College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the West Virginia Mountaineers season with what you need to know.
CFN in 60 Podcast: 2020 West Virginia Mountaineers
West Virginia preview in 60 seconds
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– West Virginia Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 5-7 overall, 3-6 in Big 12
Head Coach: Neal Brown, 2nd year, 5-7
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 65
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 94
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 45
NOTE: Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers Offense 3 Things To Know
– It was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding year for the program overall – with a whole new set of starters for a new coaching staff – but it’s West Virginia. It’s not supposed to rank dead last in the Big 12 in total and scoring offense. Having the nation’s third-worst running game is one thing, but not being able to move the ball at all for long stretches is another.
But again, it was a rebuilding run.
The quarterbacks are good, and they should be better. Former Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall had a legitimate shot at taking the Sooner gig a few years ago before Kyler Murray went Kyler Murray, but he struggled last season with 1,989 passing yards and 12 touchdowns with ten picks before suffering a chest injury. Former Bowling Green starter Jarret Doege stepped in and was a bit sharper. Now they have to do more down the field.
CFN in 60 Video: West Virginia Mountaineers Preview
– The receiving corps gets a pass – it was really, really young, with three freshmen and two sophomores among the top seven targets. Just about everyone of note is back. Sophomore Sam James is a speedy target on the outside, but he averaged just 9.8 yards per grab on his team-high 69 catches.
6-2 TJ Simmons is a bigger receiver who finished second with 35 catches, but a deep threat has to emerge in place of the one big loss, George Campbell, who averaged close to 25 yards per catch with a team-high seven scores.
– The offensive line did an okay job in pass protection, but it struggled mightily to generate even the slightest push for the ground game. Three starters are gone, hurt most by the loss of now-San Francisco 49er Colton McKivitz at left tackle. Two starters return, led by senior guard/center Chase Behrndt, for a line with decent size, but without a whole ton of bulk. Losing guard Josh Sills to Oklahoma State doesn’t help.
Leading runner Leddie Brown only rushed for 367 yards and a touchdown, and Kennedy McKoy is done, and Martell Pettaway left for Middle Tennessee. Brown is a good-sized back who can catch – he’s fine if the blocking gets the job done – and Alec Sinkfield adds a little flash.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers Defense 3 Things To Know
– The defense figured it out in the second half of the season. It had major issues against Oklahoma and Texas early, but it didn’t allow more than 20 points in four of the last five games as it was able to help grind down the tempo a bit. The pass rush was among the best in the Big 12, and the run defense was okay, but there have to be a whole lot more big play producers.
Five of the top seven and seven of the top ten tacklers are back, starting with the pass rushing brother tandem of Dante and Darius Sills – they tied for the team lead with seven sacks. The 282-pound Darius worked on the nose, the 275-pound Dante worked as more of a bulky end, and between them the defense has the stars to build around.
Longtime veteran Reese Donahue is gone, and the developed depth is a bit lacking, but overall the line should be a plus.
– Second-leading tackler Josh Chandler isn’t all that big, but the 224-pounder is a good hitter at any of the spots in the linebacking corps. He has to hold up, though – he missed a little time last year with a knee injury – with the overall depth just okay.
Dylan Tonkery is a longtime part of the puzzle – he’s not huge at 228 pounds, but he has the versatility to play inside or out – and junior Exree Loe is a quick option for the outside. In this D, though, the secondary has to make most of the plays.
– The defensive backs can pop. Senior safety Sean Mahome led the team with 80 tackles, and sophomores Tykee Smith and Kerry Martin appear to be ready for bigger roles after good first runs.
The corners are going to need a little time and seasoning around all-star sophomore Nicktroy Fortune on one side. The hope is for JUCO transfer Jackie Matthews and promising redshirt freshman Tae Mayo to play big roles right away.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top West Virginia Mountaineers Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top West Virginia Mountaineers Players
Best West Virginia Mountaineers Offensive Player
WR Sam James, Soph.
The starting quarterback between the two top options needs to the star of the offense, and the main man has to do more to get the ball to James. The 6-0, 184-pounder is a next-level quick target who wasn’t able to break free all that often. However, along with his job as a return man, he stepped up as the No. 1 target with a team-high 69 catches for 677 yards and two touchdowns. The 14-catch, 223-yard day in the loss to Texas Tech might be more of the norm.
2. QB Austin Kendall, Sr.
3. QB Jarret Doege, Sr.
4. RB Leddie Brown, Jr.
5. OG Case Behrndt, Sr.
Best West Virginia Mountaineers Defensive Player
DT Dante Stills, Jr.
Both of the Stills brothers are terrific. Dante is the lighter, quicker all-around defender for the line, while Darius is the big thumper on the inside. Darius dropped some weight, and now watch out for the First Team All-Big 12 performer to be even faster off the ball after generating 47 tackles with seven sacks and 15 tackles for loss.
2. DT Darius Stills, Sr.
3. S Sean Mahone, Sr.
4. LB Josh Chandler, Jr.
5. S Tykee Smith, Soph.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The West Virginia Mountaineers Offense
Just get the O moving, and that starts with generating some semblance of a running game. It’s not like West Virginia was Wisconsin on the ground under Dana Holgorsen, but at least there was something to rely on with close to 2,000 yards in 2017 and 2018, and almost 3,000 in 2016.
Last year? 879 rushing yards, 2.6 yards per carry, and just seven touchdowns. The Mountaineers failed to run for 100 yards in ten of the 12 games and was 0-6 against FBS teams when they didn’t get to at least 85 rushing yards.
No running led to too many long third down chances for a passing game without a whole lot of pop. Too many tackles for loss allowed and not enough of a push was a killer – West Virginia has to start owning first downs.
Biggest Key To The West Virginia Mountaineers Defense
Take the ball away. There’s enough speed and athleticism in the back seven/eight to get all over the field, and the pass rush should be just good enough to get by.
Now the defense has to help out the offense with more takeaways. The Mountaineers only came up with 14 on the year, but when they came through, good things happened.
12 of the 14 takeaways came in five games. West Virginia went 4-1 in those games, with the only loss coming in a 17-14 battle against Baylor, and was 1-6 when forcing fewer than two turnovers.
Key West Virginia Mountaineers Player To A Successful Season
OT Junior Uzebu, Soph.
The entire West Virginia offensive line has to be a whole lot better for any prayer of overall improvement, but first it has to replace Connor McKivitz at left tackle. Several Mountaineers will get the shot, with the 6-6, 298-pound Uzebu the first option after spending last year as the main backup. 318-pound sophomore Blaine Scott will get a long look, too.
Key Game To The West Virginia Mountaineers Season
Florida State, Sept. 5
There might be a whole slew of Big 12 games that will end up being more important, but for the program’s attitude and confidence, coming up with a win over a brand name team to kick things off would do wonders. FSU is a whole lot stronger this year, but win this in Atlanta, and there’s a shot at huge start with four of the next five and five of the next seven games coming against teams that didn’t go bowling.
– West Virginia Mountaineers Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 West Virginia Fun Stats
– First Half Scoring: Opponents 201 – West Virginia 120
– Average Rushing Yards Per Game: Opponents 159.4 – West Virginia 73.2
– Red Zone TDs: Opponents 30-of-47 (64%) – West Virginia 16-of-34 (47%)
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Neal Brown is better than he showed in 2019. West Virginia football is better than it showed in 2019.
Brown went 4-8 in his first year at Troy in 2015. He underwent a bit of a youth movement, built up the depth a bit, got his parts in place, and the program went 10-3 2016 and won 31 games over a three-year span.
Asking for a double-digit win season out of the Mountaineers might be a lot, but several good parts are coming into place and there’s a ton of hope for a big turnaround in Year Two.
The team didn’t quit. It was a lost year, a five-game losing streak was demoralizing in a disappointing 3-6 start, but the defense kept battling, the offense kept grinding, and the team won two of its last three games.
The O line has to be a whole lot better, there has to be a running game, and there have to be more big plays down the field, but there are just enough good parts to expect a winning season and a bowl game.
Set The West Virginia Mountaineers Regular Season Win Total At … 7
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 5.5
The team managed to scratch out five wins with the Big 12’s worst offense that scored 20 points or fewer eight times. That’s not going to happen again.
The quarterback situation will be good, the young receivers will start to do more, and the defense will quietly be strong enough to get the job done in enough 50/50 games to get to seven wins.
Take care of the winnable home games against Eastern Kentucky, Maryland and Kansas, split the tougher home games against Kansas State and TCU, get a road win somewhere. like at Texas Tech, and … it’s not going to be easy.
But West Virginia will be two wins better.
