A few simmering questions to ponder on the eve of the Pin Stripe Bowl

[Orangeyes]

Is there a chance that dueling banjos will be playing the national anthem?

Whatever happened to Barbie the sultry Mountaineer chick who used to frequent the WVU message boards? (BTW does anyone have any pictures of her, you know, to kind of bring our younger readers up to snuff ; ) ; )

Did Barbie go the way of our very own Marci, take a trip down the altar and become a wife/mother and leave all of that sex appeal stuff to the memories of her youth and leave grown men with a void in their lives? (Again for our younger posters can someone provide some visual material? ; ) ; ) ; )

If WVU were to pull the upset is it possible they might hoist a mock Ben Scwartzwalder trophy to mock us?

Will our mayor eat the pepperoni rolls or don a coonskin cap much as Daniel Boone did and wear the WV T-shirt?

Will the West Virginia mascot have to wear an Otto the Orange ski cap for a game next season or will Miner have to send Manilla a case of Syracuse Pale Ale?

Will Beckett Wales repeat the performance of Nick Provo?

Will they give HCDM a ticker-tape parade from Yankee Stadium back to his old high school Herbert H. Lehman which is 10 minutes away should the Orangemen capture their 2nd Pin Stripe Bowl?

Will Scott Shafer come up with 18 different blitz packages to throw at Geno Smith? Last season he had 17 different ones of the first 18 he tossed at the vaunted Mountaineer QB.

Will West Virginia's hotel practice or Syracuse's outdoor practice in the rain prove to be the better preparation for actual game conditions? Current game time forecast is 30's and snowfall.

With the over under at 70 which would you choose in view of the fact SU-WVU 2011 was 49+23=72 or WVU vs Clemson in their bowl was 70+33=103 points or SU vs Kansas St 2010 36+34=70

Which suspension will be more impactful to the final result, West Virginia losing their starting center, one who started 50 games in his career or

SU losing the services of their Tank Package TD maker Adonis Ameen Moore? Throw in the limited availability of line backer Marquis Spruill due to some alcohol induced foolishness. The scale would seem to weigh in favor of West Virginia here.

Who will ring the bell more on Saturday, Ryan Nassib or Geno Smith? They were both equal to the task Thursday on the NYSE. Since 1995 several folks have messed it up.

Who will have the loudest cheering section? NYC is the heart of our alumni base. In Morgantown the Eer's fans are notorious for their boisterous enthusiasm. Which fans will be more vocal? WVU won round one as they were chanting at the NYSE

Which team wants it more, which team wanted to be there more? The answers are important and the results will answer those questions.

 

[sutomcat]

We haven't talked much about Spruill. Losing him is a big issue.

How long will he be benched? The first half only? That is my guess.

Who replaces him?

You would think it would be Dan Vaughn, which would be nice for him, as he was a starter last season and has had to swallow his pride and focus on special teams his senior season. He will surely replace Spruill when SU plays its base 4-3 defense.

But I expect WVU to use 3 and 4 WR sets most of the game, which would mean we will play a ton of Okie. Our normal Okie alignment takes Davis off the field but leaves Spruill in. I think the staff might opt to leave Davis in when Spruill is on the bench (and not play Vaughn), which would seem a better alignment given all the playmakers and speed the Mountaineers have on offense.

So the biggest beneficiary of playing time with Spruill out might well be Davis.

Thoughts?