West Virginia Football: 2017 season preview and predictions

The 2017 West Virginia football season is right around the corner and here’s the preview, with some predictions for the upcoming campaign.

West Virginia had a successful 2016 under head coach Dana Holgorsen’s direction. In fact, the Mountaineers finished with a 10-3 record, their best since Holgorsen’s first season in Morgantown back in 2011 when they went to the Orange Bowl.

Following that first 10-win campaign, the Mountaineers went four straight seasons without surpassing the eight-win mark. That’s something that the head coach has to avoid it he wants to remain off the hot seat. One step forward, four steps back is not the ideal way to run a program.

Unfortunately, he’s losing his starting quarterback from last season and a number of starters on both sides of the ball. In fact, the Mountaineers are bringing back just 10 total starters which could make for a rough season in the Big 12. Luckily, the conference is as wide open as it’s been in years and they have a realistic shot of making it to the conference title game.

The Big 12 still hasn’t mastered the divisions aspect yet, so the top two teams will play for the title while the rest of the conference is stuck waiting until next year for another opportunity. That’s something the Big 12 needs to fix.

If West Virginia can get off to the start it did in 2016 — it was 6-0 to start the year — and maintain that competitiveness without wavering in conference play, there’s a good chance this team could be playing for a chance to head to a New Year’s Six Bowl or College Football Playoff.

Let’s take a look at the season preview for the Mountaineers, as well as some predictions.

Offense

As discussed earlier, the quarterback situation is changing, but we will discuss that last. The running back position is the most set in stone of any on the offensive side of the ball, it seems, as Justin Crawford returns for his senior season.

Crawford had an outstanding junior year, racking up 1,184 yards and four touchdowns while averaging a sparkling 7.3 yards per carry. He really stood out for an improved West Virginia offense and took carries away from Rushel Shell. Sophomore Kennedy McCoy will be his likely backup this season after finishing with 472 yards and four scores on 6.5 yards per touch.

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At wide out, the only returning starter is Ka’Raun White, brother of Kevin White, who was third on the team in receiving last season with 48 catches for 583 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Gary Jennings (10 catches, 165 yards and two TDs in 2016) and sophomore Marcus Simms (six catches, 95 yards and one TD) will also get starting time at wide out.

Lastly, the offensive line returns just two starters in senior Kyle Bosch at left guard and sophomore Colton McKivitz at right tackle. This will be a rather inexperienced group.

Can Will Grier return to 2015 glory?

Skyler Howard had a strong season in 2016, passing for over 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns, but he’s since moved on. That leaves Florida transfer Will Grier to take over his duties exclusively.

Many remember Grier from his days with the Gators before getting punished for using performance-enhancing drugs. He was suspended for a year and his hot start with the Gators, leading them to a 6-0 record, was all for naught as he didn’t play another snap and the team went 4-4 in his absence.

Can he return to that glory or did he sit out too long to even remember what it took to be successful? The junior quarterback has the skillset to lead the Mountaineers’ offense to glory, but if he can’t find that confidence, it’ll be a long season.

Defense

If there’s one problem on the defensive side of the ball, outside of the secondary that struggled mightily in 2016, is the defensive line. The unit is extremely inexperienced and returns just a couple of guys who even have experience at the collegiate level.

In fact, expected starting nose tackle Xavier Pegues, a senior, had just one total tackle last season and sophomore projected defensive end starters Reese Donahue and Adam Shuler combined for 46 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack last year. The latter could be a star as he had 34 tackles of his own.

As for the linebackers, sophomore David Long is an absolute stud. The outside linebacker was sixth on the team in tackles, 63, as a freshman and had 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks as well. Senior Al-Rasheed Benton also returns at middle linebacker. He was second on the team in total tackles last season with 80.

Senior Xavier Preston has all the talent in the world but couldn’t seem to grasp the playbook in 2016, but he will be the other projected outside linebacker. This unit is as talented as any in the conference.

Can the secondary rebound from horrid 2016?

If you said West Virginia’s secondary had a rough 2016 season, I’d call you a liar because that’s an extreme understatement. The season was more of a nightmare than anything for the Mountaineers’ defensive backfield as it ranked 104th in the country in passing yards allowed per game (257.7).

Fortunately, Dravon Askew-Henry is back from an ACL injury that he suffered in 2016 and is expected to have a major impact on the unit. He’s been raved about and he’s a potential All-Big 12 safety. Elijah Battle started a few games last season at corner and he’s going to be battling it out with Syracuse grad transfer Corey Winfield — he started two years with the Orange.

Moreover, Hakeem Bailey had a strong spring at cornerback and could be a start in the making for the Mountaineers.

Kyzir White, another brother of former Mountaineer and current Chicago Bear Kevin White, will be back playing the Spur position and that will surely help both the defensive backfield and linebackers, taking some pressure off both.

All-in-all, this unit is gaining some experience and it should learn from a horrid 2016 season, likely improving in every metric.

2017 schedule

Opening the season with an up-and-coming Virginia Tech team at a neutral site could set the tone for the rest of West Virginia’s 2017 season. If the Mountaineers come to play and fight hard to get the win, they could use that as a momentum-builder and it could lead to six more wins in a row before facing Oklahoma State.

However, it’s not that easy. The Hokies will also be replacing a talented starting quarterback, but their defense may be slightly ahead of where West Virginia’s is right now. It’s a relatively evenly-matched game and should be one of the best of Week 1.

The conference schedule for West Virginia is tough, but it’s not overwhelming. The Mountaineers get potential Big 12 favorite Oklahoma State at home but the other top dog, Oklahoma, on the road to end the year. Kansas State, Baylor and TCU all account for tough conference road games while each home contest is winnable.

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Prediction: 8-4 (5-4 Big 12)

When you look at the schedule, it’s not overly daunting, especially since last year’s team fared well against each opponent on this year’s schedule. A neural game against Virginia isn’t going to be easy, but that one’s a toss-up. The Mountaineers should win the next three games easily and head into the bye with a potential 4-0 record. They’re good enough to start 7-0, but there’s likely to be a trip-up, or two, on the road.

Oklahoma State and Oklahoma are the two sure losses while I could also see them struggling at Kansas State, at Baylor and at TCU. An 8-4 record isn’t a failure, but it’s something Holgorsen wants to avoid letting cause a downward spiral.