Five questions for WVU that need answered prior to next season
West Virginia finished the 2017 season with a 7-6 record and WVSports.com takes a look at five questions that must be answered prior to the 2018 season.
1-Who will receive the majority of carries? With the loss of Justin Crawford, it’s uncertain at this point who’ll step up in his place and take the majority of backfield’s carries. Crawford accounted for 41.3 percent of West Virginia’s carries this past season and 34.4 between his two years with the Mountaineers. Although West Virginia ran the ball 105 less times this season compared to last season, you can still expect the Mountaineers to rely on their ground attack next season to compliment their passing game and to do that, West Virginia will need to find a steady replacement for Crawford. The two obvious candidates are sophomores Kennedy McKoy and Martell Pettaway, who have each carried the load at some point during their college careers. McKoy was the team’s second-leading rusher this season with 611 yards to go along with seven touchdowns. Pettaway, who rushed for 181 yards against Iowa State as a true freshman in 2016, rushed for just 152 yards on 43 carries this past season. The running back position as a whole returns depth and talent for next season which will provide the coaching staff with plenty of options. Aside from McKoy and Pettaway, West Virginia will retain freshmen Alec Sinkfield and Tevin Bush and will welcome four-star recruit Leddie Brown.
2-Who backs up Grier? There’s a strong possibility that West Virginia’s backup quarterback situation will be reevaluated come spring and fall camps due to the play of redshirt sophomore Chris Chugunov in place of the injured Will Grier. After Grier suffered a broken finger against Texas, Chugunov stepped into the starting role and completed 33-of-74 passes for 455 yards with two touchdowns and interceptions in three games. Although Chugunov showed promise at times, he and the offense struggled and were inconsistent for the most part. Like the running back position, West Virginia will return a deep and talented crop of quarterback talent that will include Chugunov, sophomore David Isreal, three-star recruit Trey Lowe and Miami transfer Jack Allison, who sat the season out due to NCAA transfer rules. Come spring and fall camps, West Virginia will not only have to determine who’ll backup Grier in case another unfortunate situation would to occur, but also its future leader at the position once Grier finishes his college career.
3-Can the defense overcome its growing pains and become one of the Big 12’s best?Unlike these past two seasons, defensive coordinator Tony Gibson will not have to replace 8-9 starters on next year’s defense. The unit will lose top defenders in Kyzir White and Al-Rasheed Benton, but will return all three starters on the defensive line as well as linebackers David Long and Dylan Tonkery. In the secondary, the Mountaineers will return Dravon Askew-Henry, Kenny Robinson and Toyous Avery. This unit carries a lot of promise and potential heading into next season especially with a solid coordinator in Gibson leading the charge, but the defense has struggled with stopping both the pass and run, ranking just No. 103 in rush defense and allowed 241.4 passing yards per game this past season. This unit has also had problems with allowing big plays, but Gibson has earned a reputation for getting the best out of his players and with what he has coming back, West Virginia looks primed to have one of its best defensive seasons in recent years.
4-Can West Virginia play four full quarters on all sides of the ball? One of the biggest issues West Virginia has had is the inability to play a complete game. During this past season, complacency and inconsistency got the best of the Mountaineers in many games, especially during the early and middle parts of the season which included a near 25-point comeback from Baylor and sloppy second half play in games against Delaware State and East Carolina. These were games in which the Mountaineers racked up a bunch of offense in the first half, but finished the game with a less than stellar effort in the second half. Granted, it’s hard for any team to feel eager to play a FCS level team like Delaware State, but at the end of the day, the Mountaineers are going to have to finish out games strong in order to take the next step. The team has shown its capability to finish a game strong--overcoming an 18-point deficit to defeat Texas Tech during the season, but this was also a game where West Virginia got off to a sloppy start which is another thing that it must overcome. If the Mountaineers can put together a four-quarter effort consistently, then next year’s team will be on its way to helping the program take that next step.
5-Can the program take the next step? Speaking of taking the next step, West Virginia will have the opportunity to do just that next season. The Mountaineers look to have all of the pieces for the puzzle that are needed to take that next step. West Virginia returns Grier along with other offensive weapons in receivers David Sills and Gary Jennings and running backs in McKoy and Pettaway. The unit will also return four starters on the offensive line with the only departure being Kyle Bosch. On defense, West Virginia returns all three starters on the defensive, a strong linebacker core and a solid secondary, but as I previously mentioned, the team will have to put together a full four-quarter effort, play more consistently and also limit mental mistakes.
Next season could be West Virginia’s time to shine in the Big 12 with Oklahoma losing Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma State losing both Mason Rudolph and James Washington and TCU losing quarterback Kenny Hill as well as running back Kyle Hicks. The Mountaineers will also have the advantage of playing both TCU and Oklahoma at home. Although West Virginia hasn’t fared well against ranked teams, the Mountaineers took a step last season by defeating ranked opponents in Texas Tech and Iowa State. With an incoming recruiting class that ranks No. 22 in the country and the amount of experience returning, both the present and future look bright for the program, but it’s up to the Mountaineers to ensure that.
