When West Virginia entered the Big 12, there was mixed feelings. Fans were glad to be out of the lackluster Big East conference but some fans didn’t know how WVU would handle playing better teams. With a quick 5-0 start where the Mountaineer offense averaged 52.0 points per game, fans were at an all time high. After beating two Big 12 teams who were ranked in the top 25 at the time, WVU looked poised to compete in their new home conference.
Everything went downhill soon after that. The Mountaineers’ defense couldn’t withstand the offensive fire power of teams like Kansas State or Oklahoma and went on to lose five straight. This immediately sent fans into hiding. Season ticket holders were running for the hills and putting their tickets up for sale. WVU quarterback Geno Smith took the brunt of the losses as he watched his Heisman campaign go out the window.
The one thing that fans had to cling to during the troubling times of the 2012 season was the offense. Smith, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey continued to break records and make headlines as they solidified their status in the WVU record books. But on December 30th, those three players would no longer take snaps during a game as a WVU football player.
Is it time to go into full panic mode for the 2013 season? I don’t think so.
WVU might be losing three of their greatest players of all time, but take a look at the rest of the Big 12. Baylor loses their best receiver in Terrance Williams. Kansas State loses Collin Klein, who accounted for 3,571 yards and 39 total touchdowns for the Wildcats last season. Oklahoma loses Landry Jones, Kenny Stills and Lane Johnson. Jones threw 30 touchdowns last season, 11 of which landed in the hands of Stills, and Johnson is a projected top 10 pick in the draft. Texas is losing Kenny Vaccaro and Alex Okafor on defense and speedster Marquise Goodwin on the offensive side.
As you can see, WVU isn’t the only team losing their top players.
Under head coach Dana Holgorsen, the offense will continue to flourish. With this system, if you have a quarterback who can throw the ball, you’ll produce enough points to stay in the game (if you do it right). The biggest concern for WVU is their defense. They have new coaches all over the defensive side with Keith Patterson taking over as defensive coordinator this off-season. Patterson is bringing the mindset of finding an identity and owning the field, something that the defensive players have really grasped a hold of this spring.
At the beginning of the spring, Holgorsen said something that every fan should take with them into the 2013 season, “It happens every year, and in every different program across the country you lose people and you try to move forward.” That’s what fans need to do. Move forward and be positive.
