West Virginia Football: 5 reasons the Mountaineers will struggle in 2018
1. Numerous defensive question marks
West Virginia’s biggest weakness entering the 2018 season is pretty clear to anyone who knows the outlook of this team. The defense is going to need to come up big on a few occasions if the Mountaineers are to live up to this top 25 billing given to the program in the initial Coaches Poll. The early season matchup with NC State will be a telling sign of where this defense is at.
To lead the way for the Mountaineers, defensive end Ezekiel Rose and safety Kenny Robinson are going to be given some of the biggest roles on this defense. Robinson was huge last year as a true freshman and looks to follow that up with a big sophomore season too. Linebacker David Long will also play an important role for this side of the ball.
It does seem like West Virginia’s offense is just going to have to outscore every decent offense it faces this fall. Since the defense gave up more than 105 points combined in two late season losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State last year, it doesn’t look too good to start this regular season. At least there’s a chance to build some confidence against a young offense in an early season neutral site test against Tennessee.
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Holding really any opponent under 30 points this season, at least of any team that has a quality offense, will be considered a success for the Mountaineers. Potentially the best offense in the Big 12, if not the entire country, is riding on the defense to also step up. If not, the hype train building around the Mountaineers right now will lose steam in a hurry.