Nick Davidson
I was working on that October morning/early afternoon when the West Virginia University Mountaineers stepped onto the field in Waco, Texas in 2015. I checked my phone early into the game to see that it was 7-7 after a long Shelton Gibson touchdown catch. I thought to myself “wow, maybe this’ll be a shootout that we will steal at the end.”
Thirty minutes later I checked my phone and we were down by double digits. I don’t need to go into further detail, because we all know how that game ended. It was part of a horrendous October stretch for the Mountaineers that saw them playing four ranked opponents, three of which on the road.
The year is 2016 now though, and the this time it is the Mountaineers who are sporting the Top 20 ranking and the 9-2 record. While meanwhile, on the other sideline hobbles in the bruised & battered Bears of Baylor. The Bears are looking less and less like “I Was Gonna Beat Shaq” Aaron Carter and more and more like “I was gonna play a free concert at your college if you’d have me” Aaron Carter.
It is true that the Bears come into this game and really this entire season drenched in tremendous controversy, scandal, and turmoil. Sprinkle in with this multiple injuries to key players and you have yourselves a recipe for disaster similar to that of a chemical slurry you would pull out of an Easy-Bake Oven.
What is left of the Bears is traveling to Morgantown with new Head Coach & West Virginia native Jim Grobe leading the way. Grobe took over the Baylor program in the midst of controversy around the program after being out of coaching since 2013. Thus far on the season the Bears are 6-5 (3-5 Big 12) and are on a 5 game skid including losses of 21 points or great in three of their last four games. Grobe has had a history of being a pretty respectable coach, in fact so much so that he took Wake Forest to an ACC Championship & an Orange Bowl appearance in 2006.
Even with the dark clouds over the Baylor program coming into the 2016 season, it was still believed by many that they had the talent to compete for a Big 12 title at least this season. Injuries to players such as outstanding senior quarterback Seth Russell however on top of everything else have derailed those thoughts (As an interesting aside about Russell, he actually had his neck surgery last season at Ruby Memorial Hospital/WVU Medicine).
Instead of Russell who went down with an ankle injury, the Bears have had to instead use true freshman Zack Smith at the quarterback position. Smith was an early enrollee at Baylor this season and was a Top 300 recruit coming out of high school. Smith statistically in his three games as a starter has a stat line of 7TDs/4ints and has thrown for 779 yards. The DAWGS *PLAY THAT DMX* need to get after the young quarterback early and often in order to close the door on any potential hopes the Bears may have of playing spoiler to WVU’s hopes of an impressive 10-2 season on Senior Day in Morgantown.
In the backfield for the Bears is a two headed attack of sophomore Terrence Williams and senior Shock Linwood. Between the two the Bears have 1,577 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. I also feel like Shock Linwood has been playing at Baylor so long that he was once getting chased around by Grant Wiley and Brian King in a an early 2000s Big East vs. Big 12 matchup.
Last, but certainly not least for the Bears is the threat of tremendous receiving talents like junior KD Cannon who has 905 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns on the season. I am interested to see Cannon in action in surely a matchup against without a doubt 1st Team All-Big 12 corner Rasul Douglas who has proven to be a force against every team West Virginia has played this season.
*It Keeps You Runnin’ by the Doobie Brothers begins echoing in the distance, you begin to hear a train.*
*It grows closer*
*YOU REALIZE IT’S JUST FRESHMAN MOUNTAINEER RUNNING BACK AND HUMAN BOWLING BALL MARTELL PETTAWAY*
Seriously, folks, how about this Pettaway kid last week? After having his redshirt burnt in the first half due to injuries and depth depletion the 5’10” 203lb freshman from Detroit came in and went off for 181 yards on 30 carries and a touchdown. The fact that this kid went out there and did that on the road is a testament to how good of recruiters this coaching staff is/how well they are preparing our young men to perform when called upon.
On a more serious note, this Saturday is Senior Day and what a class of young men we are saying goodbye to. This group of players has seen the ups & downs of WVU’s journey thus far in the Big 12, were a part of the team that won WVU’s first bowl game as a Big 12 school, and many of them were also a part of the 2013 season where WVU woefully ended 4-8.
To see the progression of some of these guys from humble beginnings to being in a position to finish the regular season of their senior year at 10-2 and go on to a great bowl game speaks volumes about what this program is all about.
It would be unfair to single any of these seniors out or to speak more highly of them than others, because this group of players has truly embodied the spirit of that of a family. It is so clear to see during games how much these guys care about one another, this state, this school, and this program. I challenge you as a fan to send these guys out with a deafening support that’ll echo off the hills of our great state.
As a final thought, I was able to catch on TV the end of last year’s WVU vs. Baylor game. I remember Baylor clearly running up the score late into the 4th quarter. I remember their players jumping up and down on the sidelines. I remember their fans cheering wildly over it. I remember all of that. I am sure you do too. If we remember it, our players and coaches certainly do.
This Saturday show up and support these guys one last time for what has been one of the most memorable seasons in WVU history. In our 125 year history as a program, which has seen the Mountaineers rank 14th all time amongst FBS programs in wins, only a few handfuls of times have the Mountaineers seen the double-digit win mark. It is remarkable that a team who was picked to finish 7th in this conference by the media is in a position to finish 3rd and with 10 wins.
So again, show up on Saturday and show support for this very special team and staff like never before. It’s a great time to be a Mountaineer, and that is reason for celebration.
LET’S GOOOOOOOO, MOUNTAINEERS!
Mountaineer Maniacs 