WVSports.com: Staff Predictions Week 1: Tennessee
SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest in Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
West Virginia will open the season in a few hours against Tennessee inside Bank of America Stadium and it's now time to for all the talk to stop and the predictions to roll out.
The WVSports.com staff, Keenan Cummings, Patrick Kotnik, Matt Keller, Anthony Krumpach and Vernon Bailey offer their final thoughts on the match up as well as their predictions for the game.
This will be a weekly feature where the performance of each picker will be tracked throughout the season both on wins and losses and actual point differential on the final results.
So who wins week one?
KC: There is always a sense of optimism around the beginning of a West Virginia season but in the back of every fan there is also a little bit of worry with what could go wrong. This is the year that head coach Dana Holgorsen has been building up for with a veteran offense led by one of the best quarterbacks in college football and a defense that could be surprisingly better than many people expect it to be after some personnel overhauling in the off-season.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that Tennessee is a talented football team with the makeup of its roster but there are questions up and down even starting at the quarterback spot. Jeremy Pruitt has a chance to right the ship in Knoxville over time and I think this team is going to play West Virginia a lot tougher than many expect but if you want to be a serious contender to take that next step the Mountaineers can't lose this game to a double digit underdog at a neutral site. I've got the Mountaineers.
West Virginia 27-17
PK: Numerous question marks surround both teams heading into the season-opener regarding depth, personnel and game strategy. It’s unknown how each team will come out and no team exactly plays their best football during the first game of the year. With that being said, I see the Mountaineers coming up victorious in a game that will be much closer than people think.
Making adjustments on all three sides of the ball will be huge in this game for both teams and I can see it being the deciding factor. This is something the Mountaineers have struggled with in the past, but given the team’s returning experience and extra emphasis this offseason on efficiency, I see the Mountaineers pulling away in the fourth quarter with key stops from Tony Gibson’s defense and a couple of fourth quarter touchdowns from Will Grier and the offense despite a tough defensive effort from a Jeremy Pruitt defense.
West Virginia 35-17
MK: West Virginia finds itself in the rare situation of having an execution and, at some key positions, personnel edge over an SEC foe. That Tennessee was an also-ran last year -and indeed winless in the league - shows much about lackluster operation but not true the talent on all three sides of the ball. The Volunteers have plenty of that, and a defense which shows just one underclassmen in its potential starting 11. But the edge here lies with WVU and quarterback Will Grier. If the Mountaineers can establish the run game, they should have the balance to make mincemeat of a porous UT defense.
On the flip side, keep an eye on the front six and how West Virginia's linebackers fit up behind a line with a pair of first-year players in the odd stack in nose Kenny Bigalow Jr. and end Jabril Robinson. If that sextuplet can hem in Tennessee's running game, including the expected sprint out and RPOs from coordinator Tyson Helton, the Mountaineers will be well on their way to a victory. UT managed an average of just 19.8 points per game a season ago, and even with Helton, the former Southern Cal coordinator, at the helm, there's no Sam Darnold upon which to rely. This is a rebuilding Tennessee program, both physically and psychologically, and game ones are traditionally unkind to such.
West Virginia 34-17
AK: On paper it’s hard not to look at this match-up as an overwhelming advantage for the Mountaineers. Last year’s Tennessee team resembled nothing that Rocky Top fans are used to seeing. They are known for being physical along both lines and extremely hard hitting and they were neither in 2017. Tennessee simply never lived up to the high profile players that are spread across the Volunteers roster. The 2018 version, in my opinion, will give more fight but ultimately have so many questions at so many different positions.
Add in a lack of quality, experienced depth and new schemes on both offense and defense, it’s hard to see how a more experienced, offensive minded Mountaineer squad won't steam roll yet these are the Mountaineers we're talking about. Coming off a disappointing season where the defense was less than stellar and the offense was explosive, sometimes, the only consistent part of the Mountaineers play in 2017 is that it was inconsistent.
2018 brings high hopes and renewed confidence that this will be the year. I ultimately think the Mountaineers have too much talent not to win this game but there is this WVU curse that resonates with the West Virginia faithful that are waiting for their beloved Mountaineers to do something to cost them a big win. Saying that, I believe WVU controls the game early, scoring all their points in the first half. They’ll play better defense than expected but eventually Tennessee will wear down the West Virginia defense to do the majority of their scoring late in the 3rd quarter. A big mid-fourth quarter turnover will squash Tennessee’s chances of a comeback and WVU holds on with a 28-17 victory over the Volunteers. It will be a messy game where WVU will put up well over 500 yards of offense but once again struggle in the red-zone with penalties and turnovers. A win is a win; even of it feels almost like a loss. The offense will look to get back on track next week while the defense gets a big pick-me-up with a solid effort holding Tennessee to under 300 yards of total offense.
West Virginia 28-17
VB: With a first year coach Tennessee is a difficult read but the West Virginia team that will face the Volunteers is one that returns the pieces on offense to light up the scoreboard. The question, as we all know, will the Mountaineer defense be capable of getting the ball back into the hands of Will Grier? If so we could see Grier putting up numbers you would expect from a Heisman candidate.
Tennessee's roster isn't lacking in talent and they will certainly be fired up in Coach Pruitt's first game. But as the Mountaineer offense establishes itself throughout the game West Virginia should be able to pull away and leave Charlotte with an important win. Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson will find his unit on their heels at times but they are capable of making enough stops to allow for a two touchdown win.
West Virginia 34-20
Enter the contest by clicking on the following link and choosing to subscribe to the channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=VideoGlide
