Ex-FSU QB Clint Trickett has announced his Tudor’s Biscuit World transfer to West Virginia. (Cliff Welch/Icon SMI)

It's official, I will finish my academic/athletic career at WVU. This is a dream come true to be playin for the state I love. #CountryRoads—
Clint Trickett (@ClintTrickett9) May 01, 2013

By Zac Ellis

Clint Trickett has found a new home. The former Florida State quarterback, who opted to transfer from the Seminoles last month, will join West Virginia. Trickett confirmed the news on his Twitter account Wednesday morning.

Read More…

Ex-FSU quarterback Clint Trickett will reportedly take an official visit to WVU this weekend. (Mark Goldman/Icon SMI)

By Zac Ellis

The Florida State quarterback situation appeared to be taking shape following backup Clint Trickett’s Wednesday transfer announcement. Now, the former Seminole could be close to clarifying his own future.

Mitch Vingle of the Charleston Gazette in West Virginia reports the Mountaineers could be at the top of Trickett’s list of preferred schools, alongside South Florida. Vingle said the former Seminole is likely to choose between the two programs, but will visit West Virginia and could be on campus in time for the team’s spring game on Saturday. CBS’ Bruce Feldman has since reported that Trickett will in fact be on campus this weekend for an official visit. Trickett would compete with returnees Paul Millard and Ford Childress to replace departed starter Geno Smith. According to Vingle, Trickett’s father Rick is a West Virginia native and coached with the Mountaineers.

Trickett threw for 947 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions in his FSU career, including 272 yards in eight appearances last season while backing up starter E.J. Manuel. But redshirt freshman Jameis Winston has impressed in Tallahassee this spring and is the clubhouse leader for the starting job, even though coach Jimbo Fisher won’t make anything official.

It’s not that we miss working weekends in the offseason … it’s that we miss the fun parts of working weekends in the offseason. For example:

This is a still from Huntington, West Virginia’s WSAZ broadcast on Friday evening, discussing the hiring of JaJuan Seider as the Mountaineers’ running backs coach and captured by intrepid Twitterer @westbygod_.

Dana Horsewomen and Genocide Smith. #WVU leads the nation in awesome autocorrect fails.—
Patrick Southern (@patricksouthern) March 09, 2013

WSAZ sports director Keith Morehouse’s reaction, after the jump:

Read More…

Tudor’s Biscuit World is one of our favorite places to camp out before a Mountaineers game and send smug messages to our coworkers about the obvious superiority of our breakfast to any breakfasts they might be enjoying away from Tudor’s Biscuit World. Observe:

This is a sausage, egg, cheese and potato concoction Tudor’s calls the Thundering Herd. This is not even the grossest, most delicious thing on the Tudor’s menu (that would be the Peppi, a pepperoni-and-cheese biscuit that’s a breakfast answer to West Virginia’s finest culinary delicacy, the pepperoni roll). There’s also a Mountaineer biscuit, featuring layers of country ham, potato, egg and cheese, and right now in Morgantown you can order it as Dana Holgorsen would — with a kicky Red Bull to start your day at maximum firepower:

The DANA Combo–Mountaineer Biscuit+Red Bull–$7.77 #WVU Tudors Biscuit World—
Tudor's Motown (@TudorsMotown) February 22, 2013

Be forewarned, however — if that slim can in your hand isn’t a Sugar Free Red Bull, it’s not truly Holgo canon.

*This post not sponsored by Tudor’s Biscuit World, but if we ever get famous we’re calling them for an endorsement deal.

Internet, you’ve got both feet down in the end zones of our hearts. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Read More…

Mandatory afternoon reading from Patrick Stevens, who’s undertaken a mathematical examination of coaching tenures in major college football in this age of quick-trigger personnel decisions and unearthed some chilling tidbits. Kentucky’s skipper, a first-time head coach, is now a relative old-timer? Believe it:

* Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, the first hire of the post-2012 season wave, has been on the job longer than 22.8 percent of his fellow FBS coaches. He was hired Nov. 27.

* West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen, promoted in the summer of 2011, has been on the job in Morgantown longer than 54 other head coaches.

Please remove all children, pregnant women, nursing mothers and heart patients from the vicinity before reminding yourself just how long Kirk Ferentz has clung to the head job at Iowa. And before you ask, because you will: We did check, and as of press time, still no quantifiable metrics exist to demonstrate how dumb FIU was to fire Mario Cristobal.

Stefphon Jefferson has clearly just caught a look at the New Mexico Bowl scoreboard here. (AP)

• My god, it’s full of stats. Just for funsies, and maybe also because we’re football-free until Thursday, here is a list of NCAA bowl records broken by Nevada and Arizona in the 2012 New Mexico Bowl, via Wolf Pack sports info:

-Most plays (combined, both teams): Nevada-Arizona, 188 (Previous, 187, by Auburn-Northwestern in 2010 Outback Bowl).

-Most first downs: Nevada, 39 (Previous, 36—Oklahoma (48) vs. Virginia (14) (Gator, Dec. 29, 1991) (16 rush, 18 pass, 2 penalty); Marshall (64) vs. East Carolina (61) (2 ot) (GMAC, 2001) (9 rush, 25 pass, 2 penalty).

-Most first downs, both teams: Nevada-Arizona, 70 (Previous: 62—North Carolina St. (56) [34] vs. Kansas (26) [28] (Tangerine, 2003).

-Most first downs rushing: Nevada, 28 (Previous: 26—Oklahoma (40) vs. Auburn (22) (Sugar, Jan. 1, 1972); Navy (51) vs. Colorado St. (30) (Poinsettia, 2005).

-Most first downs rushing, both teams: Nevada-Arizona, 38 (Previous: 36—Colorado (47) [24] & Alabama (33) [12] (Liberty, 1969); Miami (FL) (46) [16] & Texas (3) [20] (Cotton, 1991).

An auspicious beginning to the postseason, no?

• Further bowltyme antics. In case you missed it last week, follow along with Stewart Mandel’s Bowl Pickoff right over here.

• Actual playoff happenings. Mount Union continues to do Mount Union things, gaining another D-III championship on Friday night … Valdosta State wrecked Winston-Salem State in the Division II title game … Sam Houston State and North Dakota State will face off for the FCS championship.

Read More…

• “I think it all starts with a commitment to the university … the ability to have a clear vision.” While we technically agree with Colorado AD Mike Bohn that these are good qualities to seek in a college football coach, we have a humble suggestion: Next time, maybe don’t use those words right after firing a head coach two years into his tenure and right before making it outlandishly obvious through further words and sour facial expressions that you have nooooo idea what to do next.

The sporting internet watched with alternating horror and bewilderment as Jon Embree, Bohn and Colorado’s president and chancellor made statements and fielded questions on Embree’s ousting. You can watch the whole thing here, a fact which may be an indictment of the Colorado leadership in and of itself, read a summary of events here or get the general idea from those of us who watched it unfold in real time:

An emotional Jon Embree at his press conference. You can tell how much the job meant to him.

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) November 26, 2012

A player just said from the back of the room “Thank you coach. We love you.” Embree said, “I love you too.” — Kyle Ringo (@KyleRingo) November 26, 2012

“We don’t get second chances.” Jon Embree on black head coaches. — Jason Kirk (@JasonKirkSBN) November 26, 2012

Embree on short-term turnarounds. “Basically, you can get mercenaries.” [Bobby Petrino startles to life in his coffin] — edsbs (@edsbs) November 26, 2012

embree’s basically saying, “if you wanted me to win this year, it was gonna cost cash money. untraceable CASH.” — Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) November 26, 2012

And remember, Bohn hit this CU team with the same speech he used when he fired Hawkins. Players in that room heard it before — Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) November 26, 2012

Read More…

• So this makes Nick Saban the Mandarin? LSU’s crack video crew has made a trailer for the upcoming Tigers-Tide game in which Les Miles is Tony Stark, or something. From that, we can infer Saban to be the Sir Ben “Thunderbirds” Thunderbirds-Kingsley in this nonexistent movie, for those of you scoring at home.

• Big morning reading material. Major Tuesday morning movement from the NCAA: “The Division I Board of Directors today adopted an overhauled enforcement structure that creates additional levels of infractions, hastens the investigation process and ratchets up penalties for the most egregious violations.” (We know what you’re about to ask, and we believe Mark Richt’s butt-dialing incident would be a Level IV.)

Read More…

A bewildered nation tries to make sense of seeing 133 points scored in a single noon game, with varying degrees of success: 

It is a gorgeous fall day in Morgantown, but not gonna lie: If I don’t see at least 100 points scored today I will consider this trip wasted

— Holly (@Nastinchka) September 29, 2012

Interception, followed by a missed FG? Knock it off, Baylor-WVU. #PointsShortage

— Ryan Hudson (@ry_hudson) September 29, 2012

…and that was the last time Dana Holgorsen called for the kicker.

— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) September 29, 2012

Read More…