What I Think Preparing for 5 Weeks of Games

Finally, after two bye weeks and three games, the West Virginia Mountaineers get 5 straight weeks of football games (provided the whole being blamed for positive COVID outbreaks by cough Baylor Bears cough doesn’t continue to happen). Let’s get thinking about the next five weeks.

Kansas Jayhawks

This Saturday, the Mountaineers welcome the Jayhawks and the Mountaineer fans to Morgantown. Last year, the Mountaineers needed to outlast the Jayhawks but did avoid the 2013 curse of actually losing to Kansas. Still, under Dana Holgorsen, the average score of the Kansas game was 42-18 and it was never really that close. Last year, given everything, a close game was understood. This year, the offense needs to prove that it is not on Kansas’ level and score some points.

The Kansas offense has gone the wrong way, scoring fewer and fewer points each week. The defense for the Mountaineers, which should be the strength of the team, needs to eat much like it did against Baylor.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

The Red Raiders have had a tough go of it, facing the Longhorns and Iowa State in two of their first three conference games. Each of the games has been close, with Texas Tech taking #8 Texas to overtime. Now the Red Raiders get a bye week before West Virginia heads to Lubbock at 5:30 our time the week before Halloween. The Red Raiders are struggling at quarterback after Alan Bowman had a horrific performance in Ames following an ankle injury against Kansas State. With two weeks to heal, will Bowman still be the signal caller?

Kansas State Wildcats

Kansas State has resurrected Bill Snyder in year two. Special teams play and tough defense are back in Manhattan. The Wildcats are currently 3-0 in conference and are now ranked #22. They have a bye week this week, then play Kansas, then come to Morgantown. They will be 4-0 and a top 20 squad by that time. Skyler Thompson missed the game against TCU and recently had surgery and will be out for the rest of the year. Freshman Will Howard took his place and wasn’t great but now gets time to settle in and figure out the offense before us.

Texas Longhorns

Where will the Longhorns be by the time November rolls around. A team that continually teases with its talent and where it should be in the echelon of college football just lost a heartbreaker to their main rival in Oklahoma and now has to regroup. They get a week off before maybe taking on Baylor (who knows with the Bears) then its Oklahoma State and then the Mountaineers in Austin. The Cowboys are going to be a tough team for the Longhorns so depending on how that game goes could determine how our game goes. West Virginia will be at game four in this stretch so injuries and strains and pulls will be starting to catch up to us.

TCU Horned Frogs

The Horned Frogs, West Virginia’s annual “how are we doing compared to” game. Having both entered the conference at the same time, we’ve been more alike than different throughout the course of the move. The Horned Frogs won 11 and 12 games in 2014 and 2015 but have also suffered more losing seasons. Both teams were 5-7 last year following a mediocre campaign in 2018. TCU has a bye, then four straight games with OU, Baylor, TTU and then us. Both teams will likely be nursing injuries and looking forward to upcoming week off. The Mountaineers defense could be the difference factor here if they are health which will be a change of pace, given the reputation that Gary Patterson has cultivated throughout his career.