West Virginia : WVU Will Be Tested In October

Starting Saturday morning at 12:00pm, the Mountaineers will face one of the most grueling schedules in college football. Within the next 4 weeks, the Mountaineers will face 4 ranked teams; #15 Oklahoma (away), #20 Oklahoma St. (Home), #5 Baylor (away). and #4 TCU (away). That's right, October ends with two back to back games against 2 top 5 ranked conference opponents. And my mother wonders why I drink. At least there are 12 days in between the Baylor and TCU games. WVU plays Baylor on Saturday Oct. 17th, and TCU on Thursday October 29th.
The Mountaineers will be tested, starting with Oklahoma. The days of wine and roses, when you get to play teams like Liberty and Maryland, are over. West Virginia will need to step up. They will need to rise to the challenge. And, I think they will. The key is to win the first two games, Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. WVU can then hopefully split the next two. It's not realistic to expect them to beat two top ranked teams back to back. But hey, this is college, anything can happen. And often does.
The first test in Norman, Oklahoma is a necessary win. WVU is 0-3 against the Sooners in Big 12 play. It's time to change that. This game will show just what WVU's young receiving corps is capable of achieving. With 100,000 in the stands cheering against them, they'll need to grow up quickly. I truly believe that WVU's chances of success rests on their young shoulders. Shelton Gibson leads this group with 329 receiving yards and averaging 24.7 yards per reception. He and Jovon Durante will have to be deep targets for QB Skylar Howard. WVU's running game, lead by Wendall Smallwood with 7 yards per carry, will keep the Sooners on their toes and should open up deep passing lanes for WVU. The Offensive Line will have their hands full with the experienced Oklahoma Defensive line. But if they can keep Howard safe, he will pick the weak Oklahoma secondary apart. WVU's defense is ranked #2 in the Big 12, and 26th overall in the NCAA. Oklahoma will score, both on the ground and in the air, but in the end, WVU should score more.
Prediction: WVU 31 Oklahoma 20