's gonna be our game of the week this week so we'll go down here Kansas versus Nevada late kick there Kansas traveling out west coast Reno to take on Nevada for a 10 30 p.m Eastern Time kick on CBS Sports Network there I really like The Jayhawks they got Jalen Daniels back he looks just as good as last season if not even improved in his first debut action last week I think they're going to go out there and get the win over Nevada what about you Brad yeah I'll be asleep but rock Rock Chalk Jayhawk baby they're definitely going to win that one game of the week though we got a Big 12 Conference match up first one of the Season here TCU taking on one of the big 12 newcomers the fighting Dana holgerson's over there at Houston game taking place in Houston Dana holgerson could certainly deserve a get right win struggling a little bit right now after that upset loss they suffered to rice and double overtime last week Houston defense looks to be struggling again eight o'clock kick on that one it's going to be televised on Fox um um I'm 50 50 but I'm gonna go TCU I think you know Houston's gonna be hungry uh it's probably going to be a good game but I think with Houston's defense TCU is going to be able to score enough and they'll probably win in a shootout I'm going to TCU uh see I'm thinking shootout too but I'm thinking Houston I think that you know Dana gets them together a little bit even though I think tcu's might be a better team I just think that Daniel holberson knows how to win a shootout so I uh I'm taking a whole person in the shootout not a bad pick I don't blame you I think you could certainly go uh either way in that one definitely that's uh what we got as far as Big 12 action uh this week running through the Slate there the game of the week outside of the Mountaineers we got TCU in Houston but I think there are not very many games coming up on the Slate this week in all of college football that will match this Backyard Brawl coming up I think it's going to be an amazing atmosphere we've went over that but I think it's going to have awesome television ratings as well so if you're not getting a chance to go to Morgantown be sure to tune in on ABC it's going to be a fun one super excited but having said that Brad we've talked about the matchups key to Victory gave our predictions for this one and looked around the conference at some other action coming up in week three any other thoughts anything you want to touch on here before we wrap up on episode 165 here of the crw podcast Country Roads hopefully we're singing it Saturday night man hopefully we're singing it Saturday night dude if I if we don't win man I I told my work I said don't don't talk to me for the next week oh I'm right there it's gonna be yeah it's gonna be bad that's gonna be a tough one to swallow it's gonna be a tough one to swallow for sure but I'm ready I mean like I said I've been nervous already anxious excited adrenaline already running I feel like you know Saturday I'm gonna be playing that Philip Phil Collins all day I can feel it coming in the air tonight you gotta hit that drum solo Oh Yeah yeah it's gonna be one of those man it's gonna be one of those guys get ready for a special atmosphere in Morgantown we've missed night games in Morgantown special time special place where Mountaineer magic can happen and hopefully we get to see some more of it happen coming up this Saturday night September 16th be there if you're not in the bleachers there at Mountaineer field be there on your couch with your TV tuned into ABC or your radio tuned into the Mountaineer Sports Network because I think we're going to be in for a fun one and hopefully it's a mountaineer Victory either way we'll be back here afterwards to talk about it with you guys with episode 166 our Backyard Brawl review and reactions episode so be on the lookout for that coming out in the next few days following the game and appreciate you guys tuning in here in the meantime to episode 165 whether you tuned in on the Country Roads webcast YouTube channel or on the WV Sports now channel as you can find our show on the web at wvsportsnow.com be sure to hit the like button before you head out subscribe it helps us helps you helps get more of this Mountaineer Sports content out to Mountaineer Nation give Brad a follow on Twitter at Big bubbabrad crw you can follow the podcast on Twitter X as well at WVU Country Roads check us out on any podcast platform if you like the audio version as I said earlier just hit us up there Country Roads webcast and you can find us we appreciate a rate and review on that side having said that that's going to wrap us up here on this episode of the crw podcast we're looking forward to a mountaineer Victory coming up Saturday night in the return of the Rivalry to Morgantown gonna be a fun one as the 2023 West Virginia football season rolls on for my co-host Bradley as always I'm Jordan Cruz and until next time let's go Mountain news [Music] country [Music]

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