West Virginia Football: The Mountaineers can win the Big 12 in 2018
The opportunity is there for a dark horse program to take the wide open Big 12 away from the Oklahoma Sooners in 2018, like West Virginia football.
West Virginia football capped off the 2017 campaign in disappointing fashion, largely due to star quarterback Will Grier‘s finger injury. If nothing else, the Mountaineers figured out that backup quarterback Chris Chugunov is not the player they need to build around in the coming years.
The main goal for head coach Dana Holgorsen and the Mountaineers in 2018, is to get closer to the form West Virginia found in 2016. Since joining the Big 12, West Virginia’s best year came in 2016, rounding out that season with 10 wins. West Virginia even saw an AP Top 10 ranking that year.
Grier returns for the Mountaineers as a Heisman favorite in 2018. He’ll be counted on to produce among the best quarterbacks in the conference. Yet, Grier should be the best overall quarterback in 2018 in the Big 12. That’s enough for West Virginia to garner some Big 12 Championship hype.
West Virginia returns elite talent at key positions
West Virginia Mountaineers Football
The amount of losses at quarterback across the Big 12 are staggering. Just a few of those include Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, and TCU’s Kenny Hill. Grier brings back a loaded offensive group around him that’ll only help his cause.
Outside of Grier, the Mountaineers bring back running back Kennedy McKoy, and wide receivers David Sills V and Gary Jennings. The offensive line brings back four of its five starters from 2017. West Virginia has another offense that is versatile and loaded with talent.
On the other side of the ball, the Mountaineers should improve. There’s a lot of turnover in the secondary, but that could actually be a good thing. West Virginia was among the nation’s worst teams in pass defense in 2017. And, they get rising sophomore safety Kenny Robinson back to lead a new core of defensive backs to spearhead an improved defense.
Schedule sets up favorably for the Mountaineers
There’s two key non-conference matchups that could determine the momentum West Virginia has entering Big 12 play. A road battle with the NC State Wolfpack will be tough as head coach Dave Doeren has that program moving in the right direction. And, a neutral site matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers presents a tougher challenge than meets the eye.
If West Virginia takes care of business against NC State and Tennessee, they enter the Big 12 slate with enough confidence to make some noise. Their first four conference games are manageable.
Those four come against the Kansas State Wildcats, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Kansas Jayhawks, and Iowa State Cyclones. Make it through those four games unscathed, and West Virginia has a real shot at making an appearance in the 2018 Big 12 Championship Game.
However, the key matchups to really watch come against TCU, Oklahoma State, and OU. It’s really a season defining stretch for West Virginia in the final four weeks of the regular season. Even the first of those four season ending games presents a tough opponent in the Texas Longhorns.
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The reasons for Big 12 fans to watch out for West Virginia in 2018 are numerous. However, the pieces are in place for Holgorsen to make his first real push for a Big 12 Title, as a head coach. Most of it comes down to the defense taking a step forward and Grier staying healthy.