It was supposed to be better than this for West Virginia.
Dana Holgorsen is in year five of his existence as WVU’s head football coach, one full recruiting cycle in, which is typically when even the most patient of natives get restless if their internal (realistic) expectations are not likely to be met.
The Mountaineers entered 2015 with questions: Who would be the go-to pass catchers? Would the defense meet expectations? Was Skyler Howard the much-ballyhooed Holgorsen quarterback everyone’s been waiting to see since he got to Morgantown?
As it stands, the Mountaineers are walking into Fort Worth tonight against a TCU team that is once again nestled in the thicket of the playoff race. WVU, on the other hand, crab walks in with a 3-3 record and zero wins in the Big 12. Holgorsen is 31-26 at the school.
Common logic says that TCU goes Arena-League (if that’s even still a thing) crazy with its top-10 passing offense against a defense that has scuffled (being generous, since it’s apparently Christmas season, with retail stores inching closer and closer to just keeping out Christmas decor year-round) since losing All-American safety Karl Joseph to a cruel (they all are, really) knee injury in a non-contact drill the first week of October.
Even with Joseph, however, WVU was trending downward on defense when it started kicking the dust up with teams on the schedule that have a pulse. TCU is the final lap on the triad of consecutive unbeaten Big 12 opponents for WVU, with Oklahoma State winning in Morgantown in overtime and Baylor blowing the ‘Eers out in Waco.
WVU has not been an easy foil for TCU, however.
Last year, it was a heartbreaking last second loss to the Horned Frogs by a point. The season before that, in a battle of sheer mediocrity, WVU won by three. The season prior to that, another battle of sheer mediocrity, they lost by a point.
Both teams give up around 400 yards per game on defense, but it’s offense — where the Frogs are gaining a staggering 616 yards per game — that has to worry the Mountaineer coaches. Betwixt Baylor and TCU, WVU is playing back to back games against teams that, combined, average over 1,300 yards of offense per week.
Joseph or not, that’s stout.
WVU will need to lean on its elite third-down defense, eighth-best in the nation at getting opposing offenses off the field. Granted, it’s often an achievement when you even get TCU to third down, but that’s beside the point.
You’re not hearing much nationally about discontent with Holgorsen, maybe because this figured to be a bit of a rebuilding year on offense, maybe because the Mountaineers are still sort of figuring out where this season is going to go. The schedule was tailor-made for an 0-4 start in the conference, and so long as the staff can keep spirits high (and possibly in a flask within arm’s reach), the team could go on a tear in the second half of the season.
WVU will undoubtedly need to keep TCU from getting hot early, and when they have the opportunity, the Mountaineers will need to hit deep passes that have been occasionally missed. There’s not much room to screw around on offense and expect to keep up with TCU.
But you know what? Expect the Mountaineers to keep pace tonight. WVU has had a week off to get screamed at for being a turnstile against Baylor, and as previously mentioned, Holgorsen’s teams have played Gary Patterson’s well over the years.
It doesn’t mean WVU will win, but hanging in there can be a springboard for a second half run. Then again, as long as you show up, you’ve got a chance. It’s that time of year when weird things tend to happen.
Suit up the Mothman and send him on a deep fly pattern.
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On Twitter: @TheStudentSect
