Three Guarantees For West Virginia Against Mizzou

Austin Kendall will throw for over 300 yards

Basically he has to. In order for the West Virginia Mountaineers to be in this game, Kendall is going to have to throw the ball with precision and timing. Those elements were lacking in the first game but he should be given a pass for that. In his first real playing time in over three years, rust is to be expected. He showed he can throw with touch later in the game. The other reason that Kendall is going to be over 300 is that Missouri is going to be ready for the run game. Wyoming surprised the Tigers with a zone-read scheme when the Tigers got out of position multiple times. I fully expect Barry Odom to correct that and clamp down on the run game.

The Stills Brothers will combine for three sacks

Kelly Bryant came out throwing last Saturday, dropping back 50 times. He threw 48 times, was sacked twice and ran the ball 11 times. If Mizzou and Bryant are going to be a Big 12 team in the SEC, the Stills brothers are going to have remain the dominant forces they are. Darius, not his younger brother Dante, has been the Still to make plays so far in their young careers. Last Saturday, Darius blocked a field goal, had a sack and collected 6 tackles. His quickness is going to be needed to keep the Mountaineers in the game if we are going to face a team throwing the ball nearly 50 times.

Martell Pettaway will be the first RB to score

Did you know the Mountaineers did not have a redzone possession last week? It’s true, they scored from the JMU 21, 22 and 26 and 28. That changes this week as Neal Brown and his staff open up the offensive playbook. The coaching staff intentionally kept the gameplan vanilla against JMU but this week against Missouri they are going to have to open it up. The more aggressive playbook will get the Mountaineers into the redzone and then the staff is going to need to rely on their power back, Martell Pettaway. No diss to Kennedy McKoy, who has proven to be tough throughout his four years at West Virginia, but from a short goalline situation, give the ball to Pett and let him pound it into the endzone.

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