9:20 am: Rejoice! Look at that beautiful picture. It’s the future! The weather will cooperate this week. And yet, this is the quietest I can remember a Saturday morning before a game in my neighborhood, adjacent to the stadium, in a long, long time. I say this now fully aware Hurricane Jinx will materialize, lightning will strike my garage and residents of Wiles Hill will loot the contents. Oh, well. Something interesting has to happen today. Off to the stadium shortly. Do no forget Texts from Game Day.

10:15: Early notes from the press box. Running backs Andrew Buie and Trey Johnson, fullback Matt Lindamood and receiver Ryan Nehlen are all on the dress list — means they’re in uniform and nothing else — but running back/fullback Shawne Alston is not.

10:17: Should we be alarmed? This is the scene in the press box right now.

10:28: Freshmen dressing this week: RB Vernard Roberts, Buie, QB Paul Millard, CB Avery Williams, RB Dustin Garrison, LB Jared Barber, S Shaq Petteway, IR Connor Arlia, DE Kyle Rose and DL Ben Tomasek. I’m intrigued by Kirelawich dressing two freshmen. Each dressed last week and Roberts, Buie, Williams, Garrison and Petteway played. OL Cody Clay and S Nick Kwiatkoski dressed last week but are not dressing this week.

11:07: You probably aren’t rooting for Norfolk State. You might not care if any of their guys have a good game or a bad one. But try not to pull for No. 58 in white today. If you’re lucky, he’ll build you a robot. Or fix your 47-inch television. We talked about both of these this week. Impressive kid.

11:31: Looks like Jeff Braun is out in favor of Quinton Spain at left guard. At least this is what people on Twitter have told me because no one else has. Wonder if Braun is a backup or back at right tackle?

11:38: Why, why, why, why why couldn’t WVU be playing Coastal Carolina this season? Ever wondered what Bill Stewart would look like doing a Herm Edwards impression?

11:40: If you care about such things, WVU is wearing gold tops on blue pants. Norfolk State is in white on white.

11:55: Still working on an official word on a switch at left guard.

11:59: WVU is a 47-point favorite today. Only one web site we in the press box can find (5Dimes.com) lists an over/under. It’s 50.5.

12:03: Misinformation is now sorted out now. Quinton Spain is not starting at left guard, as was reported on pregame radio. He will play at left guard in the game.

12:11: Just to pass the 45 minutes before kickoff, here’s what Norfolk State did against Division II Virginia State last week.

12:26: I kind of like Norfolk State’s uniforms.

12:41: Forgive Cecil Level, but he doesn’t know quite what to do in the relative calm before a game. It’s nothing like the organized chaos of special teams he thrives in during the game.

So Cecil does what he can do get ready and just hits people as can before kickoff.

12:55: Good thing Oliver Luck is in Durham, N.C., today and not here. He’d have to look at this …

12:59: Worst flyover ever. You think flyover and you think jets. Blue Angels. A formation of fighters assembled like birds flying south for the winter. We got instead an enormous C-130 — singular — that flew over the press box. The players were still not on the field and I’m not sure any of the people in the stands were aware of what they’d just missed. And no one was more upset than Bob Hertzel: “I have to re-do my lead.” We all need to read this lead tomorrow.

1:02: Game captains: Bruce Irvin, Eu, Najee Goode and Joe Madsen.

1:05: Hasan Craig one of the NSU captains, of course. And WVU wins the toss and defers to the second half.

1:08: Wild Spartan? Former UCF quarterback Nico Flores enters on the second play, fakes a handoff and shotputs a pass to former Virginia Tech receiver Xavier Boyce for a 56-yard gain on Keith Tandy. First-and-goal from the 13 after a delay of game and a NSU timeout.

1:09: … and in the first stoppage, they play CEJ.

1:15: It promptly goes awry for the Spartans. They take another delay of game, gain nothing on a keeper, lose 12 yards on a pass play and a block in the back, barely make the 40-yard field goal on fourth-and-goal at the 23, lose 10 yards on a hold, switch kickers and then make a 50-yard field goal. Amazing sequence.

1:17: … followed by the worst onside kick I’ve ever seen.

1:18: Regarding NSU’s transfers, I wrote this earlier in the week:

Norfolk State is a bit unusual, though, because the program doesn’t feature many transfers.

“We try not to make a living that way,” defensive coordinator Mark DeBastiani said.

The Spartans have 86 players on their roster, but only 11 transfers – five from Football Bowl Subdivision schools, two from FCS teams, one from Division II and three from junior colleges.

“Typically if we take a transfer, it’s one or two things: No. 1, a big need area for us or, No. 2, a kid we were recruiting out of high school or someone that someone in the profession we know personally can give us some insight about,” DeBastiani said. “Kids aren’t transferring because everything is perfect. The thing about it is if you take on too many of them, it can really ruin your team chemistry.

“If you’ve got a kid sitting here for three years busting his butt and doing everything right and then you take a kid who got kicked out of somewhere else and you put him in front of the guy who’s been here a while, if you don’t win, it kind of festers.”

1:20: I also write about Bitancurt this week, as did everyone else, it seemed, and the kicker was on the cover of the Gazette/Daily Mail game day publication. To my credit, I did predict the miss. Made too much sense to ignore.

1:30: Text from Matt Wells, the sports marketing director who has a say in the in-stadium production, at 1:10 pm: For u sir…

1:34: Ref threw that flag 25 yards and right where it needed to go.

1:38: Acts of commission and that wasn’t a very good play. I go for it. I don’t call that.

1:42: Chris Walley runs for his life and throws a pass to Derrick Demps, who also runs for his life and gains 38 yards. WVU’s first 10 plays gained 19 yards. NSU has 12 plays for 179 yards — and four plays for at least 10 yards. WVU is 0-for-3 on third down. NSU is 2-for-5.

1:48: If WVU averaged on its 10 snaps what it totaled on its 10 snaps in the first quarter, it would have 190 yards — 11 more than NSU has as it takes a 6-0 lead.

1:53: First first down with 13:49 to play in the half and I’m pretty sure Vernard Roberts is WVU’s best option at running back right now.

1:54: NSU nearly makes a play on that ball and it goes for a 45-yard play. Geno stepped forward and threw to Tavon as a defender just missed a diving attempt to bat it down. Stedman walled off three defenders and Tavon danced around and away from them to get the ball to the 1-yard line.

1:59: That was a phenomenal display of futility. Five plays from the 1 gained nothing and the run plays were taken apart up front. Even the NSU defensive backs disarmed the short routes. That does not bode well and the fans who booed venomously know that.

2:07: The Mountaineers are going to play a markedly better team on the road next weekend. The Mountaineers are 5-for-7 in red zone possessions this season — three touchdowns, two field goals, a missed field goal and a turnover on downs. The Mountaineers haven’t had a tangible plan on three today.

2:09: That’s a very iffy call. And that’s 11 penalties for 80 yards already. WVU has no penalties.

2:16: I’m not overstating this, am I? The best play of the game thus far was the iffy personal foul for helmet-to-helmet contact on the incomplete pass? If the official keeps the flag holstered, it’s third-and-10 and who knows what happens the rest of the way on that drive? That was an 81-yard drive. WVU had 64 yards before that drive … and before that penalty.

2:26: Quinton Spain’s first snap at left guard and Geno is sacked.

2:27: More adventures in unusual timeouts at Mountaineer Field. Holgorsen takes one on third-and-11 with 45 seconds left in the half and the ball at his 22. Spartans have no timeouts, but still …

2:28: Spain had a hard time on the third down, Geno was pressured and Devon Brown dropped a catchable, but tough pass. WVU has to punt with 37 seconds left and Corey Smith shanks one on a roll punt. Norfolk State has first-and-10 at the 37. Bad timeout?

2:30: Unbelievable. Irvin gets a 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer when Walley was clearly trying to throw away the ball. Here comes a 40-yard field goal attempt …

2:32: Dana freezes the kicker with a timeout and it matters not. Bad, bad end to that half and WVU heads to the locker room down 12-10 and drenched in boos.

2:49: And then there’s this — please click. And that may explain why NSU has play as though it realizes to be the man you’ve got to beat the man.

2:52: There’s no way WVU is losing this — the final sequence was a little fluky and circumstances led to a 12-10 deficit — but there have been some things highlighted or exposed or whatever. NSU isn’t bad, but they’re not great, either.

3:06: Good stop by the defense and a big possession here by the offense. First-and-10 at the 20 and the offense has discovered a little rhythm the past few possessions, that final first-half possession notwithstanding.

3:25: NSU now has two field records: 17 penalties and 162 yards. the offense has scored touchdowns on three straight drives and points on five of six with the exception being the weird drive at the end of the half.

3:36: Eighteen plays and four touchdowns this quarter for WVU.

3:40: NSU is going to run away with the three penalty records: penalties, yards and first downs for the opponent. The Spartans have already given the Mountaineers eight first downs by penalty. Only twice before in school history had two teams combined for eight. With WVU giving NSU one, that’s a fourth flag record today.

3:56: Starting the Paul Millard countdown clock after this possession. Can they get six straight drives with a touchdown?

5:39: Interesting postgame stories abound, including Geno ripping the offense at halftime, Millard repeatedly calling Jake Spavital to see of he could get in the game and Holgorsen “flat-out” embarrassed by the offense during the first half. That’s all in the holster. For now, enjoy the rapid reaction, which I’ll continually update with quotes.