– Last Updated on July 25, 2018 10:36 am
2018 Football Preview -Big 12 – Mountaineers
Looking for 2018 West Virginia Mountaineers predictions? The Mountaineers had a solid start to the season, starting off at 5-2 , but with the lingering of losing a couple of winnable game versus Virginia Tech and TCU.
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2018-19 College Football Preview – West Virginia Mountaineers
Head Coach: Dana Holgorsen
2017 Record: 7-6
West Virginia Mountaineers Odds to win the 2018 FBS Championship: 50/1
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The ending was more disappointing as they finished off the season 2-4, including the bowl game and they lost quarterback Will Grier to a finger injury.
That dampened things in Morgantown, but there is a reason for optimism this season. The Mountaineers will boast one of the more prolific offense in the country in a potentially transitional Big 12 conference.
2018 West Virginia Mountaineers Predictions: Team Strengths
Glory Days: This West Virginia offense has the potential to be something special. This is an offense that has the makings of those fantastic offenses led by Pat White all those years ago.
Will Grier returns to the driver’s seat and looks to propel the West Virginia offense to bigger and better things. Which is saying something because last year West Virginia was really good on the offensive side of the ball.
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Grier also has weapons out wide that can make some plays. Gary Jennings returns, who caught just under 100 passes for over a thousand yards along with David Sills V who caught 18 passes for touchdowns.
With Ka’Raun White gone, look for Marcus Simms to step right in with no problems. Simms caught 35 passes for 663 yards last year. Look for his numbers to increase across the board.
You can’t get it to your receivers if you don’t have protection and the Mountaineers should have plenty of protection. The Mountaineers brings back four of their five starters from last year, including Yodny Cajuste and Colton McKivitz at the tackle spots.
2018 West Virginia Mountaineers Predictions: Team Weaknesses
7-on-7 Drills: West Virginia has never had a great defense or even a good defense. That’s been one of their problems since joining the Big 12. Yes, teams don’t play defense well in the conference, but a stop or two doesn’t hurt.
For as great as their offense might be this year, it might be that bad defensively. The Mountaineers will have to replace three of their starters in the secondary and in a 3-3-5 defense, having a good secondary is basically mandatory.
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Depth & Size: The Mountaineers will also have to replace starters from their defensive line and it was pretty awful last year. They lost a couple of key players due to transfer, but the good news is that they will have the potential to replace them with players from big-time programs.
Kenny Bigelow was a big time get for the Trojans of USC, but injuries have derailed his career. He will look to restart his career by coming to West Virginia. He’ll have the opportunity to play and try and stop the run and penetrate in the middle of that line.
West Virginia Mountaineers Prediction: 9-3
West Virginia has a pretty stiff schedule. They open the season against Tennessee and after getting a breather, they travel to Wolfpack country to take on NC State.
West Virginia’s final four games consist of going to Austin, playing TCU, and facing off with the state of Oklahoma on the road and at home against the Sooners.
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As a floor, I see this team winning at least five games right from the start, but this is a team good enough where there aren’t any games where they will for sure lose.
They can compete with anyone on their schedule. It won’t be easy and there will be a ton of close games. In fact, I can guarantee them winning five games, but as I say I don’t see any games where I can write in ink that they’ll lose. There are seven games out there that can go either way.
If I had to lean in a direction, I’ll say they win most of those games, but will it be enough to seriously be considered for a College Football Playoff berth? No, but could they potentially play in the Big 12 title game? Yes, absolutely, that is definitely up for grabs.
I’ve got them winning nine games and they could potentially get to ten or even eleven if that is good enough to play for the Big 12 title and they win their bowl game, as well.
2018 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Schedule
- 9/1/18 3:30 PM ET TENN
- 9/8/18 6:00 PM ET YSU
- 9/15/18 3:30 PM ET @NCST
- 9/22/18 TBD KSU
- 9/29/18 TBD @TTU
- 10/6/18 TBD KU
- 10/13/18 TBD @ISU
- 10/25/18 TBD BAY
- 11/3/18 TBD @TEX
- 11/10/18 TBD TCU
- 11/17/18 TBD @OKST
- 11/23/18 8:00 PM ET OKLA
What do you think about our 2018 West Virginia Mountaineers predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2018!
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