West Virginia Mountaineers: CFN College Football Preview 2021

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the West Virginia season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the West Virginia season with what you need to know.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
West Virginia Schedule Analysis
– West Virginia Mountaineers Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

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2020 Record: 6-4 overall, 4-4 in Big 12
Head Coach: Neal Brown, 3rd year, 11-11 (46-27 overall)
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 43
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 55
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 94

West Virginia Mountaineers College Football Preview 2021: Offense

West Virginia had a decent season thanks its defense. It seems outside of the norm for the Mountaineer offense to be along for the ride, and while that wasn’t exactly the case, it wasn’t far off.

The O averaged 413 yards and 27 points per game with a mediocre rushing attack and an okay passing game. With eight starters potentially back and most of the key skill guys returning, here comes the production in Year Three under head coach Neal Brown.

The Mountaineer offensive line was fine. It didn’t do quite enough for the ground game and allowed way too many tackles for loss. Now comes the shuffling with tackles Brandon Yates and Virginia Tech transfer Doug Nester set and veterans in the interior, but where does All-Big 12 blocker Zach Frazier play? He was a guard who’ll likely work at center.

The line has the back to blast for – senior Leddie Brown ran for 1,010 yards and nine scores, averaging more than five yards per carry. Second-leading rusher Alec Sinkfield took off for Boston College, and Tony Mathis needs more work after carrying it just 18 times last year.

Jarret Doege is a decent veteran quarterback who isn’t going to run much, but he’s careful with the ball and has the time logged in to be a whole lot stronger. He hit 64% of his throws with 14 touchdowns and four picks, and he’s not bad at spreading the ball around.

The former Bowling Green transfer has the gig with Austin Kendall transferring out, putting the pressure on redshirt freshman Garrett Greene and freshman Will Crowder to battle it out for the No. 2 job.

Winston Wright earned All-Big 12 honors with a team-high 45 catches for 529 yards and two scores, and he’s not alone. 6-3 Bryce Ford-Wheaton adds size, and there’s enough talent returning to fill in the gaps if the top two guys carry most of the load.

– What You Need To Know: Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
West Virginia Schedule Analysis

NEXT: West Virginia Mountaineers College Football Preview 2021: Defense

College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the West Virginia Mountaineers season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the West Virginia Mountaineers season with what you need to know.


CFN in 60 Podcast: 2020 West Virginia Mountaineers
West Virginia preview in 60 seconds

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Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Schedule Analysis
– West Virginia Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

2019 Record: 5-7 overall, 3-6 in Big 12
Head Coach: Neal Brown, 2nd year, 5-7
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 65
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 94
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 45

NOTE: Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.

5. College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers Offense 3 Things To Know

It was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding year for the program overall – with a whole new set of starters for a new coaching staff – but it’s West Virginia. It’s not supposed to rank dead last in the Big 12 in total and scoring offense. Having the nation’s third-worst running game is one thing, but not being able to move the ball at all for long stretches is another.

But again, it was a rebuilding run.

The quarterbacks are good, and they should be better. Former Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall had a legitimate shot at taking the Sooner gig a few years ago before Kyler Murray went Kyler Murray, but he struggled last season with 1,989 passing yards and 12 touchdowns with ten picks before suffering a chest injury. Former Bowling Green starter Jarret Doege stepped in and was a bit sharper. Now they have to do more down the field.


CFN in 60 Video: West Virginia Mountaineers Preview
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The receiving corps gets a pass – it was really, really young, with three freshmen and two sophomores among the top seven targets. Just about everyone of note is back. Sophomore Sam James is a speedy target on the outside, but he averaged just 9.8 yards per grab on his team-high 69 catches.

6-2 TJ Simmons is a bigger receiver who finished second with 35 catches, but a deep threat has to emerge in place of the one big loss, George Campbell, who averaged close to 25 yards per catch with a team-high seven scores.

The offensive line did an okay job in pass protection, but it struggled mightily to generate even the slightest push for the ground game. Three starters are gone, hurt most by the loss of now-San Francisco 49er Colton McKivitz at left tackle. Two starters return, led by senior guard/center Chase Behrndt, for a line with decent size, but without a whole ton of bulk. Losing guard Josh Sills to Oklahoma State doesn’t help.

Leading runner Leddie Brown only rushed for 367 yards and a touchdown, and Kennedy McKoy is done, and Martell Pettaway left for Middle Tennessee. Brown is a good-sized back who can catch – he’s fine if the blocking gets the job done – and Alec Sinkfield adds a little flash.

NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: West Virginia Mountaineers Defense 3 Things To Know