Wake up, West Virginia: It's Game Day
By Joseph Smith
Whenever or wherever you're reading this, Mountaineer Nation, I hope it finds you well.
Some of you, perhaps, are scrolling down this page while enjoying your morning coffee or breakfast. Or maybe you're catching a quick glance at your phone from the Blue Lot amidst your Saturday morning tailgate.
Some of you more wild Mountaineers might be hungover, or still buzzing from Friday night. I'm sure their are a few of you who have been going strong since a certain Mountaineer alum and Monday Night RAW commentator took the stage behind the Life Sciences Building on Friday for a special on-site episode of The Pat McAfee Show.
Speaking of McAfee, one of the greatest kickers in WVU history, he was live on ESPN in Morgantown advocating for couches to be burnt this weekend. Former teammate and Greenbrier West (WV) football coach Owen Schmitt agreed.
Former Mountaineer hooper and current New York Knick Deuce McBride was in town too, and helped pay for one lucky Mountaineer's tuition. A Penn State fan crashed the party and was pelted with water bottles, and a number of bars will are prepping to open at the crack of dawn, right as this article will be published.
Oh boy, football is back in Morgantown, and it's pretty damn glorious.
Of course, when I say football is back, I don't just mean football season is around for another year. I mean that WVU is coming off it's best season -- at least in terms of number of wins -- since 2016. The Mountaineers play host to what is likely the biggest game in Morgantown since an upset of No. 4 Baylor in 2014 that ended in riots. Perhaps the most hyped home game since LSU came visiting town in 2011.
In fact, many are calling it the most anticipated home opener since a visit from top-ranked Ohio State in 1998. A Top 10 ranked rival with a historical edge over WVU is in town, and a national network pregame kickoff show has arrived for the first time in a decade. This time, Fox Big Noon Kickoff makes it's inaugural visit to town. Machine Gun Kelly, however polarizing a figure he is in Morgantown particularly, is set to perform a chart-topper that interpolates Country Roads. Whether you think that interpolation is done in good taste or is just disrespectful is a debate many in Morgantown are engaged in currently.
What all this adds up to -- McAfee's show with it's pep rally vibes, the national spotlight, the regional rivalry, and the expectations surrounding WVU football this season -- is an aura that has settled over Morgantown which by all accounts is nothing new, but has been absent for some time.
The atmosphere is absolutely electric headed into Saturday's big game. In fact, I've personally lived in Morgantown since 2017, and I've experienced gameday environment's under both Dana Holgorsen and Neal Brown. In my seven seasons in town so far, the energy surrounding a WVU football game hasn't come close to matching the levels we're seeing now.
Plenty of national analysts and journalists are doubting that WVU is for real, and they've been counted out of a wide-open Big 12 Championship race by many. But there is an energy brewing deep in these mountains, that is about to full unleash itself on Saturday. Whether that results in victory or defeat is yet to be seen, but I'm sure as hell to be along for the ride.
About a month ago, I heard WVU legend and sports commentator Tony Caridi handling a radio commercial. I perked up immediately at the sound of his voice over the airwaves. Now, it's time for Caridi to hop back in the booth for another season.
Oh yes, Mountaineer Nation, WVU football is back. And in the words of Tony Caridi himself, from Weirton to Welch, Martinsburg to Matewan and all points in between, it's a great day to be a Mountaineer, wherever you may be.