West Virginia’s time is now?…..Big Twelve Preview

The final game in the Big Twelve conference regular season has West Virginia hosting the Oklahoma Sooners.  The  following week the Title game in Arlington could match both teams again.  A back-to-back between these teams is a strong possibility.

The college football team from the hills of West Virginia and the Big Red from the midlands are very similar in that both have the personnel that should and would exhibit a winning attitude in 2018.

Top line coaching is important and both schools have outstanding head men..  Dana Holgorsen, head coach at West Virginia  is founded in he same offense as Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley and these two team are close when it comes to concepts in moving the ball.  Both differ from other coaches that run similar schemes as they want to run the ball with fidelity and use the pass to finish off the opponents.  When the Mountaineers and Sooners  are moving the ball on the ground, good things happen and more than not a win is on the end of a match-up.

OU and WV will both run and pass with effectiveness, and when they meet at the end of the year expect a Big Twelve shootout this year. . Add  fan bases in Morgantown and Norman that make their home field tough places for opponents to play, winning home games become paramount in having a title game team in the Big Twelve.   With OU going east this year to play this game, West Virginia has an opportunity to take the fight to the Big Red.  Both coaches will tell you a Conference title is the goal in August and if a team wants to punch a ticket to the Final Four as Oklahoma has accomplished twice, win impressively in that last game in Arlington to give yourself that opportunity.

Looking at West Virginia you cannot avoid the fact that they will have the most lauded pre-season quarterback in the country.  Will Grier is that man and he is a talented player with experience. Grier will be surrounded with talent that includes two wideouts that are first line Big Twelve pass catchers.  Gary Jennings and David Sills V will provide steady hands in routine plays and have the ability to break the long one with great speed.  Kennedy McKay will be the feature back that will run behind a good line.

Doubts that West Virginia can hang with OU or other alike  conference teams such as Kansas State, Iowa State, Texas, TCU and Oklahoma State are numerous.  As the Mountaineers can expect to score aplenty, defense could be their downfall.  Do they have enough new faces to improve upon the worst run defense in the league last year and a team that has lost three starters from the secondary?  . Dante Stills (4 star), freshman end, joins nose tackle brother Darius, as leader of the stoppers. Expect Dante to be really good as a freshman and a future all-conference player at least in his career in Morgantown. He is the best defensive player Holgorsen has recruited.  The smart money says West Virginia will be better than last year on defense and that is really not hard to do as they gave up over thirty points per game in 2018

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Look for improvement in the kicking game in every category.  That too is a must for a championship team.

The hunch here is that West Virginia will be at the near top of the conference and have a great chance to play in the  conference title game.  Sure, on paper this team has deficiencies, but so does all others. 

Head Coach Dana Holgorsen  8th year (53-37)

Games West Virginia will win:  Tennessee, Youngstown State, Texas Tech, Kansas, Baylor

Games West Virginia should win:  Kansas State, Iowa State

Games that are toss-ups:  North Carolina State, Texas, TCU, Oklahoma State

Games that West Virginia will be underdogs but could win:  Oklahoma

2018 Prediction:  9-3  and 6-3 in Big Twelve play