College Football Predictions – West Virginia Mountaineers 2020 College Football Preview
August 12, 2020
2019 Recap
Record – 5-7
ATS – 5-7
Well, that wasn’t too bad.
The expectations were pretty low heading into year one of the Neal Brown era given how many new faces they had on offense. They started out strong with wins in three of their first four games but then HIT THE SKIDS and dropped five contests in a row. The good news is that they finished well beating Kansas St and TCU and both games were on the road.
Let’s see what we can expect in 2020.
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
Big 12 – #9
West Virginia Mountaineers 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Mountaineers struggled mightily on offense a season ago and could only muster 20.6 PPG and 322 YPG. Both of those marks were the worst in the Big 12. The rushing attack was a TIRE FIRE as they could only scavenge 73 YPG (#128 FBS) but they found a spark at QB late in the year when Jarret Doege took over the controls. Austin Kendall had a poor 12-10 TD to INT mark LY and is the likely back-up to start the campaign. Two of their top-three RBs depart but leading rusher Leddie Brown (367, 3.4) is back in the mix. Overall, it’s unclear what kind of talent they have in the RB room. The WR group could surprise and note that Sam James caught 69 balls LY. The offensive line was a major problem last season and they return just a pair of starters. They only allowed 21 sacks LY (#3 Big 12) but gave up way too many negative plays (dead last Big 12 TFL allowed per game) whilst providing zero push for the run game.
It feels like another year of tough sledding for the offense.
DEFENSE
The Mountaineers finished mid-pack in the Big 12 in total defense (#6) last year and allowed 28.8 PPG (#8). They weren’t great on 3rd downs (#7) and were #8 in opponent red zone TD%. The good news is that they got after the QB (33 sacks, #2 Big 12 sacks per game) and their top-two sack producers are both back. The Stills brothers (Darius, Dante) both tallied 7 of those bad boys in 2019. It’s also good to know that they started to play better defense down the stretch and only allowed more than 20 points in one (!) of their final five contests. Six starters return this year and it’s a pair of them at each level of the defense. The DL looks like the strength of the stop unit which is what we like to see. We’re a bit worried about replacing a pair of starting CBs.
We project a slight improvement on defense and like the way they played in November LY.
<Note – projected starting safety Kerry Martin Jr. has opted out of the season>
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Mountaineers made just 13/21 FG attempts LY and PK Evan Staley was 11/17 (3/8 from 40+). They need to work in a new punter, but at least they bring back KR Winston Wright Jr (TD LY).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Dates with Florida St and Maryland have been canceled but they still get to take on Eastern Kentucky. They’ll need to win games early on because three of their final four games are nasty (at Texas, Oklahoma, at Iowa St). They have five home games and four ON THE HIGHWAY.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing heinous noted.
Season Win Total
Over 4.5 +100
Under 4.5 -130
MEGALOCKS says:
Looks perfectly lined. Will also certainly pass on this market. Feel like it’s ‘over’ or nothing.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
West Virginia is one of five current Big 12 members that has not appeared in the Big 12 Championship Game (Iowa St, Kansas, Oklahoma St, Texas Tech). Trivia nugget, yo.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
The goal should be to get to the .500 mark and show a bit of life on offense. They stiffened up on defense in November last year and head into this campaign with some momentum. They’ll have to SCRATCH AND CLAW for every win but they’re well coached and could get off to a decent start given that most of the tough games are late in the year. They’re a year away from making serious noise but could definitely pull a a big upset along the way.
Want more West Virginia football ?
WEBSITE
https://wvusports.com/sports/football
FORUM
https://247sports.com/college/west-virginia/Board/Football-103745/
https://westvirginia.forums.rivals.com/forums/game-day-discussion.22/
NEWS
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/Sports/WVU
http://www.wvillustrated.com/wvu-football
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/277/west-virginia-mountaineers
http://wvmetronews.com/wvu-sports/
Hashtag – #HailWV
Accounts to follow