I am normally not an optimist. A realist, perhaps, but not one normally given to the art of the possible.
Therefore, as the WVU football team prepares to begin the new season, it would only be natural to join the chorus of those expecting a continuation of last season’s failures.
But headwinds be damned. The period before the kick-off of the first game is unencumbered by wins and losses. All things are possible. Didn’t anybody see Rocky? Hoosiers? Remember the Titans? Raging Bull? (No, wait, forget that one).
Despite what I just wrote, Alabama is a loss. Coach Holgorsen said at his press conference this week that playing a team as good as the Crimson Tide is a great “opportunity.” You know when coaches start saying things like that even they don’t really believe they have much of a chance.
But, hey, Alabama beats everybody. Fugetaboutit.
Here are my reasons for optimism for the rest of the season:
—Experience: WVU returns 31 players on offense and 12 on defense with starting experience. All key special teams players are back, including All-Big 12 Conference punter Nick O’Toole.
—Starting quarterback: Last season, WVU played round robin at quarterback because of injuries, inexperience and ineffectiveness. This year, there’s no question Clint Trickett is the man. The off-season surgery supposedly left his battered throwing shoulder mended and pain-free.
—Depth: Every coach complains about a lack of depth, but Holgorsen’s grousing has been legit. Last season’s defensive collapse can be blamed, at least in part, on nine players with season-ending injuries and a dearth of comparable substitutes. This is the first season since he arrived in Morgantown that he has a full complement of 85 scholarships.
—Math: West Virginia has not endured back-to-back losing seasons since ’78-’79. That speaks to, among other things, program strength. It’s hard to imagine that WVU’s program could have fallen so precipitously in just a couple short years.
—Schedule: West Virginia has learned quickly the challenge of playing a Big 12 schedule. Last season’s loss at Kansas demonstrated there are no gimmes. However, West Virginia does get three of its toughest conference games at home: Oklahoma, Baylor and Kansas State.
West Virginia finishes the regular season 7-5.