I have two pieces of good news today.

1. Skyler Howard is OK. He’s sore, but everyone expects he’ll start Saturday. The ribs will bother him for a while — maybe that open week between the second and third games isn’t that bad after all — but no one doubts how tough he is. My sense is people either acquired or cultivated an appreciation for the senior Saturday. He left the game, his backups were not particularly good and he gave the team a boost upon his return. Personally, I thought he was good. He looked smooth and comfortable, and that was evident with the mid-range passes. We’ll dive deeper in the Good and the Bad, but WVU believes that’s the best Howard has thrown the ball.

2. It’s time. There were definitive moments within Saturday’s texts when the scope of another severe injury hit and there were definitive moments when myriad other reactions set the scene. Oh, how I missed Texts From Game Day. Sarcastic. Salient. Overstated. Underrated. It’s all there, and it’s fantastic. I appreciate your comments of my creation. Your standing up followed by your standing ovation. Your kindliness to listen to the true MC. Those who know me text me because agree. My edits are in [brackets].

11:50:
Dubious game feed queued up!

11:50:
gold capes looking sharp on the pride ?

11:50:
:Clears Throat: IT’S TIME! The Glorious return of the single most important thing in the Country….TEXTS! FROM!! GAMEDAAAAAAY!!!

11:52:
I know I’ve been waiting for this rematch of the 2007 BCS Ti….ah [snap]. Damnit. Anybody needs me, I’ll be curled up in the corner crying.

11:52:
Homme side concourse is a hot [fudge] mess. I missed the band because i couldn’t get to my seat

11:55:
Facilities and field all look sharp.

11:57:
can’t believe how verklempt i’m feeling through this pregame show

11:57:
Game Day crew just went Unanimous picking the Mountaineers….

11:58:
My newborn baby girl just spit up on her WVU onesie, let’s hope this isn’t foreshadowing of today’s performance

12:08:
that will solve the kickoff return angst

12:08:
HCDH hair at 12:06pm Update; Mid Season Form http://t.co/p4PMKIZmPk

12:09:
3 and out. can we get 45 and out? and how can a TE be an ineligible receiver?

12:10:
knew they would run Howard to get him going

12:13:
Shell loses a yard. Howard overthrows. Punt into the end zone. Sound familiar?

12:18:
Holy [saint], Kyzir White looks the part.

12:19:
Wtf? I thought it was EpiPin Day

12:21:
Hot as hell out here! #50ShadesOfDark. So far so normal. Shell still doing what he does…not a lot.

12:22:
shell dozer

12:22:
Huddles? What is this sorcery??

12:22:
Good to see that we are halfway through the first and Brando is starting to sober up.

12:23:
shelldozer or shelldancer?

12:25:
Dang…it took us FOREVER to score 3. Smh.

12:25:
#TeamBogDownInTheRedZome

12:26:
Hate the FG and the 3rd-down play. Liked Howard on that drive, though. Ice [finally] broken.

12:26:
HCDH sometimes (often) you can be #toosmartforyourowngood

12:27:
Shane who? Oh…is he the AD? I almost forgot.

12:28:
my kingdom for a naked bootleg with run pass option

12:29:
kick off angst back on short kickoff

12:32:
Kyzir! missile II

12:32:
For god’s sake, keep lock in the game!

12:33:
adventures in punt returning

12:33:
New punt returner….same song and dance….the more things change, yada yada.

12:36:
Three punts, no muffs….progress

12:38:
Justin Crawford might just be fun….

12:38:
Crawford’s better than Shell, too.

12:41:
Baled out!

12:41:
STICK DRAW!!!

12:41:
stick draw!

12:41:
stick-draw [mon frere]

12:41:
get out of the wsy#70

12:42:
Lovely run…dare I say it was

12:44:
If Shell gets drafted his agent has to go for a big Soul Glo deal.

12:44:
why does Mizzou have marijuana leaf on helmets?

12:46:
illegal pick

12:46
Oh Lord…not another one! #Defense.

12:46:
starteding to wish we had SEC officials every game

12:48:
Someone needs to teach Gary Jennings how to call a fair catch.

12:48:
ugh no Cajuste

12:54:
This is all we [physically] need…losing Cajuste to a [unfortunate] knee injury. [Stab] me with the LA Raiders.

12:57:
Coverage looks good in the second quarter

12:57:
If Yodny’s done and if its an ACL, we’re gonna need a live chicken. Enough is enough of this [sadness].

12:59:
Kyzir, Crawford and Shuler take that All-CAmp Team [stuff] seriously.

1:00:
Shorts!

1:04:
Dana Holgorsen hasn’t forgotten how to not score touchdowns in the red zone

1:06:
Red Zone field goals: a Thing at WVU since who the [farce] knows when.

1:06:
That time, he should’ve run.

1:07:
Oh…Skyler…don’t try to call the audible, bro. Just keep it simple and on your level. Smh.

1:12:
The field crew needs to play Daddy Yankee’s “Shakey” for this gold shaker business here.

1:13:
Dana used a timeout?

1:13:
Poor #1…that corner is weak and Mizzou is milking it!

1:13:
They finally found our secondary.

1:13:
There can’t be any tape on Crawford that Mizzu studied and said “yes we’re going after Number 1.” And yet here we are.

1:13:
Dana in full McCracken mode

1:15:
nice tackle Fleming

1:16:
that’s a sad little sec flag

1:17:
This is very … well … methodical.

1:19:
Tim Brando thinks 25314’s uncle coached Tavon.

1:21:
Not making hay

1:22:
Oh crap they found the tight end, too.

1:23:
Mango farming tight end

1:24:
Huh-oh. TE. [Dumpster] fire.

1:25:
I legit winced when you informed us Missouri had tight ends. Imagine my reaction to seem Missouri USING them…

1:26:
Thank the football gods #6 can’t catch

1:29:
Way to go away from the hot hand, Mizzou.

1:30:
Lock gets in a rhythm, so Mizzou’s new coach decides it’s Zanders time and the drive stalls inside the WVU 40. We’re not the only ones with [savvy] coach

1:30:
ing decisions.

1:31:
Either of these guys know there is no rule that says you change everythign you’re doing when you get inside the 20?

1:31:
Steamin Willie!

1:31:
As meh as Howard can be…this team needs him

1:32:
Breaking down Skyler?

1:33:
oh my goodness

1:33:
Fumblin Willie! [fumble].

1:33:
Now we know what happened to Crest.

1:33:
Where is Mack?!?!?

1:34:
Good ole Wrong Way Willie

1:34:
Jarret Brown!

1:35:
*DMX barking*

1:35:
“He carries that thing like a load of bread!”

1:35:
bullet dodged

1:36:
SOMETHING WENT RIGHT ON SPECIAL TEAMS!!!

1:36:
Chuggin for Chugunov

1:36:
Thank you, Mizzou.

1:37:
William Crest might have telekinetic powers

1:37:
Did McCann kick that or did Crest try to throw that I’m not sure

1:37:
A QB named, in part, CHUG. Student section has a new favorite player.

1:37:
….unless he throws into triple coverage all the time. Oof!

1:38:
Aaaaaand this is why Skyler starts

1:38:
Yakety Sax!!!!

1:38:
The last time WVU gave out these gold pom-poms I got kicked out of the LSU game

1:38:
Good thing Mizzou sucks.

1:38:
Will Grier has the job on a silver platter already

1:38:
Let’s hear the Skylar bashing now.

1:39:
RUN OUT THE CLOCK YOU RECEDING HAIRLINE [AMIGO].

1:41:
“progressed” through qbs 1-3 in one quarter. not good.

1:43:
there will be no trickett-like improvement from year one to two for skyler, apparently.

1:44:
Get Crest … outta town!!!

1:44:
We now take you live to Dana’s halftime chat with the backup QBs…

View post on imgur.com

1:46:
that said, hoping chugs starts second half in better circumstances.

1:47:
alt rock does not translate to marching band format, btw. (at least as halftime show.)

1:48:
Dude, if Dana loved the train halftime show at the OB, imagine him watching this Nirvana show right now

1:59:
I never thought I would say this…I hope Howard is okay

2:04:
oh no in the red zone again

2:04:
whew! penalty. out of the red zone

2:05:
Clearly Dana dunked Skyler in a redbull bath at the half.

2:06:
oh no. in the red zone again

2:07:
red zone curse broken?

2:12:
Missouri has a coach with the first name Joe Jon? And you used to coach at Baylor?? can’t make this [silliness] up.

2:13:
I guess we know why Kyzir isn’t a receiver like his brothers

2:14:
I thought we lost all of our Cruise Missiles….then Kyzir White happened. LittleGAM has Arrived.

2:16:
Mike, ask Dana about kickoffs

2:17:
Dont think this expansion has helped. Came out at halftime to get a drank. Still waiting in line halfway through the third quarter. Something’s wrong.

2:18:
I look at these uniforms and all I think is

2:19:
“I woke up half naked in a CAT Scan Machine….” Never change, FS1

2:20:
dependable dakiel

2:22:
So, um, hey Dana…Skylers ribs clearly hurt. Bad. Running game looks good. Maybe adjust the play calling? Maybe??

2:27:
did big 12 refs take over at the half??? that was a [bad] call against Douglas.

2:28:
Is Jennings aware of the fair catch rule?

2:28:
fair catch please?

2:31:
QB Whisperer my [aardvark]

2:32:
Holgy runnin a full back? Tricky. Next thing you know, he’ll throw it to a tight end.

2:36:
Dana “Red Zone” Holgorsen

2:36:
Know how we think Huggs and Holgs are a lot alike? Sometimes I wonder about one coaching the other’s team. This red zone offense is what I

2:36:
imagine Huggs coaching football would be like.

2:37:
Molina GAKM – kicking man

2:37:
Lambert who?

2:38:
meanwhile….Bob Stoops is crying in his Cheerios as Houston moves to a 33-17 lead lolololol

2:41:
how many dropped ints?

2:43:
Commercial Break…lets flip over to ABC..and…oh. Oh my.

2:57:
That QB did not see that coming.

2:57:
Appy St’s kicker transferred to Mizzou?

2:57:
Blocked kick sponsored by J Arndt

2:58:
Arndt you glad he did that?

3:22:
Steve Harvey is on the play card. Seriously. I wanna know who comes up with those….future blog piece?

3:26:
Eh…Garbage TD late aside, here’s the defense today summed up in one photo;

3:28:
#13 is getting gone after often.

3:28:
WVU quit a few minutes early here

3:29:
This here us some classic WVU football

3:29:
I’m not panicking….I’m not panicking….I’m not panicking….

3:29:
Ugh. End this already!

3:29:
Gibbie put the starters back in! Our friends in the desert thank him.

3:31:
point spread saved!

3:40:
Meanwhile, our entertainment purposes only friends in the last 2 minutes of the game were like