Owen Schmitt’s Gut Guarantee: ‘West Virginia Hard Edge Football’ Is Coming

A look at what the Runaway Beer Truck had to say ahead of WVU's matchup with Virginia.

In the Gun Podcast

This is a big one for the Mountaineers. And if they are able to leave Charlotte with a W, it's going to put West Virginia back on the college football map for the first time in years. Obviously, there will still be plenty of work to do, but it will certainly get everyone's attention — a 3-0 start with a win over a ranked team.

Every week on In the Gun, we run an episode called "The Schmitt List," where Owen Schmitt gives us an inside look at what Rich Rodriguez's pregame message for that week will likely be, hops on the grease board to talk X's and O's, reveals his score on the violence meter (chance the opponent folds if WVU keeps punching them in the mouth), and rounds out the show with his gut guarantee.

Big O's gut guarantee for Week 3 vs. Virginia

“This is where the birth of the hard edge of the program is born. This is the season for us. My gut guarantee is — play 60 minutes of playing like your hair is on fire, West Virginia hard edge football, and we come out of this game. Good, clean, smart, fast, fun football, and we will be victorious. We have to play our brand of football. That means on offense, we've got to wear them out. This week it matters the most because this, to me, could evolve our season into a great season, or this could propel us into a very mediocre, kind of up-and-down deal. This is where we get our confidence as a team.”

A major swing game it is

I know most of you don't like looking ahead and want to keep it focused on this game, and that's fine, but Owen is spot on here.

If you win this game, you go home for the Big 12 opener under the lights against Oklahoma State, fueling the fan base with the most excitement the program has seen in years. Then, you head to Ames (a tough atmosphere) to play an Iowa State team everyone believes will finish dead last in the league before coming back to Morgantown for a two-game homestand.

The Mountaineers can get on a serious roll OR they could put themselves in a tough spot with a loss and several challenging games remaining. This one against Virginia isn't going to make or break the season, but it will reveal a lot about where this team is and in which direction this season is likely headed.

Watch the full episode here