MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU students and fans turned out in big numbers on WVU’s at the Life Sciences Building on WVU’s downtown campus for Friday’s live broadcast of “The Pat McAfee Show” a day before WVU opens the 2024 football season against Penn State.
McAfee, a Pittsburgh native and former Mountaineer kicker, expressed earlier in the week that he hoped some people would show up and they did.
WVU teacher professor Crystal Smith arrived when the gates opened at 9 a.m. for what she called “an important part of campus culture.”
“I think it’s so important for everybody to get out this weekend for the first home football game of the season and support a great Mountaineer like Pat McAfee,” Smith said. “There are just some things that are more important than a Friday morning lecture.
Members of the WVU Swim team attended broadcast wearing speedos to bring more attention to the sport and hopefully draw fans to their events.
“We just thought it would be good for publicity for the swim team since swimming is not well-known on campus,” Braden Osborn said. “We ran it by our coaches and the coaches gave us the green light, so now we’re here.”
Kara Blount is a junior majoring in early elementary education. She came with a group which made signs with the goal of earning a spot on the national broadcast.
“This one says, ‘We Love Pat McAfee,’ and the other one says, ‘Country Roads Brought Pat Times 2 Home,’ Blount said. “We want to be on TV! Fingers crossed, we want to be on TV!”
WVU alum Grant Gatewood said the show provided him the proper momentum to get him ready for Saturday.
“We needed this; we’ve needed this for a long time! We haven’t had a home opener like this since the 1980s and it looks like everyone is here for it,” Gatewood said. “This is what we want. This is what we need. This is Big 12 football and WVU is on top.”
Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff Show will bring pizza, drinks and sign making materials to the WVU Mountainlair Friday ahead of tomorrow’s national broadcast. The students will make signs to display during the show. The winning sign will receive $500.
The Pat McAfee Show is a top-rated three-hour sports talk show that airs on ESPN.