With a dominant win over East Carolina in hand, West Virginia football will defend its home turf vs. Delaware State. Here’s everything you need to know.
After West Virginia’s road loss to Virginia Tech to open the season, the former found itself outside the top 25 for the first time since Week 4 of the 2016 season. Virginia Tech has been slowly climbing the rankings since fading in and out of the top 25 last season, and should be counted as a respectable loss for the Mountaineers.
Junior quarterback Will Grier has put West Virginia in the position to win both of their games so far, and while they have only capitalized on one, he should instill significant confidence in his team down the stretch.
West Virginia’s offense as a whole has been efficient over the first two games, with running back Justin Crawford turning in solid performances on a weekly basis to go along with Grier’s playmaking potential.
The defense has been where the Mountaineers have struggled this season as they have seen themselves give up 31 and 20 points over the last two weeks, respectively. These aren’t poor numbers, but they won’t be enough to keep West Virginia hanging around the playoff discussion either.
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Date: Saturday, Sept. 16
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: Morgantown, W.V.
Venue: Milan Puskar Stadium
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Live Stream: AT&T SportsNet
Keys to Victory
West Virginia’s path to victory appears to be well-paved heading into their matchup with the Hornets. Will Grier already looks to be in midseason form and even the most suspect of defenses would have a field day against a Delaware State offense that has only managed a total of 18 points against FCS competition thus far.
Offensively, the Mountaineers should make quick work of the Hornets if they establish the run game early against a very weak defensive front. This should open things up for Grier to finish them off with either his arm or his legs.
West Virginia’s defense should take this time to gain as much confidence as they can against a team that only managed three points against an average Delaware team. Multiple three-and-outs should keep them off the field and rested for next week’s battle against Kansas.
The journey is clearly much more rough for the struggling Hornets. As with most underdogs of this magnitude, a “win” can often be achieved without beating the opposing team. The Hornets can come away from this game with their heads held high should they keep the game within reach for even a quarter.
If the Hornets were to truly pull off an upset in West Virginia, it would have to come by way of a complete implosion of the Mountaineer team as a whole. Either West Virginia’s offense or defense is capable of compensating for the other should one falter, so it will take more than simply a few mistakes for the Hornets to capitalize.
Prediction
This will likely be one of those games that most fans will turn off before halftime, if not earlier. West Virginia likely views this game as little more than a formality when compared to the rest of their upcoming schedule, but the game must be played nonetheless.
Expect the Mountaineers to get out to an early lead and not look back. This is more of a dress rehearsal than anything, and they will likely be taking this time to work on the things that have plagued them in weeks before.
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After putting up 56 points against East Carolina, there’s little reason to believe that anything other than human decency will keep the Mountaineers from putting this game past the 70-point mark. Look for this game to be over by halftime before West Virginia eventually takes its feet off the gas.
Final Score: Delaware State 6, West Virginia 63