Dana Holgorsen has consistently been one of the most overrated coaches in the country, and after a 7-6 season last year, he'll be on a very hot seat in Morgantown. That said, it's tough to see the West Virginia Mountaineers ever turning into much more than an average team under Holgorsen's direction, and that just isn't good enough for the boosters or this program.
2015 SCHEDULE
9/5: vs. Georgia Southern
9/12: vs. Liberty
9/26: vs. Maryland
10/3: at Oklahoma
10/10: vs. Oklahoma State
10/17: at Baylor
10/29: at TCU
11/7: vs. Texas Tech
11/14: vs. Texas
11/21: at Kansas
11/28: vs. Iowa State
12/5: at Kansas State
What clearly stands out on this schedule is the way the Big XII slate gets started. In the first month of the conference season, the Mountaineers have to travel to Oklahoma, Baylor and TCU, and you can bet that they will be at least two-touchdown underdogs in each of those games, if not more. Whether this team can recover from what will surely be no better than a 4-3 start to the season is a totally different question.
SEASON WIN TOTAL
The Mountaineers topped off at seven wins last year, and that's where the oddsmakers put them again this season.
It's really tough to justify how this team could possibly win more than nine games with all of those nasty road games, though it should be noted that the rest of the schedule is legitimately paper thin. If you just went by which team was favored in every West Virginia game this year, this would be a team which finished either 9-3 or 8-4.
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK
Holgorsen was billed as this offensive genius when he left Stillwater, but he really has been anything but in actual practice. Last year, he had the benefit of having Clint Trickett throwing the ball all over the field and Kevin White to go out and get the ball, but now, these two men are gone, and this offense is destined to take a step backwards.
Leading rusher Rushel Shell is back, as is Wendell Smallwood, whom he split carries with. Still, the rest of this offense is suspect at best, as the two leading receivers returning from a year ago, Jordan Thompson and Daikiel Shorts combined for only 73 catches and four touchdowns.
DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK
WVU actually has a chance to improve on defense this coming season. The team hasn't been good whatsoever on this side of the ball, but there are nine returning starters from last year's club which struggled in conference play.
Karl Joseph has legitimate NFL prospects and was an All-Big XII player last season. Kyle Rose is one of the more underrated defensive linemen in the nation at nose tackle, and these linebackers are fast, active and experienced.
SEASON PREDICTION
We didn't mention the quarterback situation for West Virginia in our offensive outlook due to the fact that we aren't sure who is going to be under center. It could be junior, Skyler Howard, and it could be redshirt freshman, William Crest.
Either way, we aren't all that optimistic about the way things are going right now.
West Virginia is just another one of these 200 to 1 teams to win the National Championship, and they are a middle-of-the-road team in the Big XII.
The best result we could see is 9-3 and a fourth place finish in the Big XII, and that won't be anywhere near good enough to hit a New Year's Six game, let alone be a national contender.
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