West Virginia Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2017
By Phil Poling
The Mountaineers return from Texas with another Lone Star state opponent waiting for them. When Texas Tech comes to town in October though, the Red Raiders could be desperately fighting for their coach to keep his job.
Kliff Kingsbury is an offensive mastermind, evidenced by Texas Tech’s 43.7 points per game average from a year ago (fifth-best in the nation). But to be a legitimate threat in college football, both sides of the ball need to be effective in order to succeed.
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Kingsbury’s defense was dead last in opponent’s points per game in 2016, giving up 43.5; the Mountaineers gave up 43 points only twice last season.
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The WVU football team doesn’t get enough credit for their defense, though. Tony Gibson’s unit held Texas Tech to 17 points last year, the Red Raiders second-lowest total on the season. And that game was in Lubbock. Imagine what’ll happen when they come to Morgantown with a new quarterback and have to play in front of those Mountaineer Maniacs.
Replacing Patrick Mahomes’ production isn’t a realistic goal for the new Red Raiders’ quarterback, even if that player has a background in running his own show. And by show, I mean a furniture restoration business. Nic Shimonek will be dealing with different leather as the quarterback, but got some experience in 2016 as a backup. He threw for 464 yards and six touchdowns.
After being on the road for two games to open Big 12 play, the Mountaineers finally get to perform in front of those Maniacs again. Texas Tech is one of those games where Justin Crawford rips off a couple 60-yard runs and racks up over 200 yards. With an inexperienced quarterback for the Red Raiders, Kyzir White’s versatility makes him a difficult player to account for.