No. 5: Will Grier becomes a better game-manager
Senior quarterback Will Grier has performed extremely well this season, maybe better than any other quarterback in all of college football. He’s the conductor for the Big 12’s best offense and ranks third in college football with 17 passing touchdowns. His 1,487 passing yards are good enough for seventh in the country, but Grier’s the only one in the top 12 who’s played less than five games.
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Things could be better, though, as many witnessed the offense struggled mightily in Saturday’s second half versus Texas Tech. Although the Red Raiders are much-improved defensively, Grier and the offense need to be more consistent moving the football. We saw the WVU-potential, too, lighting up Texas Tech for 35 first-half points. Doing that quarter-after-quarter should be the goal.
The Mountaineers only had six second-half drives Saturday in Lubbock, Texas, four of which resulted in a punt. Two of those drives were three-and-outs; uncharacteristic for an offense as talented as WVU’s. If Grier seriously wants to be considered for the Heisman Trophy, halves like the second one Saturday can’t continue to happen.
Instead, the Mountaineers will need to establish a more consistent running game. They certainly have the stable of backs to find one with a hot hand, but once they do, they need to ride it out. Of course, taking the ball out of Grier’s hands isn’t ideal, but it’ll aid the play-action passing game and open up things even wider on the perimeter.
Opponents will struggle with the passing game all year simply because of the viable weapons on the outside. Imagine them having to account for a constant running game, too.