BUCKHANNON – It’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of University’s football program or their head coach for a while now.
I doubt anyone up there cares what I think, which is fine, but their childish antics last Friday need to be called out.
In their game with B-U, their defensive line jumped offsides and as some sort of self-punishment, all 11 players dropped and started doing push-ups, some of which looked like their players were doing the worm.
What a childish, stupid and boorish thing to do in the middle of a game. Why they weren’t flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct is beyond me. Were they looking for their 15 seconds of fame on Sports Center or something?
It wasn’t needed and it’s just more arrogance from a program that exudes in that type of behavior.
The thing that really rubs me the wrong way about the University is that arrogance…because let’s be honest, despite all the regular-season wins that John Kelley and his Hawks have piled up over the years, you know what they have truly won – nothing.
Not one football state championship banner hangs at UHS and they have appeared in all of one title game, but yet they act like they are the run Class AAA.
Despite having players in the past with names like Hostelter, Nehlen and Holgorsen on his rosters and former NFL players on his past and current coaching staff, Kelley has yet to win the big game and only been there once.
People around here complain about the arrogance of Bridgeport, but you know what? At least they back it up with state championships. The Hawks? Just pretenders.
You may have to go almost 50 years back for the last one but the record books tell me the Bucs have five state championships in football; University has zero.
Maybe 2021 will be the year of the Hawks….yeah…probably not.
Looking at the Crunch Time standings and games for this week.
RECORDS
Duane 20-10 (3-2 last week)
Brian 19-11 (4-1 last week)
Buckhannon-Upshur (2-5) at Grafton (5-2) – I truly think the Bucs can win their final thee games and reach that .500 mark which would be a huge accomplishment for first-year head coach Zach Davis. Grafton is a good team based on their 5-2 record and their No. 14 ranking in Class AA. That said, I think that this a game the Bucs can get. My pick: Buckhannon-Upshur, 28-24; Brian’s pick: Buckhannon-Upshur, 21-20.
Philip Barbour (2-4) at Lewis County (1-6) – Philip Barbour is much improved this year but they had to cancel their game last week with Grafton. I think this will be a close game, but I’m not sure exactly what is going on with the Philip Barbour team health-wise and with Lewis County being at home, I am going to give them the slight edge. My pick: Lewis County, 23-22; Brian’s pick: Lewis County, 14-6.
Alderson Broaddus (0-7) at WVWC (0-7) – A pair of winless teams. The good news for WVWC is that the offense found the end zone for the first time in four games against Notre Dame last Saturday, the bad news is the defense gave up 52 points. This will be the first ever football game between the two schools. WVWC will have to improve on their negative 22 yards rushing from last week as well. My pick: Alderson Broaddus, 27-21; Brian’s pick: West Virginia Wesleyan, 35-28.
Clemson (4-2) at Pitt (5-1) – At the start of the season, who would have guessed that Pitt would be ranked and Clemson not entering this contest. Pitt is one embarrassing loss to Western Michigan away from being perfect on the season. Clemson gets some of their mojo back after beating the Panthers. My pick: Clemson, 34-13; Brian’s pick: Pitt, 21-14.
WVU (2-4) at TCU (3-3) – I see no evidence on the table for West Virginia winning this game. Maybe something changed over their bye week, but I just don’t see the Mountaineers beating anyone else this year outside of Kansas. My pick: TCU, 31-17; Brian’s pick: WVU, 30-27.
