WVU Football | October: The Mountaineer Minefield

The West Virginia Mountaineer football program is no stranger to tough schedules, but the October that the 2015 squad faces is historically brutal. That being said, you don't have to search back to far to see that WVU went against three consecutive ranked teams in 2013 and, in 2009, the Mountaineers faced Top 10 teams back-to-back against #5 Cincinnati and #8 Pittsburgh in the most recent edition of the Backyard Brawl. Is this the first time West Virginia has played four consecutive ranked teams, you ask? Nope, it's the third time. The first was 1959 with #20 Pitt, at #6 Syracuse, #7 Penn State, and at #6 USC. The Mountaineers went 1-3 in that slate with the lone win against the Panthers, 23-15 (Good work, boys). The second was in 1992 where WVU went 0-3-1 against #22 Boston College (tied), #14 Syracuse, #14 Penn State, at #1 Miami. Weirdly enough, all of those games were in October as well.

But, is this the first time the Mountaineers have faced four consecutive ranked teams with three of them on the road? My research says yes.

Either way, the next four games for West Virginia is as hard of a stretch you will ever see in college football. Could the Mountaineers lose all four games? Yes, that is certainly possible. Could the Mountaineers win all four games? Less likely, but yes. While 2-2 would be one hell of an accomplishment, there is a feasible route through this minefield that is October and it leads to a pants-prohibited November if the Mountaineers can play their cards right and, perhaps, get a little lucky. Every one of these upcoming opponents are flawed in ways that could be fatal. Oklahoma gave up 427 yards and 4TDs through the air to Tulsa at home. Baylor continues to be one of the most penalized teams in the country. TCU has lost six of their defensive starters so far this season. Am I saying that it will definitely happen? Absolutely not. What I'm telling you is........