(begin broadcast - pregame chatter)
Pam: "Welcome to Big East football on ESPN, I'm Pam Ward, joining me is Dan Hawkins, who is an accomplished coach and new to the booth. Dan, this is a big game for you, how are you feeling?"
Hawk: “It has been awesome for me, and was awesome coaching (at Colorado)...at the same time, Christopher Columbus set sail once, and everyone said he was crazy. Coach Embree does things the right way and he cares about the kids. That makes it easier for me (to move on). I'm fired up.”
Pam: "Dan, West Virginia is breaking in a new coach of their own, Dana Holgerson."
Hawk: "The variety, the abnormality of the coaching in college football is unbelievable. Coaching in the Big East, you're going to see the spectrum, and that's part of what makes it fun. Dana Holgerson is a great guy, he'll get the job done. The biggest thing you need to do is go in there and galvanize some things, because they've been through a lot.”
Pam: "Dan, West Virginia's excited for their home opener, while Marshall limps in after a Week 1 defeat to the Buckeyes."
Hawk: "There's an opportunity for West Virginia to kind of go, 'OK, we're finally home,' and Marshall, they did a nice job (in a 41-3 season-opening loss) against Ohio State.”
(1st Quarter, West Virginia in possession, 1st and 10)
Pam: "Little read-option keep by Geno Smith, gain of 3. Dan, you looked at Geno Smith when you were at Colorado, yes?"
Hawk: "Yeah, I though he was a good player. His coach was going 'Hey I got a quarterback' and I said 'yeah I know, but we don't need a quarterback right now, we're all set.' It's good he landed on his feet.”
(2nd Quarter, Marshall in possession, 4th and 10)
Pam: "Marshall is set to punt."
Hawk: "You always look at special teams as a chance to get something big done. It's just not a pause between offense and defense. All of that work and attention to detail comes into play, and you have to have great special teams. I'm a big believer in that, always have been. A lot of guys out there don't want the stigma of being a special teams coach. They see themselves as an offensive coordinator or a defensive coordinator.”
(3rd Quarter, West Virginia in possession, 2nd and 3)
Pam: "Tavon Austin with a nice looking run for a first down. Dan, your impressions of Austin?"
Hawk: “He has a lot of moxie, he really does, ... He had a great attitude about it. He's determined and vilified enough to get after people but humble enough to know it's not always going to go his way.”
(3rd Quarter, Marshall fails on a fake punt attempt)
Pam: "Big gamble for Marshall, it doesn't pay off, now they're in real trouble."
Hawk: "Well as a coach, you kind of look at the scoreboard and go, 'Hey, we need to make something happen here, let's have the punter roll out and try to get it downfield.' If it doesn't work, you kind of go, 'Well, OK" and try to work it out in practice."
(4th Quarter, West Virginia in control)
Pam: "The Mountaineers are just roadgrading the Thundering Herd at this point Dan."
Hawk: "I don't get into semantics. The wind will always blow. It's always going to be hot or cold. You just have to go out there and play.”
(postgame wrap)
Pam: "West Virginia wins 34-10, any final thoughts Dan?"
Hawk: “Well, it just came down to one play against a very good football team. They made the play and Marshall didn't. As a coach, you love to have a win for seniors and the effort they put forth but you just them they can hold there heads up and fix the little things next time.”
