Neal Brown is heading into his third season as the head coach at West Virginia and after a 6-4 season, the Mountaineers are looking to take that next step and become contenders in the Big 12 Conference. Thursday afternoon, West Virginia unveiled the full football schedule for the 2021 season so today, we make our way-too-early predictions for how the season will shake out.
9/4 at Maryland - Win
Mike Locksley has the Terps headed in the right direction and has recruited very well since taking over the reins of the program. This could be a sneaky good game, but I'm expecting West Virginia's defense to really bottle up Taulia Tagovailoa and win by at least two scores. The Mountaineers are returning eight starters on the defensive side of the ball and although it'll be hard to replace Tony Fields, Darius Stills, and Dreshun Miller, they should still be a top 25 unit.
9/11 Long Island - Win
Do I really need to say much about this one? This is the easiest pick on the schedule aside from Kansas. People don't like that Long Island is scheduled but it helps a small program by getting on TV and collects a check while they're at it, so why not? Everyone else seems to play 2-3 cupcakes on their schedule, West Virginia having one is not a big deal.
9/18 Virginia Tech - Win
The Hokies lost several key players off their roster from 2020 including OT Christian Darrisaw and RB Khalil Herbert who are onto the NFL and QB Hendon Hooker who transferred to Tennessee, and OT Doug Nester who transferred into West Virginia. With that said, the Hokies do have a lot of upperclassmen on both sides of the ball and are projected to be a middle of the road team in the ACC.
9/25 at Oklahoma - Loss
Spencer Rattler will be in year two as the Sooners QB, and after a very impressive freshman campaign, I'm expecting a huge jump in 2021. From a scheduling perspective, it probably sets up better for West Virginia to get the Sooners earlier in the year but until the Mountaineers win one, I have to go with Oklahoma.
10/2 Texas Tech - Win
After the disappointing loss to Texas Tech last year in Lubbock, one would have to imagine that West Virginia has this game circled on their schedule. Not to mention, Neal Brown is 0-2 vs the Red Raiders. Dana Holgorsen had a ton of success against Tech and I think we'll see that begin to take place under Brown starting this fall. The Red Raiders have some playmakers at receiver but the biggest question with them is always the defensive side of the ball, which likely won't be much better in 2021.
10/9 at Baylor - Loss
It seems like every year, there's always one game on the schedule that West Virginia loses that they probably shouldn't. This year, I'm going to say it's Baylor. After a disappointing 2-7 season, Dave Aranda's team should make quite a leap next season. West Virginia's roster is in better shape, but I'll take the Bears at home here. Remember, West Virginia needed overtime to beat Baylor this past fall in what was a very sloppy football game.
10/16 BYE
10/23 at TCU - Win
Gary Patterson has some nice pieces to build around such as running back Zach Evans and QB Max Duggan but this is a very young Horned Frogs team. TCU may make its way back to the top three or so of the Big 12 Conference but I don't foresee that happening anytime soon. Neal Brown gets his third straight win over TCU.
10/30 Iowa State - Loss
If there was ever a year where Oklahoma could be dethroned as the Big 12 champion, this might be the year. Iowa State returns a ton of talent from their 9-3 team a year ago that nearly knocked off the Sooners in the Big 12 championship. Even with this being a home game for the Mountaineers, I just don't see them coming out on top. It would be hard to believe that West Virginia closed the gap in just one offseason after being clobbered 42-6 in Ames.
11/6 Oklahoma State - Loss
For whatever reason, the Pokes have had West Virginia's number over the years and honestly, has been just about as one-sided of a series as WVU/OU. Cowboys QB Spencer Sanders hasn't quite lived up to the expectations in his first two years as the starting quarterback in Stillwater but a lot of that has to do with the injuries that he has sustained.
11/13 at Kansas State - Win
After dropping two straight, this game comes at a good time. Chris Klieman's squad regressed as the season went on in 2020 and I'm not sure they will be a top-five, top-six team in the conference. This seems like a game where West Virginia racks up a ton of yardage on the ground with Leddie Brown and gets back on track.
11/20 Texas - Win
Senior night vs Texas? Maybe it's actually a senior NIGHT and not a senior day noon kick. Steve Sarkisian will elevate the Texas program to places Tom Herman never could but it's going to take some time. Sam Ehlinger is off to the NFL, so the Longhorns will have some competition at QB. The Mountaineers send the seniors out with a bang and get a big victory at home.
11/27 at Kansas - Win
Can I copy/paste from the Long Island section? Apologies to the Jayhawk fans out there, but it doesn't seem that a coach like Les Miles can turn that program around. Big win for West Virginia to end the year.
Projected record: 8-4 (5-4)
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February 12, 2021 at 11:11PM
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Way-Too-Early 2021 WVU Football Predictions - Sports Illustrated
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