West Virginia Mountaineers 2016 NCAA Football Preview
WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS
Big 12 Conference
2015 Record – 8-5
ATS – 5-8
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
Big 12 Conference #5
2015 Recap
It was a pretty decent season. West Virginia finished with an 8-5 record and a bowl win over Arizona St in the Cactus Bowl. That was the second highest win total in HC Dana Holgorsen’s 5-year tenure in Morgantown. The quality of their wins is debatable. Maybe beating Texas at home was the highlight ? Maybe it was their bowl victory ? Certainly nothing that necessitated a celebratory couch burning.
OFFENSE
We like QB Skyler Howard quite a bit. Yes, he probably threw too many interceptions last season (14), but he did throw for 26 TDs and rush for another 500 yards and 6 TDs. Howard leads an offense that looks like a serious handful. West Virginia loses last season’s leading rusher Wendell Smallwood but return senior Rushel Shell and also get the addition of talented freshman RB Kennedy McKoy. The WR corps looks like one of the best units in the Big 12 as the top two from the 2015 unit are back.
JUGGERNAUT ALERT – WR/KR Shelton is back for his junior season and is a big play waiting to happen. Gibson averaged 24.0 yards (!) a reception in 2015 (37-887, 24.0, 9TD) and returned 11 kickoffs for 33 yards a pop including a 100-yard TD. Shelton is poised to have another big season.
DEFENSE
The Mountaineers were ranked 2nd in the Big 12 last season in total defense, but truth be told, there were lit up in almost every game that featured a good offense. This season they only return four starters and lose five of their six top tacklers from 2015. DL Noble Nwachukwu is back and he led the team with 8.5 sacks. West Virginia led the Big 12 with 23 (!) interceptions in 2015 (#2 FBS) but lose a lot of that production. It feels like this unit is going to take a step back.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Josh Lambert hit 21/28 FGs last season but struggled a bit from long range (4/9 from 40+ yards) and solid punter Nick O’Toole is gone. The explosive Shelton is back to return kickoffs but they were mediocre returning punts in 2015 (ranked 8th Big 12 PR avg). Looks like a mixed bag.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 4.0
MEGALOCKS says:
The Mountaineers start off with a home game against Missouri and play BYU in Maryland before the conference schedule kicks into gear. Three of their Big 12 losses in 2015 were against TCU, Oklahoma and Baylor and they get all three of those teams at home this time around.
Overall, we give the MOUNTAINEERS a 4.0 ATS Value Rating (Average) this season. It doesn’t take too much imagination to see this team scoring a lot of points and not being able to slow down anybody with a decent offense. HC Holgorsen has not been incredibly popular with handicappers banking a disappointing 26-36-1 record (42%) ATS the past five seasons. The offense could be scary good but we are always leery of supporting teams with weak defenses on a regular basis.
Want more West Virginia football ?
Website
http://www.wvusports.com/teams.cfm?sport=football
Forum
http://www.scout.com/college/west-virginia/forums/2508-bgn-football
https://westvirginia.forums.rivals.com/forums/mountaineer-message-board.28/
http://www.wemustignitethiscouch.com/
http://westvirginia.247sports.com/Board/West-Virginia-Mountaineers-Message-Board-Forum-Blog-58
News
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/Sports/WVU
http://bleacherreport.com/wvu-football
http://wvmetronews.com/wvu-sports/
https://twitter.com/WVUfootball @WVUfootball
https://twitter.com/mikecasazza @mikecasazza Mike Casazza