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

By Andrew Miller

MORGANTOWN, WV - OCTOBER 28: Will Grier
MORGANTOWN, WV - OCTOBER 28: Will Grier /
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MORGANTOWN, WV – OCTOBER 28: Will Grier #7 of the West Virginia Mountaineers gets a pass on under pressure from Amen Ogbongbemiga #11 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Mountaineer Field on October 28, 2017 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
MORGANTOWN, WV – OCTOBER 28: Will Grier #7 of the West Virginia Mountaineers gets a pass on under pressure from Amen Ogbongbemiga #11 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Mountaineer Field on October 28, 2017 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

5. Too much pressure on Will Grier

Once Will Grier went down with injury last season, against the Texas Longhorns, West Virginia couldn’t get much of anything going on offense. The Mountaineers lost the final three games of the season, including the Heart of Dallas Bowl against the Utah Utes out of the Pac-12. That’s not a good sign in terms of momentum for the start of the 2018 campaign.

Those other two losses came to Texas and Oklahoma at the end of the regular season. West Virginia’s backup quarterback completed less than half of his passing attempts for just three touchdowns and two interceptions in relief of Grier down the stretch.

Once Grier went down with a brutal looking finger injury against the Horns last year, backup quarterback Chris Chugunov was thrown into the fire. Following the end of the 2017 campaign, Chugunov left the program as a graduate transfer. While Chugunov is immediately eligible if he chooses to transfer somewhere before the start of the regular season, he hasn’t committed anywhere yet.

Chugunov’s transfer also leaves the Mountaineers without an established backup quarterback if something were to happen to Grier. There’s no insurance policy in place that has some sort of game experience. That’s two factors that could work against the Mountaineers possibly at any point during the 2018 season.

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