3 Guarantees for West Virginia Against Tennessee

1. Will Grier will throw for at least 350 yards

Tennessee Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt released his first depth chart this week and at cornerback he has two freshman, Alontae Taylor and Bryce Thompson are listed as starter at one cornerback spot. Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital has to be licking his chops at this thought of throwing against two freshman.

Will Grier is armed with one of the best wide receiver corps in the nation. David Sills, Gary Jennings and Marcus Simms boast both talent and experience and will get free often against Tennesse allowing Grier to break the 350 yard mark in his first game on his quest to win the Heisman.

2. The run defense will be much better

Last year, the Mountaineers were gashed to the tune 204 yards per game, including a 367-yard “effort” against Kansas when Khalil Herbert found daylight like #VolTwitter finds things to be upset about. The defense was last seen being gashed by Oklahoma to the tune of 313 yards as Kyler Murray opened the game with a 66 yard scamper.

All of that will change in 2018 as Tony Gibson and the staff let go of some players who, based on coaches accounts, didn’t fully buy into the TEAM concept. Gibson brought in former five-star defensive tackle and USC Trojans Kenny Bigelow to anchor his defense. Weighing 300 or more pounds, Bigelow provides the necessary roadblock that makes a 3-man front work.

Also joining the staff is former Clemson Tigers tackle Jabril Robinson. Robinson is the quintessential 3-down defensive end, weighing close to 270. These two players give the Mountaineers a lot of body along the line. Adding in Ezekiel Rose and Reese Donahue, both of whom played a lot last year, you have experienced, capable players along the line.

3. The Announcers will talk about Florida at least 5,232,967 times

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Will Grier first committed to the Florida Gators in 2014. He started the first six games in 2015 before he was suspended for performance-enhancing substance. Grier wanted to return but eventually parted ways with Florida and transferred to West Virginia. If you are a WVU fan, you’ve heard this story about 9,000 times already.

Expect the announcers to bring this story up every single time WVU has the ball. You can expect them to expound on the story once per first down. If they aren’t talking about the PED suspension, you can expect them to bring up the 28-27, come from behind win Will Grier had as a Gator against the Vols as a freshman.

Facing a 4th-and-14, Grier threw a comeback route that his receiver ran inside his defender and then turned his defender around before streaking down the sideline for the go-ahead score. Expect this to be replayed 1,000 times in the first quarter.