Game Preview: WVU vs. Missouri

It is the sixth meeting all time between the two programs with the Tigers holding a 3-2 advantage. The matchup is the first between the two schools since 1998 and the first in Morgantown since 1993.

It is the first meeting between the two schools with head coach Dana Holgorsen at the helm of the Mountaineers football program. Now entering his sixth season, Holgorsen has amassed a career record 36-28 in Morgantown during that span including an 8-5 campaign last year.

West Virginia returns a wealth of experience on the offensive side of the ball including senior quarterback Skyler Howard who will trigger the Mountaineers offensive scheme. In his first full year as the starter last season, Howard threw for 3,145 yards and 26 touchdowns, while also rushing for five scores. Redshirt senior Rushel Shell returns in the backfield after rushing for 708 yards and 8 touchdowns while the bulk of the wide receivers and offensive line return intact.

Defensively is a different story, as the Mountaineers are replacing a total of nine starters from last season’s unit but are doing so with a total of eight seniors and one junior.

Missouri is led by first year head coach Barry Odom, 39, who inherits the Tigers after a 5-7 mark last year when he served as the defensive coordinator. The 32nd head coach in the history of Missouri, Odom had the Tigers defense ranked as the ninth best nationally last season allowing just 16.2 points and 302 yards per contest, the first time in program history that the unit finished in the top ten. That group returns a total of 17 starters this season and is considered the strength of the team.

“Don’t let the 5-7 record fool you at all. This is a really, really, really good football team. They were extremely competitive last year,” Holgorsen said.

Missouri returns redshirt junior defensive end Charles Harris up front, who is coming off a season where he finished with 18.5 tackles for loss and 7 sacks earning all-SEC honors. The other leader on the defense is senior linebacker Michael Scherer, who has made at least 90 tackles in each year he’s started. There is also experience returning throughout the Tigers defense at all levels.

Odom has served in multiple capacities at Missouri over the years as a player (1996-99), in football operations (06-08), safeties coach (2009-11) and defensive coordinator before being named the head coach this past off-season. The head coach was a starting linebacker on the last Tigers team that played the Mountaineers in the 1998 Insight.com Bowl, a 34-31 Missouri win.

The Tigers are looking to change the fortunes of the offense from last year after the unit struggled to the tune of 13.6 points and 280 yards per game. Odom hired offensive coordinator Josh Heupel from Utah State and he enters the program with a wealth of experience as the former Oklahoma coordinator.

“I’ve known Josh Heupel for a long time. Competed against him when he was at Oklahoma. He did a great job there. He was at Utah State where they were pretty dang good last year, so he’s going to bring a type of offense that’s going to be a little bit more spread out and throw it around,” Holgorsen said.

Sophomore Drew Lock is the starting quarterback for the Tigers and finished last season starting the final eight games while throwing for 1,332 yards and four touchdowns. He was the first true freshman quarterback to start for Missouri since the 1995 season.

The Tigers also brought in several offensive graduate transfers in running back Alex Ross from Oklahoma and wide receiver Chris Black from Alabama to help boost the offensive numbers.

The game will kick off at 12 p.m. inside Milan Puskar Stadium.

West Virginia Depth Chart:

OFFENSE:

QB - 3 Skyler Howard (Sr), 11 Chris Chugunov (r-Fr), 16 William Crest (r-So)

TE - 87 Stone Wolfley (r-Fr), 88 Trevon Wesco (r-So)

FB – 28 Elijah Wellman (r-Jr), 47 Michael Ferns (r-So)

RB – 7 Rushel Shell (r-Sr), 4 Kennedy McKoy (Fr), 25 Justin Crawford (Jr)

WR (X) - 1 Shelton Gibson (r-Jr), 12 Gary Jennings (So)

WR (Z) – 2 Ka’Raun White (Jr), 82 Devonte Mathis (r-Sr)

IR (Y) - 6 Daikiel Shorts (Sr), 5 Jovon Durante (So)

LT - 55 Yodny Cajuste (r-So), 74 Sylvester Townes (r-Sr)

LG – 70 Tony Matteo (s-Sr), 56 Grant Lingafelter (r-Jr)

C - 65 Tyler Orlosky (r-Jr), 79 Matt Jones (r-Fr)

RG - 62 Kyle Bosch (r-Jr), 71 Rob Dowdy (r-Fr)

RT - 77 Marcell Lazard (r-Jr), 53 Colton McKivitz (r-Fr)

DEFENSE:

DE - 97 Noble Nwachukwu (r-Sr), 88 Adam Shuler (r-Fr)

NT - 49 Darrien Howard (Sr), 67 Alec Shriner (r-Fr)

DE - 95 Christian Brown (r-Sr), 92 Jon Lewis (r-Jr)

SAM – 30 Justin Arndt (r-Sr), 31 Zach Sandwisch (Fr)

MIKE - 17 Al-Rasheed Benton (r-Sr), 44 Hodari Christian (r-Jr)

WILL – 27 Sean Walters (r-Sr), 28 David Long (r-Fr)

CB – 1 Antonio Crawford (r-Sr), 14 Nana Kyeremeh (r-Sr)

FS – 2 Jeremy Tyler (Sr), 16 Toyous Avery (r-So)

SPUR – 8 Kyzir White (Jr), 18 Marvin Gross, Jr. (r-Jr)

BS - 22 Jarrod Harper (r-Sr), 12 Khairi Shariff (r-Sr)

CB – 13 Rasul Douglas (r-Sr), 24 Maurice Fleming (r-Sr)

SPECIAL TEAMS:

PK - 48 Mike Molina (r-Jr), 86 Josh Lambert (r-Sr)

P - 15 Billy Kinney (r-So), 80 Jonn Young (Fr)

LS -46 Nick Meadows (r-Jr), 43 R.C. Brunstetter (r-So)

H – 15 Billy Kinney (r-So), 80 Jonn Young (Fr)

KO - 48 Mike Molina (r-Jr), 15 Billy Kinney (r-So)

PR - 12 Gary Jennings (So)

KR - 1 Shelton Gibson (r-Jr), 12 Gary Jennings (So)

Notes:

--Coaching assignments for this season include: DC/LB Tony Gibson (field), OC/TE-FB Joe Wickline (press box), CB Blue Adams (field), WR Tyron Carrier (field), S Matt Caponi (field), OL Ron Crook (field), D/ST Mark Scott (press box), RB JaJuan Seider (field), DL Bruce Tall (field)

--West Virginia holds an all-time of 88-31-4 in season openers, 31-4-1 in openers at Milan Puskar Stadium and is 5-0 in home openers under head coach Dana Holgorsen.

--There are 34 juniors and seniors on the West Virginia depth chart.

--The West Virginia offensive rosters includes 13 players that have started at least one game. The offensive roster consists of 19 true freshmen, eight redshirt freshmen, three sophomores, seven redshirt sophomores, one junior, eight redshirt juniors, two seniors and six redshirt seniors.

--The West Virginia defensive roster includes 6 players that have started at least one game. The West Virginia defensive rosters includes 20 true freshmen, 10 redshirt freshmen, one sophomore, three redshirt sophomores, nine juniors, four redshirt juniors, two seniors and 10 redshirt seniors.

--West Virginia has 14 senior starters on its depth chart and 20 seniors on its two deep, the most in the Big 12 Conference.

--West Virginia is 3-2 all-time against Missouri and this is the third meeting in Morgantown with the Mountaineers holding a 1-1 mark.

--The Mountaineers are No. 14 all-time in college football winning percentage.

--Since 2000, West Virginia is 101-13 when scoring 30 or more points in a contest.

Injuries/Suspensions: West Virginia junior free safety Dravon Askew-Henry is out for the season with an ACL injury. Freshman linebacker Brendan Ferns is out for the season with an ACL injury. Freshman cornerback Jake Long is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Redshirt sophomore Jaleel Fields is out for the season with a knee injury. Redshirt junior Xavier Pegues is out until late October with a shoulder injury.

As for suspensions, West Virginia will be without the services of redshirt senior kicker Josh Lambert for the first three games. Also starting redshirt senior left guard Adam Pankey is suspended for the season opener along with junior SAM linebacker Xavier Preston. Missouri does not have any significant injuries or suspensions leading into the season opening matchup with the Mountaineers.

Redshirts: West Virginia is expected to dress ten true freshmen in running back Kennedy McKoy, defensive end Reese Donahue, wide receiver Marcus Simms, SAM linebacker Zach Sandwisch, WILL linebacker Adam Hensley, SPUR safety Dylan Tonkery, SPUR safety JoVanni Stewart, wide receiver Steven Smothers, running back Martell Pettaway and punter Jonn Young although not determination has made if all of those players will see game action yet. All of the junior college players in the last class will play.

Points to Click:

Winning up-front: West Virginia will be challenged in the season opener against a Missouri defensive line that was one of the best in the nation last season. The group returns a lot of talent including redshirt junior Charles Harris, who is considered a legitimate top end first round draft pick. Overall, a total of eight players from last year’s defensive line return for the Tigers giving them not only size but depth up front as the average lineman is 6-foot-4 with the interior players pushing over 300-pounds and the ends going over 260-pounds. The unit returns a total of 48 tackles for loss and 13 sacks from a season ago and will challenge a veteran, experienced West Virginia offensive line with their overall strength and stunts. The Mountaineers will look to establish the run and protect senior quarterback Skyler Howard when he throws the football, while the Tigers will want to create pressure with their front instead of being forced to bring additional bodies. It will be a true battle of strength on strength and both units will find out a lot about themselves. But who wins this battle could play a pivotal role in which team wins the game.

Widening the pocket: This goes hand-in-hand with the first point, but West Virginia struggled mightily last year in the drop back passing department and it was a clear focus of the offensive staff this offseason. Offensive coordinator Joe Wickline was brought in to help in this department and from the start the Mountaineers will face a significant challenge in the form of the aforementioned Tigers defensive line. Consistency while throwing the football was the biggest challenge for the offense last season and they will need to prove that they can drop back and throw the football if need be.

Let the defense gel: West Virginia has a lot of experience on the defensive side considering there are a total of ten seniors starting and the last remaining member is a junior. But out of that group there has only been a total of six starts, as many of them have been in the rotation but haven’t been thrust into starting roles throughout the course of their careers. The biggest difference for this group over the last time that the Mountaineers lost the bulk of their starters is that they have played in games and been in the system before. That means there isn’t the learning curve that is typically associated with losing a total of nine starters. Still this unit will have to prove it and learn together how to play as a group.

Make Missouri one-dimensional: Missouri was one of the worst teams in the nation offensively last season in both scoring and total offense. Head coach Barry Odom brought in offensive coordinator Josh Heupel to help address some of those concerns as well as some graduate transfers at the skill positions. And while it isn’t completely known how the Tigers will attack with their offensive scheme, one thing is clear – if West Virginia is able to make them one dimensional things bode well for their chances.

Score touchdowns in the red zone: At times West Virginia was well oiled machine offensively last season, others they looked lost. That consistency, or lack thereof, haunted the Mountaineers throughout the course of the season and was especially troublesome in the red zone where West Virginia struggled to put the ball in the end zone. West Virginia finished last season 78th in the nation in red zone and scored only 33 touchdowns in 58 red zone attempts. The offense often bogged down between the 20s and was haunted by miscues. That can't happen against a very good Missouri defense especially if the Mountaineers have opportunities to put six on the board.

Feed off the energy: West Virginia is undefeated in home openers under Dana Holgorsen and there will be a great atmosphere in the stadium Saturday for the home opener and the Gold Rush. Football will be back in Morgantown and fortunately for the Mountaineers this game will be at home. West Virginia is currently 10-point favorites in this game and should be able to feed off the energy in the stands.

Special teams: West Virginia will need to remain solid in the third phase of the game even with almost an entirely new cast of characters. While redshirt junior kicker Mike Molina has kicked well in the spring and throughout fall camp this will be the first significant game action of his career and in a game that could be close the Mountaineers will need him to be consistent. At punter, the Mountaineers have an on-going battle between redshirt sophomore Billy Kinney and freshman Jonn Young with each looking to replace the departing senior Nick O’Toole. Field position could play a significant role in this game and West Virginia will need to flip the field if the offense struggles to move the football. Miscues in other areas often loom large as well, as West Virginia will need to play a clean game on special teams.

Turnovers: This is an area that goes without saying as turnovers both avoiding them on offense as well as forcing them on the defensive side play a giant role in deciding the overall outcome of games. The Mountaineers turned their fortunes around in the turnover department last season but avoiding them on offense while being able to effectively force them on defense could be a decider.