West Virginia football enters the 2017 season with reasonably high expectations, but don’t buy the hype just yet.
After a strong 2016 season, West Virginia opens the 2017 campaign looking to get back to that 10-win plateau. Winning 10 games in the college ranks isn’t an easy task, just ask Dana Holgorsen. He has done so twice in his West Virginia tenure, but he followed those up with disappointing seasons.
However, things could be different in 2017, right? The Mountaineers have added a talented transfer at quarterback in Will Grier and the run game looks to be improving with Justin Crawford back for another season.
West Virginia does, however, have a number of question marks. There’s a good chance this team struggles a bit more in 2017 following that 10-win campaign in 2016.
Let’s take a look at five reasons why the Mountaineers may struggle more than people think.
5. Inexperienced offensive line
There’s a major question mark when it comes to the offensive line. Will this unit be ready for the heart of Big 12 play? There are just two starters returning from the 2016 team. That line from a season ago helped the Mountaineers record the 17th-most total yards per game in the nation.
This season, it’s all up in the air. The Mountaineers bring back left guard Kyle Bosch, who is talented enough to lead the unit, and sophomore Colton McKivitz. The latter is an under-the-radar all-conference contender. However, the rest of the unit is unproven.
That’s not to say there isn’t any talent in the trenches, but rather the talent that’s there, outside of Bosch and McKivitz, is unproven. Although left tackle Yodny Cajuste has starting experience, he missed the 2016 season with an injury and could struggle to shake the rust.
Unfortunately, this unit could be a weak spot on offense which will hurt both the potentially strong rushing and passing attacks.