West Virginia Football: 5 reasons the Mountaineers will struggle in 2018

One of the more volatile teams that made it in the Top 25 of the preseason Coaches Poll for 2018 is West Virginia football.

West Virginia football is seemingly a clear Top 25 caliber team in 2018, and could be a huge contender to win the Big 12 Championship. In an offensive driven Big 12, no one has a better outlook on that side of the ball than the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2018. West Virginia returns offensive weapons across the board.

While the Mountaineers had one of the most balanced offenses in the nation in 2017, things could get even better for both the ground game and passing game this fall. Senior superstar quarterback Will Grier returns to lead the way for this high-powered West Virginia offense that might be more loaded in the receiving corps than anywhere else.

The real trouble for the Mountaineers starts when dissecting the defensive side of the ball. West Virginia had difficulty stopping most offenses it faced last season. At least it was a big issue for the Mountaineers to give the offense enough support to pull out some key matchups in 2017.

That might change in 2018, but it is an awful lot of pressure to put on an offense that runs through a quarterback that was injured at the end of the 2017 season. The real question for the Mountaineers’ 2018 success is can the offense outscore everyone it faces this fall?

The Big 12 isn’t as good at the top of the conference as it was a season ago. The TCU Horned Frogs, Oklahoma Sooners, and Oklahoma State Cowboys all had some key departures this off-season including all three starting quarterbacks. But, the Big 12 is deeper than it was in 2017.

Here’s a look at five reasons why the West Virginia Mountaineers could struggle in 2018.