COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Sunday marks the start of the Mountaineers preseason camp, and thus begins their sixth football season in the Big 12 Conference. A few superlatives from the first five:
Wins and losses: West Virginia’s overall record during its final five years in the Big East (48-17) easily outpaces the 36-28 mark so far in the new league. The gap in league games is even more stark — with the Mountaineers finishing their Big East run at 25-10 followed by a 22-23 record in Big 12 play.
The steepening of Power Five competition isn’t mere lip service. WVU’s average strength of schedule during that Big East span ranked 47th nationally, compared to 27th during the new-league era.
Biggest upset win: It has to be 2014’s takedown of unbeaten Baylor. West Virginia’s 41-27 victory in Week 7 earned Kevin White piles of first-round cash and Bears defensive backs a pile of interference flags.
And because Baylor wound up missing the College Football Playoff by a whisker — spawning talk of psychological disadvantages and, ultimately, renewal of the Big 12 championship game — this might have been the most crucial outcome across the entire conference during the five-year window.
Biggest letdown: We stay in 2014 for that rainy Nov. 1 matchup against 10th-ranked TCU. After ESPN GameDay had campus buzzing, West Virginia had a 13-point lead late in the third quarter before the Frogs rallied to win on Jaden Oberkrom’s walkoff kick.
The deflated Mountaineers wound up dropping four of their last five games.
Most exciting game: No one can forget the scorching offense from that Big 12 debut vs. Baylor in 2012. The 70-63 track meet saw Geno Smith at his sharpest, throwing eight TDs and only six incompletions. The 19-to-3 touchdowns-to-punts ratio remains the most ludicrous stat I’ve seen in a college game.
Least exciting game: It doesn’t get anymore brutal than 37-zip against Maryland in 2013. Ford Childress, trying to play through a torn pectoral muscle, quarterbacked an offense that produced six turnovers and six first downs.
Biggest hurdle: It’s those Sooners — West Virginia stands 0-5 against Oklahoma since they became Big 12 brothers.
The Mountaineers missed a golden chance in 2012 when Landry Jones led Oklahoma to a 50-49 escape, and even the downtrodden 2013 team was driving for the lead in Norman until Kevin White’s red-zone fumble.
Best player: While Tavon Austin mesmerized with his slipperiness, Karl Joseph’s highlight hits are too jarring to ignore. At 5-foot-10, he packed more pop for pound than any tackler in the college game. Because of an ACL tear in practice, we’ll never know how fantastic Joseph’s senior could have been.
Best sign of continuity: Dana Holgorsen remains atop the program while six of the remaining nine Big 12 schools have changed coaches.
Most inspiring career finish: Not only did walk-on Justin Arndt earn a scholarship, but he became the team leader in tackles as a senior linebacker.
Least inspiring career finish: Fort Worth circa 2013, when receiver Ronald Carswell was booted off the team after coaches discovered a girl hiding in his hotel room the night before the TCU game.
Biggest eye-opener: It’s always the dollar figures, right? Last year West Virginia athletics revenue eclipsed the $100-million mark for the first time. That’s quite a climb from the $60 million generated during its final go-round as a Big East member.