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West Virginia University football will be flying "under the radar" in the upcoming 2023 season. In fact, if we listen to the so called pundits out there the Mountaineers won't just be hard to locate on the radar, they won't even be able to get off the ground.
The preseason media poll picked WVU dead last in what is now a 14 team Big 12 Conference. Reputable football publications are projecting them in the bottom three in the league.
West Virginia did have a losing 5-7 season in 2022, but fans will recall the excruciating last second losses to Pitt and Kansas to open the season, games which could just have easily been in the win column. The Mountaineers also finished the year beating Oklahoma and Oklahoma State over the last 3 weeks.
So there are reasons one can argue that the dire predictions are without merit.
The entire offensive line returns intact, and for the first time in his five years in Morgantown head coach Neal Brown will have a quarterback with mobility. The importance of that extra element at the quarterback position was evident late in the second quarter last season in the upset of Oklahoma. Garrett Greene, who had come off the bench to relieve an ineffective JT Daniels, was under pressure on a pash rush but escaped and turned what would have been a negative play into a 33 yard run. It led to a touchdown before the half and completely changed the momentum in an eventual WVU victory on a last second field goal. During the nearly four years of Jarret Doege and Daniels at the QB position that play is never made.
Transfers out of Morgantown left the receiving corps without experience, but two players who came in are worth watching: Devin Carter from NC State and tight end Kole Taylor from LSU. If they can make an impact in the passing game it will further help what should be a very good rushing attack.
On defense last season the Mountaineers were, well, pretty bad. They surrendered 32.9 points and 412 yards per game. The secondary was particularly a problem area. Again, three transfers arrive who had starting experience at their previous schools but it remains to be seen how they will perform. To better the record from last season, there will need to be improvement on the defensive side of the ball.
The schedule is daunting. In addition to playing 5 of 9 league games on the road, the Mountaineers will play both our old friends Pittsburgh and Penn State out of conference. Only six other schools have 11 Power 5 opponents on their schedule (none from the SEC), and only WVU, Arizona and Colorado play six true road games against Power 5 foes. However, in the expanded Big 12 there is no longer a round robin schedule and WVU does avoid Texas and Kansas State on the slate this season.
I have cautious optimism that the Mountaineers will exceed expectations and achieve a winning 7-5 record in 2023.
THIS SATURDAY: Only a handful of teams nationally would be favored opening the season on the road against a top ten team in front of 100,000 fans, and West Virginia faces that herculean task as a 20 point underdog at Penn State. These teams faced each other for 46 consecutive seasons from 1947-1992 but haven't met since the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten. As the older among us are well aware, it was a one sided rivalry. Yours truly visited Happy Valley six times over those years, the first 55 years ago, and I can attest those were some long afternoons. Like most of you, this time we will be in the comfort of our living room but the experience may still bring back some unpleasant memories.
PENN STATE 35, WEST VIRGINIA 20.