The time has come once again for the staff here at The Smoking Musket and a very special guest to put on our Nostradamus robes and hats to glean from the future. Without further ado.
Joel Bracken (2-0 Straight Up — 2-0 ATS)
Texas Tech ML ● Texas Tech -6-
Tech poses some problems for the Mountaineers. Their offense wants to go fast and I worry we will fall victim to a few quick moving scoring drives. This will be a tough game to win from behind, especially if GG doesn’t go. I think we hang around within striking distance most of the game and Tech gets a late game cover. Not to worry, this should be our toughest opponent for the next 4-5 games.
Texas Tech 31 – West Virginia 20
Jordan Pinto (2-0 Straight Up — 1-1 ATS)
WVU ML ● WVU +6
The first quarter will be crucial here in terms of dictating tempo – does Tech speed us up or do we slow them down? I imagine we’ll be even more run heavy than usual with Nicco in line to start, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it’s what we’re best at and will keep Tech’s offense off the field. If we can get close to 200 on the ground and convert half of our red zone opps into tuddies then I think we have a great shot of coming out of this one 3-1.
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West Virginia 26 – Texas Tech 23
WVUNite (2-0 Straight Up — 2-0 ATS)
Texas Tech ML ● Texas Tech -6
I think this current roster for West Virginia is good but I just don’t know if we have the playmakers and skill guys to go 12 rounds with an offense that wants to go fast. The concern as always is what happens when we get down. I’m not convinced the secondary is fixed, yet. I can see Tech getting out in front and keeping us at arms length the whole game.
Texas Tech 33 – West Virginia 21
Statsboyandi (2-0 Straight Up — 2-0 ATS)
WVU ML ● WVU +6
Neal Brown has never: beat Texas Tech or won 3 games in a row. The Pitt game might have been the biggest game on campus in a long time, but for Neal Brown’s career it feels like Tech is somehow bigger. If Neal Brown is to show he *can* be the guy, he needs a win in the biggest way.
To do that, WVU needs to control the clock on offense and show some kind of deep threat ability. The QB situation will be interesting as well — in their two games against teams with a pulse (Wyoming/Oregon, both of which were loses) Tech allowed both qb’s over 60 yards on the ground.
West Virginia 31 – Texas Tech 26
Nick Shoemaker (2-0 Straight Up — 1-1 ATS)
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WVU ML ● WVU +6
I’m surprisingly excited for this game. Despite the win over Pitt being ugly, I think WVU has momentum and confidence that we haven’t seen in a few years. I think the defense will benefit the most from that, forcing a couple of key turnovers and holding Texas Tech to field goals. My prediction is that the Mountaineers will narrowly win another ugly one.
West Virginia 24 – Texas Tech 19
WVUIE97 (2-0 Straight Up — 1-1 ATS)
WVU ML ● West Virginia +6
Last week’s offensive showing is hard to get a handle on because of the GG injury, but Nicco managed the game wonderfully. I hope he can improve on that performance with a full week’s preparation as QB1, assuming Neal isn’t up-playing Greene’s injury and Greene comes out and plays Saturday. Either way, high scoring isn’t what I think this team is built for.
West Virginia 22 – Texas Tech 20
Josh Whitt (2-0 Straight Up — 1-1 ATS)
WVU ML ● WVU -3
I don’t know who WVU’s starting QB is. I don’t know how good either team really is. Texas Tech struggled with Wyoming. Wyoming has mountains. West Virginia is the Mountain State! So my pick is based purely on mountain bias (and that Neal Brown is due against Texas Tech at home).
West Virginia 35 – Texas Tech 33
Matt Kirchner (2-0 Straight Up — 2-0 ATS)
Texas Tech ML ● Texas Tech -6
Unfortunately, I can’t help but feel that the vibes of the Pitt win will be short lived. I worry that Neal will either be too conservative with Nicco in the lineup or force an 85% Garrett Greene back too soon. I also still have concerns about the back end of the defense that won’t be alleviated until I see it against Not Phil Jurkovec
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Texas Tech 31 – West Virginia 20
Michael Miller (2-0 Straight Up — 1-1 ATS)
Texas Tech ML ● Texas Tech -6
As confident as I was in the Mountaineers beating Pitt last week, I’m equally confident in them falling on their face tomorrow afternoon vs. the Red Raiders.
Everyone was juiced up last week. A long hated rival comes to town, we’re looking for revenge. It’s easy for everyone — the team, the coaches, and the fans — to get invested and really fight for that win. We got it, and now we’re all riding that high. West Virginia dominated Duquesne and grinded it out last week in The Backyard Brawl, which leads me to the stat that I cannot shake.
Neal Brown has never beat Texas Tech. He’s also never put together a string of three wins while in Morgantown. WVU is starting an unproven backup quarterback. This one has let down game written all over it. I don’t think West Virginia’s defense is going to be able to slow Texas Tech’s offense down once they get into their tempo, and I’m not super confident in Nicco’s ability to throw the ball.
I want nothing more to be wrong here and for Neal to finally get that monkey off his back, but I think this is the begging of the end of Neal Brown’s tenure in Morgantown.
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Texas Tech 34 – West Virginia 14
West Virginia ML ● WVU +6
Man.. sh**ttt.. ok, we gatta fu*^%* score points. We gatta make some big plays. Us as fans have to motivate these boys to get hype and play mountaineer football. They need to tighten up the chin strap, put a lil more air in the helmets and crack some people in the mouth. Play with that mountaineer passion! B/c let’s be real here, Needle Dick Neal ain’t a motivator! WE have to keep the stands rocking and make sure these cats out there know we have their back!! If we can score some points and have a lot of big hits, I think we get this W
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West Virginia 34 – Texas Tech 31
We want to give a huge thanks to Wes for taking the time to play along with us. Go give him a follow on Twitter/X at @WildWild145.
The West Virginia Mountaineers (13-3, 3-2) host the Colorado Buffaloes (12-4, 3-2) for game two of the season series and the second ever meeting between the two schools.
West Virginia vs. Colorado Series History
Colorado leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Colorado 65, West Virginia 60 (Dec. 21, 2024, Boulder, CO)
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Last Meeting: OSU 68, No. 24 WVU 61 (Feb. 27, 2024, Stillwater, OK)
When: Wednesday, January 15
Location: Morgantown, West Virginia, WVU Coliseum (14,000)
– Frida Forman paces Colorado’s scoring production, averaging 13.9 points per game, while two more Buffs average double figures in Lior Garzon (11.5) and Jade Masogayo (12.6). Sara Smith leads with 6.3 rebounds per game and Kindyll Wetta leads the team with 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals.
– Colorado’s two losses in league play come on the road to then No. 11 TCU and RV Baylor and both came by double digits. CU adds two more league wins, defeating UCF and Kansas at home in their last two contests.
– Senior guard JJ Quinerly (18.3), junior guard Jordan Harrison (14.2) and junior guard Sydney Shaw (12.5) pace the Mountaineers scoring production this season. Harrison’s 5.1 assists per game leads WVU and ranks 8th in the Big 12. Senior guard Kyah Watson has grabbed 7.6 rebounds per game which ranks sixth in the Big 12 while her 3.1 steals per game ranks second and Quinerly’s 3.2 steals per game is first.
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– The Big 12’s leaders in steals last season, Watson (50), Quinerly (38) and Harrison (31), are at it again this season averaging over two steals per contest. Junior guard Sydney Shaw and Senior guard Sydney Woodley have also gotten in on the action with 32 and 29 steals this season, giving WVU five players with 29+ steals through 16 games.
– The Mountaineers have forced 15+ turnovers in every game this season, including 20+ in 13 games to average 25.7 per game. The mark ranks fifth in the nation. The Mountaineers have forced 30-plus turnovers in five games, including a season-high 44. WVU ranks second in the nation with 14.8 steals per game and holds a +9.5 turnover margin.
– West Virginia is averaging 80.3 points per game while outscoring their opponents by an average of 28.4 points.
– Quinerly currently sits 11th in points at 1,638, and behind WVU Hall of Famer Liz Repella (2008-11) with 1,641. She also ranks 4th in steals with 279 and is just another Hall of Famer in Rosemary Kosiorek (1989-92) with 293.
West Virginia still has some work to do in terms of replenishing the offensive line room, and over the weekend, they hosted former Princeton offensive tackle Will Reed for an official visit.
“Coach Bicknell and Coach Dressler were awesome,”Reed told West Virginia On SI. “Coach Bicknell’s experience in the NFL is really impressive, not to mention his college experience. The facilities were some of the best I have seen on any visit. Probably the best. It seems like they are bringing in a lot of talent and want to turn things around quickly. It has given me a lot to think about over the next week or two.”
Reed is also considering Georgia Tech, Nebraska, and Virginia but has also received interest from Arizona, Arizona State, Memphis, Pitt, Stanford, UNLV, and Wake Forest.
Coming out of Eastside Catholic High School as a highly-rated three-star prospect in Sammamish, Washington, Reed originally committed to Cal. He decided to flip his commitment to Princeton, choosing the Ivy League route over offers from Air Force, Army, Colorado, Duke, Hawai’i, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, San Diego State, Tennessee, UNLV, Utah, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, and a few others.
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He will have one year of eligibility remaining. A decision is expected to be made within the next two weeks.
MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI
WVU Battling Bitter Rival for Reigning AAC Defensive Player of the Year
Another Transfer QB for WVU? Evaluating Where Each QB Stands Entering the Offseason
ESPN Bracketology: West Virginia Not Heavily Penalized for Arizona Loss
The Recipe for West Virginia to Cook Up an Upset of No. 10 Houston
Amy Hessl, professor of geography at WVU, said California’s wildfires are expected to continue to be more extreme, more frequent, more widespread and more devastating as air temperatures continue to warm and precipitation becomes more variable. (WVU Photo)
As the destruction continues with southern California’s wildfires that could be the costliest in U.S. history, one West Virginia University researcher said ongoing warm air temperatures and variable precipitation will lead to even more extreme fires in the future.
Amy Hessl, a geography professor and paleoclimatologist in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has studied the relationship between fire and climate throughout the world, particularly North America, Central Asia and Australia. She attributes the widespread devastation of California’s fires to an unusual weather pattern, known as the Santa Ana or “devil winds,” that are unique to that area.
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Hessl is known for her expertise as a dendrochronologist, a scientist who unravels climate histories and trends through the study of tree ring growth patterns.
Quotes:
“California’s wildfires are expected to continue to be more extreme, more frequent, more widespread and more devastating as air temperatures continue to warm and precipitation becomes more variable. This creates alternating wet periods when fuels can build up, with extreme dry and hot conditions conducive to fire activity.
“Santa Ana winds, or ‘devil winds,’ are unique to southern California. They are an unusual weather pattern that gets set up when there is a high pressure in the desert of the Southwest and a low pressure over the Pacific Ocean, near Los Angeles.
“Air will move from high to low pressure and, in the case of the Santa Anas, this means that really hot, dry air moves from the desert up over a series of mountains. Every time that air descends towards the coast, it gets hotter due to an increase in pressure. Many fire scientists and firefighters believe that the Santa Anas produce the most extreme fire conditions anywhere in the world.
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“Long records of past fires — that you can get from old trees that survived past fires, but recorded scars — can tell us a lot about how often fires occurred in the past, prior to European colonization, and what these records often tell us is that fires of pre-colonial periods were, in many cases, less extreme but more frequent than they are today.
“This change that we have seen in many places in the world is caused by the interaction between human-caused climate change, the history of land management leading to more abundant and more connected fuels, and people moving to the wildland urban interface — in other words —putting themselves in the way of fire.” —Amy Hessl, professor of geology, WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
West Virginia University experts can provide commentary, insights and opinions on various news topics. Search for an expert by name, title, area of expertise or college/school/department in the Experts Database at WVUToday.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Jake Stump Director WVU Research Communications 304-293-5507; Jake.Stump@mail.wvu.edu
Call 1-855-WVU-NEWS for the latest West Virginia University news and information from WVUToday.
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