FanPost

Hope And Faith

Just before the start of last season, I contemplated a post that would explain how West Virginia University's football team would go undefeated and shock the world. (I think I think this every year, but last year I wanted to get it in writing — to make an accounting of my mania, if you will.)

Problem was, a few grafs in, I couldn't think of a reason aside from hope.

I hoped that head coach Dana Holgorsen really was a wizard who could plug any quarterback into his system and turn him into a 4,000-yard passer. (He couldn't.)

I hoped that Florida State transfer Clint Trickett and 4-star redshirt freshman Ford Childress would be so good that Holgorsen would have an embarrassment of riches and a dilemma in choosing his signal caller. (They weren't. Mostly.)

I hoped that Keith Patterson's elevation to defensive coordinator would give us a squad that would baffle and stymie Big 12 offenses. (This hope was realized— then dashed.)

While it may have revealed the depths of optimism, devotion and possible delusion in this fanatic, given our final 4-8 record, I'm glad "The Measure of Madness" post never saw the light of day.

Now we are a week away from a new season. And again, I am filled with hope.

Unlike last time, though, it seems less founded on the possibilities of the unknown and wishful thinking. This year, I am more guarded in my expectations.

Paul Myerberg of USA Today (formerly of the late, lamented New York Times Quad and the equally lamented Pre-Snap Read), who has always been kind to the Mountaineers, gave us a pre-season ranking of No. 78 — the lowest in the six or so years I've been following his annual countdowns.

The SB Nation College Football Guide puts us in the third tier of Big 12 contenders.

And the Big 12 Conference media poll pegs WVU at No. 8.

I see what they see: A whole lot of question marks. Will the O-line hold? Can Trickett deliver the goods? Will the modified 3-3-5 work?

But I choose to see a healthy, capable quarterback who has earned the trust of his teammates, a strong interior line and a stable of talented running backs. And, look, we have depth.

These aren't hopeful hypotheticals; these are concrete answers.

The only question I have is on defense.

But this isn't 2012. Or even 2013.

I have faith in Tony Gibson, Tom Bradley, Karl Joseph and Daryl Worley and all those underclassmen who were thrown into the fire last year and have a year of experience under their belt.

I'm going to savor this week of possibility before weaknesses are exposed, the grind wears us down or a brutal schedule breaks us.

I'm going to believe that our head coach has learned something in his three years at the helm. I'm going to believe that our questions will yield better than expected answers. I'm going to believe we'll surprise people.

We might not have a national title contender in Morgantown, but we'll see what we've got once the ball is snapped.

Let's go.