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By JIM BUTTA
MORGANTOWN -- Since joining the Big 12, West Virginia University has been an underdog when it comes to capturing the league's championship. This season will be no different as the Mountaineers were picked to finish seventh in the 10-team conference by the media that covers the conference on a regular basis.
An explosive offense that will be missing its largest piece from an 8-5 campaign a year ago as well as a defense depleted by graduation and early departures to the NFL, are the most often cited reasons for the Mountaineers' low ranking following a fifth-place showing in 2015.
Those low expectations, however, may be just what veteran coach Dana Holgorsen needed to fuel this year's team.
"I think it comes from, collectively a lot of different things," Holgorsen said. "It can come from you all (sportswriters) at times. It can come from what people are saying about us. Last year there was a lot of optimism because of what we had coming back defensively.
"This year there is not quite as much optimism but we have equally as much coming back offensively. That kind of made us mad offensively last year and it makes us mad defensively this year. I think there is a little bit of a chip on our shoulder and we are anxious to put in the work to get us to game day."
But in order to prove all of the preseason pundits wrong, Holgorsen and his staff, which includes four new assistants, must find a replacement for running back Wendell Smallwood, eight starters on defense, the loss of All-Big 12 punter Nick O'Toole and the three-game suspension of placekicker Josh Lambert.
"Potentially -- I hate doing it this early, but (the RB) room could be as good as we've had because of the size, the speed, the ability to catch the ball, able to pick up blitzes with these guys," running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider said. "Their bodies can hold up as good as I've been around. I know that's saying a lot having what we had, but collectively already seeing these guys and the way they can pick stuff up is fun.
"(Freshman) Kennedy (McKoy), he's well beyond his years being a freshman. He acts like a seasoned vet. The pleasant surprise is how fast (junior) Justin (Crawford) came in and picked up the system. He didn't have a lot of burst early. That's why the summer has been good for him. He was able to get out here and understand stuff early and to pick it up. Probably a little bit behind, but he's a fast learner. He's a kid that plays fast. He doesn't play slow. Very excited from where we are, seeing the older guys pick up from where they left off spring. The summer has been good too."
Of course the heir apparent to replace Smallwood and his 1,500 yards, is senior Rushel Shell. The former University of Pittsburgh running back rushed for more than 700 yards playing behind Smallwood. Another name that could find itself onto the depth chart is incoming freshman Martell Pettaway.
The offense does appear to be in good hands with the return of seniors Skylar Howard at quarterback and Tyler Orlosky at center, as well as an explosive group of receivers headed by Shelton Gibson.
Howard connected on 221 of 403 passes for 3,145 yards and 26 touchdowns, but also tossed 14 interceptions. He closed out his first season as the Mountaineers starter by dissecting the Arizona State secondary for a Cactus-Bowl record 532 yards and five touchdowns in a 43-42 victory.
The fullbacks are Eli Wellman, St. Clairsville product Michael Ferns and Bishop Donahue graduate Matt Vucelik.
Gibson proved to be Howard's favorite target, coming away with 37 receptions for 887 yards and nine scores. But, fans should look for redshirt junior Ka'Raun White, sophomore Gary Jennings and senior Daikiel Shorts Jr. to play bigger roles in 2016. Don't forget about William Crest Jr. and Jovon Durante, who is coming off suspension.
"Well you don't put too much of a load on those guys," said receivers coach Tyron Carrier, one of Holgorsen's four new assistants. "You make it easy. I'm fortunate to have a lot of older guys that know what it's about. You make it real easy for them and the older guys will help them with a little bit of fine tuning. And of course I'm still fine tuning those older guys too.
"I just don't put much on them at all. I don't put anything on them and give them about two or three routes, two or three plays a day and everything you're supposed to be doing in there and just let them go with it."
All of that offensive skill won't matter, however, if the five players up front don't continue to open holes for the running backs and give Howard enough time to get the ball to his receivers.
Understanding that, Holgorsen brought in new assistant Joe Wickline, who will not only coach the tackles and tight ends, but take over the play-calling duties as the team's offensive coordinator.
"There are different ways to skin a cat, you know," Wickline said. "Nobody is right and nobody is wrong, it's all what works. It just kind of morphed into what is happening. Are you going to be a vertical-set football team?
''Are you going to be an escape, jump-set football team? Where is your quarterback releasing the ball? How long is he holding it? There are a lot of variables that go into that so when you kind of put it all together and you study, I'm learning all the time what the quarterbacks doing, the routes, the depth, the timing and we are all kind of putting it all together.
"I think our guys have bought into it. A lot of it has to do with our players. When you get older and you have been around a little bit, it doesn't matter who is coaching because you start to feel things that work a little bit better. To answer your question, I would say it is something that we just morphed into and it's kind of a work in progress."
Making that job easier for Wickline as well as veteran assistant Ron Crook who will coach the centers and guards, is the return of Orlosky as well as guards Adam Pankey, Kyle Bosch and Tony Matteo. Pankey, however, was recently arrested and his future is murky. Also in the mix is Union Local graduate and redshirt freshman Colton McKivitz.
Orlosky's name has already appeared on several preseason teams, the All-Big 12 team and on the Remington Award list given annually to the country's top center. Like any position, depth is going to be the key and the area where Wickline and Crooks are spending their most time developing.
"Again, half the time you will see us working half of the line," Crook said. "He (Wickline) will take half of the line and I will take half of the line. Sometimes he takes the tackles and tight ends and I have the centers and guards, so we work on what we need to work on and decide how we are going to break it up that way. It's not really 'you have this and I have this, it's hey we are working together.'
"The bottom line is if we aren't good enough to get things done, then we will both be in some trouble from a professional standpoint. So we kind of sit down and talk about here is what we need to get done, here is what we need to improve on, here is what we have time to work on today so you take this and I will take this."
Defensively, there will be no Nick Kwiatkoski, Shaq Petteway or Jared Barber at linebacker. K.J. Dillon, Daryl Worley, Terrell Chestnut and Karl Joseph are gone from the secondary and Kyle Rose won't be bottling up the middle from his nose guard position. Also, no corner Dravon Askew-Henry -- arguably the unit's top player -- or true freshman Brendan Ferns, a St. Clairsville product, at linebacker. Each suffered season-ending knee injuries in the offseason.
"Well I think last year we were hardly ever talked about," defensive line coach Bruce Tall said. "I always joked with our guys that we were the X factor, so we ended up becoming the factor. This year we became the experienced group, so then we get a lead up front. That's where it does start. That's where we need to build everything and take advantage of our experience. You can't simulate experience, but now we have it."
And, West Virginia's prevent unit will lean on it heavily.
Seniors Noble Nwachukwu, Darrien Howard and Christian Brown will highlight the unit. Nwachukwu led the team a year ago with 13 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks while Howard will be counted on to be the disruptive force in the middle that Rose was in 2015.
The linebacking corps following spring drills had senior Justin Arndt at Sam, junior Al-Rasheed Benton at Mike and senior Sean Walters at Will.
"Right now we just want to get the mental aspect down," said Benton, who finished with 21 tackles (14 solo) and four tackles for loss. "Like you said before, we have a lot of guys who may not have as much experience, so what we're trying to get down now is eliminating those mental breakdowns. I feel as though once we get that down, the athletic ability will take over, and I feel as though we have a lot of athletic ability in the room. Once we put those two key components together, I don't think we'll have any problems."
Junior Marvin Gross Jr. is penciled in to start the season at Spur, but is receiving a push from junior college transfer Kyzir White (Ka'Raun's brother), while seniors Jeremy Tyler and Jarrod Harper are dueling it out for the Bandit spot. The remainder of the secondary had the unit's only returning starter, Askew-Henry, at free safety, senior Nana Kyeremeh at field corner and senior Rasul Douglas at boundary corner.
"It is going well right now," said Tyler, who had an interception and fumble recovery last year. "We still have a lot of stuff to improve on. Right now we are just getting back into the groove of things, but I feel like we are heading in the right direction."
Depth again will be the key for the defense, especially when going up against the high-powered offensive attacks that teams in the Big 12 utilize.
WVU's special teams unit was expected to be one of its strong points entering the season, especially with the return of Lambert who connected on all but one of his 54 PATs and went 21 of 28 on field goal tries to lead the team in scoring with 116 points.
But that won't be the case in 2016 -- at least for the first three games -- as the senior will serve a suspension for breaking team rules prior to spring drills. In his place, Hurricane High School graduate Mike Molina will make the most of his opportunity to display his skills.
"I am just worried about Game 1 right now," Molina said.. "It's kick by kick, so you can't look at multiple kicks in the future or games down the line, you just have to go about the next week."
Lambert should be available to return for the Mountaineers' first Big 12 contest when Kansas State pays a visit to Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 1. But that won't be determined until the coaching staff grades Molina on the job he has done up until that time.
Looking to replace O'Toole will be Morgantown native Billy Kinney or incoming freshman Jonn Young.
"Right now (redshirt sophomore kicker/punter) Billy (Kinney) is running with the ones just because he has more experience," first-year assistant Mark Scott said. "Again, Billy has looked better technique-wise and then production-wise, the hang time and the distance on his punts. We still have to do some things to clean up. When we directional kick, we need to be more consistent there.
"I definitely think that (freshman kicker/punter) Jonn (Young) coming in and Billy seeing him, he has a great leg that's why we recruited him. He is a really talented kid across the board, especially in punting. I think that has helped push Billy a little bit and they are both getting better because of it."
The return game looks solid with Jennings, who handled both punts and kickoffs, Gibson and Jovon Durante.
WVU opens the season with three non-conference contests with Missouri and Youngstown State both coming to Mountaineer Field. The Mountaineers and BYU will tangle at FedEx Stadium the last Saturday in September. They also also get preseason favorites Oklahoma (Nov. 19) and TCU (Oct. 22), voted by the media to finish 1-2, at home, as well as K-State, Kansas (Nov. 5) and Baylor (Dec. 3).
West Virginia's road games include Texas Tech (Oct. 15), OSU (Oct. 29), Texas (Nov. 12) and Iowa State (Nov. 26).
Sept. 3: Missouri Noon
Sept. 10: Yngstwn St. 2 p.m.
*Sept. 24: BYU TBA
Oct. 1: Kansas State TBA
Oct. 15: at Texas Tech TBA
Oct. 22: TCU TBA
Oct. 29: at Okla. State TBA
Nov. 5: Kansas TBA
Nov. 12: at Texas TBA
Nov. 19: Oklahoma TBA
Nov. 26: at Iowa State TBA
Dec. 3: Baylor TBA
*-at FedEx Field, Washington, D.C.
PREDICTION
Win 7, Lose 5
Head Coach
Dana Holgorsen
6th year
At WVU
36-28
Overall
36-28
Assistant coaches
Tony Gibson, Joe Wickline, Ron Crook, Ja'Juan Seider, Bruce Tall, Mark Scott, Matt Caponi, Blue Adams, Tyron Carrier,
2015 RESULTS
WVU 44, Georgia Southern 0
WVU 41, Liberty 17
WVU 45, Maryland 6
Oklahoma 44, WVU 24
OSU 33, WVU 26 (OT)
Baylor 62, WVU 38
TCU 40, WVU 10
WVU 31, Texas Tech 26
WVU 38, Texas 20
WVU 49, Kansas 0
WVU 30, Iowa State 6
Kansas State 24, WVU 23
MOTEL 6 CACTUS BOWL
WVU 43, Arizona State 42