West Virginia doesn’t need to look hard for motivation this season.
The Mountaineers weren’t selected dead last in the Big 12 like a season ago, but considering what is returning on the roster after the program finished last season 9-4 with a bowl win they still aren’t satisfied being slotted seventh in the league’s preseason media poll.
“If you’re not number one you’re last so that seven is just like that 14. Take that same formula and add a few more ingredients,” safety Aubrey Burks said.
That’s not to say that a jump is nice, but the overall the Mountaineers are hoping for more this season.
And not just that either, as the program isn’t getting much buzz in the national polls either after finishing the season ranked as a top 25 program and returning 15 of the top 20 players in terms of snaps played on offense and 9 of the top 20 on the defensive side. That doesn’t even include experienced transfer additions that the program made to fill out any needs throughout the course of the offseason.
This echoes the thoughts of head coach Neal Brown who made it clear that this year shares many of the same variables as a season ago where the Mountaineers were able to use that preseason media choice as a rallying cry. It became a motivational tactic to everybody associated with the program throughout the season.
Now, West Virginia will have a chance to do it again.
“Last year we were obviously really disrespected. I know we’re one of the top teams in the conference and we’re looking forward to showing that,” quarterback Garrett Greene said.
The Mountaineers will be able to prove that on the field as the program will play five of the six teams slotted ahead of them in the poll but that too isn’t unfamiliar territory. Last season, West Virginia squared off against nine of the 13 teams that were picked ahead of them on their way to a 6-3 mark in the league.
Still, talk will only get you so far and those in the program understand that the Mountaineers have two options. They can either prove the prognosticators right or wrong.
That means placing the focus not on preseason attention, but what needs to occur to make an even bigger leap up the Big 12 standings this coming campaign.
“We’re just worried about coming into work every day and getting better and let the results of the season speak for us,” Greene said.
And if last year serves as a blueprint that doubt could lead to the motivation the Mountaineers need.
“We’ve just got to prove our doubters wrong,” defensive lineman Sean Martin said.
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