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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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NORMAN, OK – NOVEMBER 25: Head Coach Lincoln Riley of Oklahoma Sooners during warm ups before the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated West Virginia 59-31. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK – NOVEMBER 25: Head Coach Lincoln Riley of Oklahoma Sooners during warm ups before the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated West Virginia 59-31. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

3. Daunting stretch run at the end of the regular season

You could argue that West Virginia has the toughest latter run through the Big 12 of any team in the conference this season. The Mountaineers won’t get a single week off through the final four games of the regular season. Even hosting the Baylor Bears won’t be easy for the Mountaineers if the two-point grueling victory last year between these two teams last year was any indication.

We’ll continue to hit on how demanding this slate can be for West Virginia at times this fall. West Virginia gets some talented opponents in Tennessee and NC State to start the season. Even the other non-conference opponent that is from the FCS is about as difficult as it gets when facing the former head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Bo Pelini, and the Youngstown State Penguins in Week 2.

In the final four games of West Virginia’s regular season slate, two matchups will come on the road and the other two at home. The home contests come against Oklahoma and TCU. Oklahoma and TCU were the two teams that took part in the Big 12 Championship Game last season. The two games that come on the road are against Oklahoma State and Texas.

No easy victory will ever come at Boone Pickens Stadium or Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. There’s so many chances for West Virginia to slip up this fall given the punishing and exhausting 2018 slate that it’s hard to see a double-digit win season coming easy.

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