WVU kicks off a new season and the rebirth of the Rich Rod Era this Saturday against Robert Morris. The Colonials are an FCS team (the old Division 1-AA), and were 7-5 this year. They are rebuilding a good bit, as they must replace several graduated players, especially on offense. They will be filling those spots with a variety of returning players and several transfers (some from bigger schools, some from smaller schools). In all honesty, it doesn’t matter too much. WVU will win, and should win pretty easily.
The big questions are on WVU’s side: Who will start? Who will be the first to rotate in? How well will they play? Keep in mind, the starting line-up, and the rest of the depth chart will likely be changing, as they see how players play in actual game situations. I’ll be watching the rebuilt offensive line to see how they work together, and how the quarterbacks perform in the new offense. I’m very interested in how the defense plays as well, especially the secondary, and how much aggressiveness we see. I do wonder if the playbook on both sides might be held back a bit to not show too much to future opponents (namely Pitt).
So I have WVU starting the season 1-0. How do I see the rest of the season? I’m really not sure. In a bit of good news, the four players who sued the NCAA won their case, and they are going to be eligible for the year. The NCAA could appeal, but the timeline on that would likely mean that the season would be over by the time the appeal works its way through the legal system. The biggest name for WVU is defensive lineman Jimmori Robinson. He was the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year last season, and he is expected to be an effective pass rusher. His position is also probably the easiest to jump in and play, as opposed to defensive back, receiver or running back (the other players’ positions). Tye Edwards is a big back, and he should make an impact. Wren Baker did say that they are working closely with the Big 12 to make sure that any eligibility questions around Robinson are answered, but WVU is expecting him to play.
That being said, I would not be surprised with a huge range of season outcomes. There’s a scenario where the offensive line never gets to the level needed for the offense to be effective, and the defense isn’t good enough to compensate, and the Mountaineers end up in the 3-9 or 4-8 range. I can see a scenario where the offense is above average, and the pass defense goes from awful last year to simply average this year, and they actually force a few more turnovers, which combine to put WVU around 8-4.
To make predicting a record even more difficult, there is a ton of uncertainty around most of the Big 12 this year as well. How good will Colorado be without Shedeur Sanders and do-everything Travis Hunter? Will the Texas Tech team implode if they lose a few games? Can Utah rebound from last year’s disaster? How will UCF fare with their “successful coach comes back again” experiment? In the transfer portal era, teams are rebuilding more than ever, and those who can judge the available talent, and get good matches for what they need can surprise, but those who don’t could underachieve.
My best guess is that WVU will end up near .500, so in the range of 5-7 to 7-5. They should be Robert Morris and Ohio U. Pitt will be a tough game, but still winnable – so the non-conference record should be 3-0 or 2-1. They will be underdogs in most of their conference games, but in most of those games, they would be close underdogs (and depending on how the seasons are progressing, WVU could be favored in some games we would not expect).
Notes: Kickoff for the Robert Morris game is at 2:00, and it will be streamed on ESPN Plus…for fans attending in person, it is a Gold Rush game, and it has also a Family Day…WVU soccer won a double header. The men’s team won its season opener with a 5-2 win over Manhattan which seemed even more lopsided than the score…The women bounced back from their season opening loss to ranked Virginia by blanking Akron, 3-0…Congratulations to the 2025 WVU Sports Hall of Fame Class: Bill Kirelawich (football assistant coach), Bill Stewart (football coach), Darrell Whitmore (football and baseball), Pat McAfee (football), Chelsea Carrier-Eades (track), and Petra Zublasing (rifle)…Good luck to the high school and youth football teams on year seasons!
