The New View | Mitch Vingle

When Memphis’ Elijah Herring intercepted a Garrett Greene pass and the Tigers ran out the clock late in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, it was a wrap for the WVU football season.
So (yes, since it’s Christmastime), it’s time to put a bow on both the Mountaineer season and the Neal Brown era.
As for the former WVU coach, well, it was time for a new direction. Every Mountaineer fan could feel it after the regular season finale, a 52-15 blowout at the hands of Texas Tech. It was nice some of the WVU players wore the “Neal Breezy” T-shirts at the bowl in support, but most saw this coming from the Aug. 31 loss to Penn State, the 38-34 loss to Pitt until the very end.
As I’ve told friends, there should be no animosity toward Brown. Great guy. Hard worker. Great with the media. Great representative of the university. It just didn’t work out. End of story.
I remember once talking to Buckhannon native Chris Wallace, who was the general manager of both the Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies. He spoke of the carousel of coaches and players on teams. In the end, he said, it’s entertainment. Fans get tired of the same cast. Change is welcomed.
That’s certainly the case here. John Lowe of Gold and Blue Nation pointed out this was the fourth seven-loss season in a six-year span – a first in program history.
And this team? A glance at the stats will tell you all you need to know.
Rushing offense? 27th nationally at 195.1 yards per game.
And it just goes downhill from there.
Passing? No. 87 at 210.3
Overall offense: No. 52.
As for the defense, shield your eyes. In rush defense, WVU was 58th, allowing 144.5 yards a game.
In passing defense, it was No. 125, allowing 270.8 per game. (There are only 134 FBS schools.)
Overall defense? No. 111.
So, yeah, not a pretty package. For me, the highlight of the season was Wyatt Milum’s recognition as one of the nation’s top offensive linemen (and possible first-round NFL draft pick), Greene’s feistiness and, I don’t know, maybe the away beatdown of Oklahoma State and victory at Arizona.
Of course, now there’s a ray of hope. Or, a Rich of hope, if you will. AD Wren Baker went to the Way Back Machine and grabbed Rich Rodriguez, who once brought Mountaineer Nation glory – and a heartbreak like no other.
I was in the middle of the Rich Rod years, covering WVU for the then-Charleston Gazette as a columnist alongside beat writer Dave Hickman. We also broke stories of his not-good departure.
Yet I’m inclined to think the hire was a good one. Probably the best option for Baker. Rich Rod has a “name” a la Bob Huggins back in the day. That worked well for a long time until it didn’t. Also, Rodriguez has support from media mogul Pat McAfee, who has been shining the TV lights on the coach, and Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick. The former players all seem on the bandwagon as well.
Now we’ll see if there are some nice recruiting presents to be unwrapped during the holiday season. The hope is all the exposure from McAfee, etc., pays off in the form of elevated recruiting. Forget sugar plums, thoughts of Sugar Bowls are dancing in our heads.
WVU fans are not only filled with the Christmas spirit but, once again, hope. As always, time will tell.
Whatever the case there, though, please have a Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year’s!
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.

When I read that Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark was stumping for his league’s football champion to receiver a first-round College Football Playoff bye last week, I had to shake my head.
“The committee continues to show time and time again they are paying attention to logos versus resumes,” he said.
It smacked of desperation.
As we know now, the champion, Arizona State, did receive the desired bye. But in a college football world now solidly dominated by the Southeastern and Big Ten conferences, you can feel the distress.
“The one thing I am concerned about, candidly, is I need to better understand what the key metrics are being used with the rankings each week,” Yormark said of the CFP. “Strength of schedule was something identified early in the fall as a very, very critically important metric – and I’m not sure that has happened to date.”
He’s a fighter, we know. With a diverse background in sports and entertainment, he single-handedly saved the Big 12 by jumping the line and agreeing to terms on a new media rights deal with ESPN and Fox. His move sunk the Pac-12 and expanded the Big 12 to 16 schools. He’s served up many ideas, like partnering with the WWE, etc.
But Yormark’s biggest challenge, now that the league has been saved, is bolstering the talent within the football league. You watch the SEC. You watch the Big Ten. You watch the Big 12. The last – as well as the ACC – doesn’t compare to the first two across the board.
Yormark has to help. The Big 12 has to stay at least within shouting distance of the Big Two conferences talent-wise. And we all know what that’s going to take: more money.
Thankfully, he’s had a solution in mind for a while now: working with private equity. A firm, for instance, could invest close to $1 billion into the league. The Big 12 needs to stay competitive in the new Name, Image and Likeness world and so far, the talent gap is only widening.
Yormark and the Big 12 need to act now. And now is the time because of the House v. NCAA settlement that opened the door to the influence.
For the first time in history, the NFL has allowed private equity firms to buy into league ownership. Check out the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.
Now, the Big 12 must jump as it did with the media rights deal. The SEC and Big Ten are already taking 58 percent of the CFP media revenue. It’s time for Yormark and the schools to move.
Of course, there are terms to examine, and risks involved. But Yormak and the schools have to do SOMETHING. It was good to read YahooSports’ Ross Dellenger tweeting on Wednesday, “Sign of the times here in Las Vegas. Big 12 held AD meetings here that featured presentations from several big brands, including Verizon, PayPal and New Era, related to revenue-generating partnerships & commercial deals.”
On the (sort of) flip side, CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello tweeted this on Wednesday:
“NCAA prez Charlie Baker on private equity in college sports: ‘What the schools really have to figure out …: How does that relate to their donor and booster community? Are donors going to write big checks to schools if a piece of that is going to go back to private equity?’”
That reads like hesitation. That reads like an opportunity for the Big 12.
I know from talking to at least one higher-up at WVU there’s hesitation on private equity. But, man, just watch and compare the leagues, look at the NFL drafts, check the top 100, 200, 300 mock drafts to see the disparity in talent.
It’s time for the Big 12 to act. Yes, the other leagues may then act too.
But it certainly wouldn’t hurt to get a head start once again.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.

As a West Virginian, I always try to be a friendly, helpful guy. I hold open doors. I say hello on the street. And if you need help moving, hey, I’ll help you find someone.
So, consider this a helping hand for WVU athletic director Wren Baker. He’s tasked with finding the next Mountaineer football coach. And since I spent 38 years covering WVU before joining America’s marketing agency Wheelhouse Creative, I saw what worked and what didn’t regarding the program.
You must learn from the past, right?
So, I put together this de facto blueprint of the perfect WVU candidate/coach for Wren. (You sir are very welcome.)

• Find a coach who can recruit and be a quarterback whisperer. That’s true at any school, but especially WVU. Consider when Don Nehlen jump-started the Mountaineer program: Oliver Luck and Jeff Hostetler, both future NFL QBs. He had Marc Bulger, an NFL quarterback. Bill Stewart and then Dana Holgorsen had success with Geno Smith, now leading the Seattle Seahawks. There was Will Grier. Yet perhaps the most success came from running quarterbacks, Major Harris (national championship game) and even Darren Studstill (who, rotating with Jake Kelchner, led the team to an undefeated regular season) with Nehlen and Pat White (four bowl victories) with Rich Rodriguez.
• This is a MUST. He absolutely, positively must embrace pepperoni rolls, our state food (it really is officially the state food, if you missed the announcement).
• He should have a unique offensive philosophy because of the state’s small recruiting base. Rodriguez offset the disadvantage with the no-huddle, spread offense, born out of Mouse Davis’ Run and Shoot. Dana Holgorsen had early success at WVU with the Air Raid. Just be different.
• Learns how to say the town of “Hurricane” and spell “Colasessano’s.”
• Has adaptability, flexibility. Nehlen had the most success when he moved from drop-back passers Browning Nagle and Mike Timko to Major Harris. The coach and QB both knew how to scramble. Rodriguez flexed by not only using Pat White and Steve Slaton but fullback Owen Schmitt. Bill Stewart and Dana Holgorsen used Tavon Austin as a wide receiver, runner, punt returner, kick returner, you name it. Be flexible, innovative.
• A southern drawl, by the way, is a plus. Just make sure it’s not too southern. (See Bobby Bowden and that hung in effigy ordeal.)
• Ability to spot and develop “projects.” This is huge. Nehlen was the master of that. Consider the paths of players like Bulger, Darryl Talley, Renaldo Turnbull, John Browning, Chris Henry, Anthony Becht, Mike Fox, Mike Compton, John Thornton and Barrett Green. Important: Have the strength to guide and hone unbridled talent like Pac-Man Jones, Jerry Porter, Reggie Rembert and Bruce Irvin.
• Definitely, definitely, definitely know all the words to “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
• Have serious connections and be able to recruit West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. Perhaps NIL and the transfer portal have made that less of a necessity but considering the prices for top-shelf players and WVU’s coffers perhaps not. Prioritizing those areas for young (and junior college) talent more than other Power Four schools will always be a path for the Mountaineers.
• Say “y’all” a lot.
• Know how to find fast guys. See Austin, Tavon and Devine, Noel.
• Have the ability to spell Monongahela and Monongalia and know the difference between the two.
• Be able to spot and secure the line talent that does come through the Mountain State. Signing guys like Rich Braham, Zach Frazier, Dante Stills and Wyatt Milum are top priorities. It’s inexcusable to let a guy like Darnell Wright escape (thanks Dana!) as he did to Tennessee. The man is now starting for the Chicago Bears.
• Have a Walmart Plus membership and learn how to explain West Virginia with a bird flip hand map.
• Little known point of success: Be kicker keen. WVU has had great success with kickers and punters. Kids, look up Todd Sauerbrun. Look up Paul Woodside, Mike Vanderjagt (aka known in NFL lore as that “idiot kicker,” according to Peyton Manning.) Oh, and there was that Pat McAfee guy. (Wonder whatever happened to him…)
• Know that “creek” and “crick” are interchangeable.
• Can sell recruits on the fact they can visit Booger Hole, Left Hand, Looneyville and/or Big Ugly, WV.
• Oh, and understand the real No. 1 selling point of the Mountain State comes down to two words:
Yann dogs.

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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.

In this Thanksgiving season, some college athletes have much for which to be thankful.
You see, there’s about to be financial gravy on their plates.
It just may be hard for traditional college sports fans to stomach.
Beginning today, Tuesday, Nov. 26, eight men’s basketball teams will be eligible for a total of $9 million in Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) money via the Players Era Festival, according to a Daniel Libit story on Yahoo! Sports.
It’s as close to pay-to-play action as we’ve seen, even in the shifting world of NIL collectives and universities.
No. 6 Houston, No. 9 Alabama, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 21 Creighton, San Diego State, Oregon, Rutgers and Notre Dame play 12 games between today and Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with each school promised $1 million in NIL collective money.
“Everything we do is about delivering value to the players, and our guiding principles continue to be paying the players fair market value for their NIL and creating captivating content for fans,” EverWonder Studios CEO Seth Berger told Libit.
An additional $1 million worth of NIL opportunities will be available to players across all eight schools.
During my time as a sports writer, I covered events in Las Vegas at this time of year. And it seems hard to believe $9 million could be available. But as Sports Business Journal first reported, Players Era enlisted Eli Lilly & Company and Starbucks to serve as presenting sponsors, along with MGM, so apparently, it’s possible. EverWonder, according to its agreements with the schools’ collectives, owes the $1 million within 15 days of the tournament’s conclusion.
You can decide how this hits you. It certainly blurs the lines between NIL and pay-for-play, which remains forbidden by the NCAA.
But if schools like WVU wish to stay relevant and competitive they must not only accept such invitations, but seek them out.
According to writer Jeff Tracy, “the Players Era Festival wants to eventually expand to 18 teams, add a women’s tournament and potentially apply this framework to other sports. In all, they plan to distribute more than $50 million in NIL opportunities over the next three years.”
Again, the NIL game is shifting. Collectives may start moving under universities’ umbrellas. But whatever the case there, schools like WVU must be on top of that NIL game more now than ever.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.

I always felt WVU football’s main hurdle to clear was finding top-shelf linemen. It seems the majority are in the SEC or Big Ten.
The Mountaineer program always seemed to find good linebackers (Chuck Howley, Darryl Talley, David Long Jr., Sam Huff), running backs (Steve Slaton, Adrian Murrell, Amos Zereoue), defensive backs (Aaron Beasley, Mike Logan, Pac-Man Jones, Rasul Douglas, Fulton Walker, Jerry Holmes, Bo Orlando, Tom Pridemore, heck, Beanie Bishop!), receivers (Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Danny Buggs), even quarterbacks like Oliver Luck, Jeff Hostetler, Major Harris, Marc Bulger, Geno Smith and Pat White.
But linemen like centers Rich Braham and Mike Compton, guard Bruce Bosley, tackle Brian Jozwiak and, on defense, Mike Fox, David Grant, Gary Stills, Jeff Merrow, Renaldo Turnbull and John Thornton were difficult to find – especially from the base recruiting landscape that’s the state of West Virginia.
But, hey, look at the Mountain State and linemen lately.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans certainly know of Fairmont native and starting center Zach Frazier. It didn’t take the second-round draft pick long to make waves in the Steel City.
And while on the subject of the Steelers, don’t forget about guard Doug Nester, who is stashed on the practice squad. Nester, 6-7, 319 pounds, is from Kenova, W.Va., where he played at Spring Valley High.
On defense, of course, Fairmont native Dante Stills starts at right end for the Arizona Cardinals after his stint at WVU. All he did there was become the all-time leader in tackles for loss.
Don’t forget Martinsburg native Trevon Wesco, who is still hanging on with the Las Vegas Raiders after stints with the New York Jets, Bears and Tennessee Titans. The tight end went to Musselman High before moving to Lackawanna and then WVU.
One of the finest linemen to come out of West Virginia recently was Huntington High’s Darnell Wright. Although WVU’s Neal Brown and staff made a late run at Wright after getting hired, the offensive tackle went to Tennessee and was selected by the Chicago Bears No. 10 overall in 2023.
Also, San Francisco 49ers starting offensive tackle Colton McKivitz is from Union Local, a mere 21 miles from Wheeling.
I could keep going if you want me to get technical. Former North Carolina and three-year NFL guard Landon Turner – and nephew of WVU’s Jim Braxton – was born in Morgantown.
The point is, with advances in weight training and playing opportunities, more and more fine linemen are popping up in the Mountain State.
Which is good news for a WVU program trying to keep up in an increasingly dog-eat-dog college football world.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.

I remember it well. As the sports editor and columnist of the Charleston Gazette, I was front and center at that city’s Civic Center on Dec. 3, 2002.
WVU’s men’s basketball team versus No. 8 Florida before 9,626.
There were low expectations for the Mountaineers and new head coach John Beilein – especially after a loss at Duquesne in Game 2.
Yet damned if West Virginia didn’t pull off the upset 68-66. Eighteen days later, it also beat Tennessee.
There was hope.
Unfortunately, WVU was in the rugged Big East at the time and settled for a 14-15 season record, but at least there was that spark, something to grasp after the disastrous 2001-02 season in which the Mountaineers imploded, finishing 8-20.
The situation was as bad – and probably worse – than the collapse of Bob Huggins’ Hall of Fame career in Morgantown. With Huggins, the story was mostly a personal tragedy in nature, albeit one that had far-reaching effects on the WVU program.
In 2002, there was layer upon layer of catastrophe.
The huge get that was Jonathan Hargett – perhaps the most decorated recruit since Jerry West – turned into a nightmare after then-coach Gale Catlett gave him free rein.
There was in-fighting among the team – literally.
WVU lost nine straight games and on Jan. 27, 2002, Catlett left citing health reasons. His nephew Drew Catlett was an interim coach for a stretch.
But the Mountaineers lost 18 of 19 en route to the 8-20 record.
And yet that wasn’t all.
After Catlett left for good, West Virginia AD Ed Pastilong hired Dan Dakich, a former Bobby Knight assistant.
Dakich came and, on an April morning, went. He just left after eight days in Morgantown.
Morgantown was college basketball’s version of ground zero, the surface above an exploded nuclear bomb.
Fortunately, Pastilong rebounded by hiring the respected Beilein from Richmond. Perhaps he had mercy because he went to college in Wheeling. But the hire certainly worked.
With 10 players left on the Mountaineer roster (none that really fit his system at the time), Beilein gave WVU fans hope.
With more of a fatherly, but disciplined, approach, Beilein fashioned respect from a lineup of Drew Schifino, Kevin Pittsnogle, Joe Herbert, etc.
Against Florida, Schifino dogged Brett Nelson, a St. Albans native returning home for what was to be a celebration. Against Tennessee, Pittsnogle banked in a buzzer beater. There was a win at Villanova.
Yes, WVU dropped after its 7-1 start that season. The Big East was incredibly brutal.
But Mountaineer fans saw Beilein’s motion, multiple-cut offense. They saw promise.
And that’s what West Virginia fans are looking for this season with new coach Darian DeVries, formerly of Drake.
Hope. Mountaineer fans need hope.
Are they expecting the Elite Eight, Sweet Sixteen kind of success from DeVries we saw from Beilein? Probably, because we’re fans.
But for now, the desire is to see a spark by building off wins against Robert Morris and UMass, showing disciplined teamwork and energy, and giving reason to believe.
Once again.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.

As the Mountain East Conference assembled for its basketball media day in Wheeling, Chuck McGill’s smile was as wide as his title long.
Associate Commissioner for External Engagement and Communications.
Perhaps it’s because that title is actually SHORTER than his previous title: Associate Director of Athletics for External Engagement and Fan Experience at Marshall University.
Most folks in West Virginia sports circles, however, know Chuck for his fine sports writing at the Charleston Daily Mail and Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Chuck and I worked together briefly in Charleston before my move to Wheelhouse Creative. And as fine as McGill’s writing was, he may have been as well known for his upbeat personality. Folks love being around him.
And now he’s been tasked by MEC Commissioner Reid Amos to help fans enjoy being around the league more.
“I met Reid on Labor Day at the Poky Dot in Fairmont,” McGill said. “I was convinced I wanted to get back into college athletics.”
Chuck has been teaching as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Memphis and has written content for The Topps Company, which deals in sports cards. As many journalists, he jumped from the newspaper business because of the downturn and went to Marshall to work with then-AD Mike Hamrick. When Hamrick stepped down, McGill hung on for six months before moving on.
Now?
“Aside from media relations, I’ve been asked to develop corporate relationships for the league,” McGill said. “I covered WVU and Marshall. I’ve lived in Charleston. I have a lot of contacts.”
The smile then beamed.
“I’m just super stoked about it. I’m really, really excited. I went to our cross country championship at Oglebay and you wouldn’t believe the people there. There must have been 1,000 people involved or watching. They had a musket go off to start.
“I actually started crying because I saw how impactful college athletics still is to so many people. The Division I side has seen so much change. This (Division II) experience felt so pure.”
As for the basketball side, the preseason polls were released. Once again West Liberty is favored on the men’s side with Fairmont State and the University of Charleston next in line. Fairmont is the heavy favorite on the women’s side.
Also, McGill said Amos would like to add another football school to make it an even dozen.
In my eyes, Chuck’s task now is to help bring more fans to the MEC table, to get them to know the teams, to watch the standings, to, hey, get to games. As Amos pointed out, West Liberty’s basketball teams have had national success.
Kim Caldwell (formerly Stephens) led Glenville to the 2021-22 NCAA Division II National Championship before guiding Marshall to a 26-7 record and then jumping to Tennessee where she’s now the head coach.
Of course, former Wheeling standout Haywood Highsmith is now with the Miami Heat and ex-Fairmont State coach Joe Mazzulla just won an NBA title as the head coach of the Boston Celtics. Another former Fairmont coach, Jared Calhoun, was named the head coach of Utah State.
Heady stuff. Now, the trick is to parlay that into more and more success for the MEC, to tap into the local flavor and maybe draw fans somewhat turned off by Division I.
“It’s about getting people to understand the brand,” McGill said. “It’s about getting them to understand how strong we are.
“We have 23 championships. We’re continuing to make the best fan experiences possible, to get as many people involved as possible.”
The DuPont High grad again smiled, knowing the task isn’t small.
“I’ve had 100 things thrown at me,” he said. “I’m trying to grasp it all with this Eastern Kanawha County brain.”
There’s no doubt, though, he’ll be successful. Congrats on the gig, Chuck.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.

To say that WVU football fans are grouchy would be kind.
As a former sports writer and columnist who covered the Mountaineers, my phone still gets blown up after a loss, especially an ugly one like last weekend’s stinker against Kansas State. (Maybe a small surprise might be in store at Arizona this week? WVU is only a 3-point underdog as the Wildcats are also stumbling.)
Men’s basketball is almost here, but expectations are tempered as WVU recovers from the implosion at the end of the Bob Huggins era. The Mountaineers were slotted No. 13 in the Big 12 preseason poll. Five league teams are in the Associated Press preseason Top 10 and The Athletic claims in its Sept. 24 headline that “the sport’s top league is only getting better.”
But c’mon. Things can’t be all gloom and doom for WVU athletics, right? Right?
Thankfully, no. Not at all, in fact. There’s a TON of upbeat news.
The men’s soccer team is again, well, kicking butt. Previously ranked No. 1, they defeated South Carolina 1-0 to move to 9-1-3 with a match against Georgia State set for Wednesday.
Before that, the Mountaineers tripped up, losing to Dayton 5-1, but remain No. 12 in the latest Men’s Soccer Committee rankings. (No. 9 Marshall gives the Mountain State two teams in there.)
Top Drawer Soccer has WVU No. 8 and Marshall No. 3. Both are in the Sun Belt, in case you were unaware. Exciting times for Mountaineer coach Dan Stratford and fans.
We saw the Mountaineer women hoopers almost stun Iowa in last season’s NCAA tournament and that momentum seems to be continuing under coach Mark Kellogg.
West Virginia was placed at No. 5 in the rugged Big 12 preseason rankings (behind Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor and TCU) and JJ Quinerly made the preseason All-Big 12 team.
More importantly, last season’s run earned so much respect the Mountaineers start the season No. 16 in the Associated Press poll. They’ll make four appearances on national networks, including three at home, this season. (WVU plays Towson on Nov. 5. That’s an ESPN+ deal.)
While on the subject of women’s sports, Nikki Izzo-Brown’s soccer team just beat Colorado 2-0 win on Senior Day at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown on Sunday afternoon to move to 11-4-2, 7-2-1 Big 12. They aren’t ranked but are receiving votes in the coaches poll. They’ll cap the regular season by traveling to Houston on Friday, Oct. 25.
Oh, and cross country anyone?
Just today, Tuesday, the Mountaineer cross country team was selected No. 4 in the NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. It’s the highest for WVU since No. 4 in 2008.
One of my favorite WVU athletes right now, senior Ceili McCabe, set a program record in the women’s 6k this past Saturday at the Wisconsin Pre Nationals meet in Madison, Wisconsin. The Mountaineers earned fourth place on Saturday, out of 33 teams.
McCabe claimed a fourth-place finish, with a personal best time of 19:10.8. Also, freshman Joy Naukot had her collegiate debut in the women’s 6k, running the fastest time for a West Virginia freshman, 19:37.4. With the time, Naukot crossed the finish line in tenth place.
Next, the Mountaineers compete at the Big 12 Championship on Nov. 1 at Baylor.
Also, the WVU golf team was impressive this season, closing out fall in the Bahamas Oct. 25-27.
At the Big 12 Match Play Championships, WVU was 2-2-1 with wins over Colorado and UCF as well as a tie against No. 24-ranked Utah.
And we can’t forget the rifle team, correct? All it has done is win 17 regular season matches. It’s now No. 2-ranked after collecting its fourth win of the season and the first in the Great America Rifle Conference by downing No. 13 Memphis on Saturday.
A kicker to go on? Three former Mountaineer basketball players are on opening night NBA rosters: Jevon Carter with Chicago, Miles McBride with the New York Knicks and – how about this? — Jesse Edwards with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
So, if the WVU football team has you a little down, well, scroll down. There’s much, much good news in Mountaineer Land.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.

So, I’m feeling a little better about WVU’s football team after last Saturday’s victory over Oklahoma State,
Yes, the Cowboys are 0-3 in Big 12 play and a huge league disappointment, but they were SUPPOSED to be good, right?
OK, yes, I’m grasping. But it’s better than gasping, which I did after the Mountaineers’ first couple of games.
And I have to ask my fellow WVU followers: How are we feeling at 3-2 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 play?
The die-hard in me has (and will always have) me watching each week. But what about the enthusiasm? What about the way I used to be jacked up for the games?
I’m missing that, even though technically WVU is at the top of the Big 12 standings with 3-0 Texas Tech and 2-0 BYU, Iowa State and Colorado.
Last week’s game was certainly a good start. The Mountaineers had 389 yards on the ground in the victory over OSU. That was fun to watch, although I know the Cowboys had some injuries.
A big picture look?
Well, West Virginia is receiving no Top 25 votes in either the Associated Press writers’ or Coaches polls.
If you squint hard, you’ll see the Mountaineers 33rd in both the ESPN College Football Power Index and the TeamRankings advanced analytics list.
The 247 Sports’ Big 12 power rankings have WVU at No. 8 in the league.
“A lot more will be known about West Virginia in the next two weeks with Iowa State and Kansas State on deck, but the Mountaineers continue to trend upward,” it says before pointing out the two losses were to undefeated Pitt and Penn State.
Yet being the thorough researcher that I am, I also checked the stats. How are the Mountaineers stacking up that way?
• In passing offense, not great but actually better than I thought at No. 80, averaging 216.6 yards a game. For reference here and the rest of the way, there are 133 schools listed in the stats – all the way down to Army (90.6) and Air Force (76) in passing.
• In rushing offense, WVU is very good, No. 13 overall, averaging 223 yards a game,
• In scoring offense, the Mountaineers are tied at No. 41, averaging 33 points.
• In passing defense, which we know has been an issue prior to OSU, WVU is No. 99 (again of 133), allowing an average of 243.4 yards a game. They’re allowing 8.95 yards an attempt (ouch) and 15.21 yards per completion (ouch again).
• In rushing defense, West Virginia is middle of the pack at No. 57, allowing an average of 130.2 yards a game.
So that’s a snapshot.
Back in the day, before Wheelhouse Creative, I would have continued the stats dive. I would have looked at almost every stat. (I did sneak a peek at Garrett Greene’s pass completion percentage rate, which is No. 104 nationally at 57.1 percent.)
Yet you get the idea. Things are sort of trending up, but we’ll know more after this week’s game against No. 11 Iowa State and then the following game versus No. 18 Kansas State.
Two wins against those teams and the enthusiasm will definitely be back.
As for now, though, a little Tuesday grasping.
Have a great week, friends.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.

Now that the NFL’s Week 4 is complete, WVU football fans might get a kick out of checking the league’s passing stats.
Because former Mountaineer Geno Smith sits atop the statistic with 1,182 yards, 52 more than second place Brock Purdy (another former Big 12 QB, by the way).
If you’re a fantasy football nut like I am, you probably saw his terrific play in Seattle’s loss at Detroit on Monday night.
The Seahawk defense was a letdown, allowing 389 yards and 42 points. But Geno completed 38 of 56 passes for a career-high 395 yards – more than Detroit’s total — with one touchdown and an interception.
It was a crazy good night for quarterback play. Detroit’s Jared Goff completed all 18 of his passes (you read that correctly) for 292 yards and 2 TDs.
But WVU fans watching had to be proud. They remember him setting 33 Mountaineer game, season, class and career records as a quarterback from 2009-12. As a sports columnist cover West Virginia at the time, I don’t know what I’ll remember most, his eight TDs and 656 yards passing in a 2012 win over Baylor or his MVP performance in the 2011 70-33 Orange Bowl win over Clemson, in which he ONLY had 407 yards passing and accounted for seven TDs.
We know the story from there. Drafted in the second round by the New York Jets in 2013. Disaster there before bouncing around to the New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers and, finally, the Seahawks.
But lately, wow. He’s not only been a great story, but I think it’s time to take it to the next level. Is Geno now in talking heads parlance “elite”?
Smith’s performance on Monday marked the 11th-most single-game passing yards in Seattle franchise history. He also ran five times for 38 yards to finish with 433 yards of total offense, the sixth-most in franchise history.
Now a 33-year-old veteran, Geno has thrown for the league-high 1,182 yards and also ranks second in the NFL with a 72.3% completion rate (behind Jayden Daniels’ crazy 82.1).
“I thought he was poised. I thought he was accurate. I thought he played a heck of a game,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said to Seattle Sports on Monday. “I don’t know what the stats are, but I thought he played really well.”
Yet is he elite? If not, he’s pretty darn close.
Over the past three seasons, according to StatMuse, if you take NFL quarterbacks with 19 (C.J. Stroud) or more games played (which eliminates Daniels), your top 10 in passer rating over the past three years are 1. Brock Purdy, 2. Joe Burrow, 3. Stroud, 4. Dak Prescott, 5. Aaron Rodgers, 6. Tua Tagovailoa, 7. Patrick Mahomes, 9. Jared Goff and 10. Geno Smith.
His 96.6 passer rating in that time span is better than Kirk Cousins, Lamar Jackson, Tom Brady, Josh Allen and Justin Herbert.
If you go by nfelo’s QB rankings, which include value versus average starter, passing and rushing, 2024’s best so far are 1. Allen, 2. Jackson, 3. Mahomes, 4. Prescott, 5. Rodgers, 6. Burrow, 7. Kyler Murray, 8. Jordan Love, 9. Purdy, 10. Jalen Hurts, 11. Goff and 12. Smith. In that, Geno is above Cousins, Derek Carr, Stroud, Daniels, Justin Fields, Tagovailoa,, Herbert, Matt Stafford and Trevor Lawrence, among others.
So, again, elite? Let’s give this season time to play out. But if Smith isn’t elite, he’s certainly made it to the upper tier of NFL QBs.
Which has to make all Mountaineer fans smile.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.