MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia won’t play a road game during the first month of the 2015 football season, according to the schedule released Wednesday.
The Mountaineers’ opponents have been known for months, but the schedule couldn’t be finalized until the Big 12 set its lineup for conference games.
West Virginia opens the season with three home games against nonconference foes: Sept. 5 against Georgia Southern, Sept. 12 against Liberty and Sept. 26 vs. Maryland.
The Mountaineers won’t travel until an Oct. 3 game at Oklahoma.
2015 West Virginia football
Sept. 5 Georgia Southern
Sept. 12 Liberty
Sept. 26 Maryland
Oct. 3 at Oklahoma
Oct. 10 Oklahoma State
Oct. 17 at Baylor
Oct. 29 at TCU (Thursday)
Nov. 7 Texas Tech
Nov. 14 Texas
Nov. 21 at Kansas
Nov. 28 Iowa State
Dec. 5 at Kansas State
What’s not to like: Two byes within a five-week span. The first bye comes during Week 3, following money games against Georgia Southern and Liberty and preceding the Maryland matchup. That’s not exactly optimal timing.
The next bye comes about a month later on Oct. 24, wedged between road trips to Baylor and a Thursday night game at TCU. Having two byes in the first half of the season means West Virginia will play six consecutive weeks to close the regular season.
Recall that Oklahoma and West Virginia agreed to move up their meetings in 2013 and 2014 to avoid an early-season bye. In the case of 2015, Baylor has a Sept. 19 bye like WVU, but moving up that game is unlikely because it would create a 19-day gap between games in October for the Mountaineers.
October gauntlet: The month features three road games against teams projected to be among the Big 12’s elite—Oklahoma, Baylor and TCU. (Oklahoma has a bye preceding the game against West Virginia.)
Around the Big 12: Texas Tech plays 11 straight Saturdays before its first bye week Nov. 21, which precedes a Thursday night game vs. Texas and then, that’s right, another bye to close the season. … Texas plays the toughest nonconference schedule (at Notre Dame and hosting Cal). The only other intersectional matches of note: Oklahoma visits Tennessee, Texas Tech plays at Arkansas and TCU visits Minnesota.
Quoting Oliver Luck: “Seven home games return in 2015, and I think our fans and the Morgantown community will appreciate the extra game and another chance to see the team play at Milan Puskar Stadium,” said WVU’s athletics director. “The rivalry with Maryland returns at home for the first time since 2012, and the Big 12 schedule week-to-week will be a great test for our team.”
Quoting Dana Holgorsen: “Our schedule will be very competitive, with our non-conference opponents and the always-tough Big 12 slate,” the coach said. “The 2015 schedule will bring great challenges and great opportunities for our program.”
The kickoff times and television schedule will be announced later.