West Virginia Football: 5 takeaways from 2017 regular season

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MORGANTOWN, WV – OCTOBER 28: Justice Hill #5 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys rushes against Elijah Battle #19 and Jovanni Stewart #9 of the West Virginia Mountaineers at Mountaineer Field on October 28, 2017 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

3. Experienced secondary yields inconsistent results

Defensive backs like junior safety Dravon Askew-Henry, senior safety Kyzir White, and senior cornerback Mike Daniels should have been a formidable secondary for the Mountaineers. However, West Virginia found itself giving up 30 more passing yards per game, on average, than in 2016.

The West Virginia offense found itself playing catch up against some of the better teams in the Big 12. Giving up at least 50 points against both of the Oklahoma schools took any chance the Mountaineers had of beating the Sooners and Cowboys away.

The Big 12 is notoriously known for giving up a bunch of points and passing yards. But, few teams in the conference gave up more than 450 passing yards per game, on average. West Virginia had three seniors and one junior starting in the secondary, and the results should have been better.

There were some solid efforts from the secondary. Wins over Iowa State and Kansas State, where the Mountaineers gave up no more than 23 points on both occasions, were admirable performances. The emergence of freshman cornerback Kenny Robinson presents a promising future for this group, though.

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