2018 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Preview
Opening Statement: Nobody in their right mind could think of the 7-6 season that the Mountaineers are coming off of as anything other than a standing disappointment, and, unfortunately, that has been the trend during the era of Dana Holgorsen at WVU. We are now heading into his 8th year as head coach, and his overall record is just 53-37, with just 2 10 win seasons sprinkled into the mix, despite having talent that should have more than doubled that number. Holgorsen has got to be squarely on the hot seat heading into the 2018 season, especially as he is just 1-4 in his last 5 bowl game appearances. If WVU does not compete for the Big 12 title in 2018, there may be problems in December.
Breakdown Offense: The Mountaineers are normally strong on offense, but when QB Will Grier, who played last season after transferring from Florida, went down to an injury, the team came off the rails. That cannot happen again, so keeping Grier on the field and healthy is paramount. Grier passes for 3490 yards with 34 TDs and just 12 INTs last fall, all while completing 64% of his passes. He only missed two games, but it was enough to drown the season outand the team, even with him for part of this, finished just 2-4, with blowout losses to Oklahoma and Utah to end the season. Grier is a primary motor to fix some of, but not all of that.
Chris Chugunov is back as the primary backup, but he is not ready for the starting job, and will not push Grier in any way. When called on last season, he passed for 536 yards, but completed just 47.8% of his passes, and his QBR was 58 points lower than Grier.
The run game for the Mountaineers was not especially effective last season, and that did not help. WVU rushed for just 1954 yards as a team, and averaged just 4.25 yards per carry. Justin Crawford is gone, and he had barely scraped into 1000 yards rusher territory last fall. Junior Kennedy McCoy is back after being the second leading rusher last fall with 596 yards and 7 scores, but he is not what one would call a big play threat, averaging just 4.77 yards per carry. Martell Pettaway left spring behind McCoy on the depth chart, but carried just 43 times for 149 yards last season.
Trevon Wesco comes back as the H Back/TE, but had one touch all of last season in 12 games played. Logan Thimons is the FB coming out of spring.
The Receiver corps is one of the best in the nation, and is led once again by David Sills V, who posted a line of 60-980-18 while averaging 16.33 yards per grab, and Gary Jennings, who posted 97-1096-1, while averaging 11.3 yards per catch. Ka'Raun White and his 12 scores are gone, but Marcus Simms returns after catching 35 passes for 663 yards last fall. He should step up into White's role this fall. Alabama transfer TJ Simmons did not do much for the Tide, but his transfer to Morgantown has some folks hopeful due to his overall athletic ability that has not yet been tapped. Ricky Rogers is expected to provide some depth, but only caught one pass last fall.
The O Line has some holes to fill, and could be rather unstable this fall, which could be a bit of a problem if they don't gel well enough early on. Josh Sills could be starting at LG as a sophomore, Matt Jones is a RS junior projected to start at C, and Colton McKivitz is another RS junior projected at RT. Yodny Cajuste is the senior member of that group, as he is projected at LT as a senior this fall. Isaiah Hardy, a senior, pushes for some time at OT. Kelby Wickline is a key reserve at OT as well, is a junior, while Jacob Buccigrossi is a RS sophomore looking for some time at OG. RG is a mystery position that remains open as we head into fall camp.
Breakdown Defense: The Mountaineers went into the transfer market to look for some help up front, as WVU allowed 31 points per game last fall, just 3 fewer points per game than they scored. They allowed 6.14 yards per play against, and seemed almost incompetent 30 points or more per game 7 times on the season.
WVU is going to be more experienced on the D line with who they have coming back, but still took some chances in the transfer market coming in. Reese Donahue a junior, will start at the DE out of spring camp, and can get to the football, and should be better this season. Jabril Robinson has transferred in from Clemson, and was a key reserve for the Tigers, and will arrive as a grad transfer, as will former USC DT Kenny Bigelow, who, if healthy, could give the Mountaineers the impact they need inside. In short, the Mountaineers should expect to see a much higher level of play up front than they did last fall. Ezekiel Rose, a senior, provides some depth outside, and could start at DE. Darius Stills is pushing for time at NT, and a host of guys are looking to establish themselves inside and out, despite lacking in game experience.
The Mountaineers have some experience coming back at LB, but only the WILL and SAM spots are locked up heading into fall camp. Dylan Tonkery is holding the starting job at SAM as a RS sophomore, while Junior David Long is the leader at WILL. Long finished with 75 tackles last fall, while Tonkery finished with 44. Quondarius Qualls and Adam Hensley push for time outside as well, but don't bring much in the way of experience in this program. Tonkery could be moved inside to MIKE, with Qualls taking his spot at SAM.
The secondary has an open spot at the SPUR position coming into fall camp, but there are some options everywhere else. Sean Mahone and Hakeem Bailey are heading into the summer as the starting CBs. Bailey, a junior, finished with 6 PBUs last season, while Mahone is more of a mystery at this point. There is little in the way of established depth, however, which could be a problem. Kenny Robinson is the post spring starter at FS, while Dravon Askew-Henry left the spring as the starter at BS. Robinson had a promising freshman season, while Askew-Henry, a senior, broke up 4 passes. Robinson finished tied for the team lead in INTs with 3. Jovanni Stewart and Toyous Avery come into camp as the primary backups at Safety. Askew-Henry could move to SPUR for the fall, with Avery moving into his spot at BS. Derek Pitts is pushing Mahone at CB, and Keith Washington could push him further down the depth chart still.
Breakdown Special Teams: Evan Staley will have the PK job full time after sharing the gig last season. He hit 6/7 FG attempts, and was 16/16 on PATs in 13 games last fall. He has the chance to be one of the better kickers in the nation in 2018. Skyler Simcox and and Sam Trapazzano will battle for the backup job.
Bill Kinney is back at Punter after averaging 40.9 yards per punt last season, and will be backed up by Luke Hogan as we head into the fall.
Marcus Simms is back as the primary kick return man after averaging 26.32 yards per return on 31 tries last fall, while he is also the returning PR man as well.
Final Analysis: The Pressure is on Holgorsen in 2018 to push for a Big 12 title run. The league is relatively open, even if Oklahoma is a primary favorite, they are not unbeatable heading into the season. If the Mountaineers can keep from another late season crash, and everyone stays relatively healthy, they could push for 10 wins or more, and make a run at that elusive conference title. If they crash and burn again, Holgorsen will have some major questions to answer, and the Mountaineers would not be off track in looking for a replacement. The opportunity is there to have a special season, they just have to reach up and take it, and getting more productive on defense is a start to that road. Grier should be able to handle the offense, now he needs some support from the other side of the football.
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