When the West Virginia Mountaineers take the field this fall, they will start out with an 8th place ranking in a conference that they fought to get into. With that ranking, WVU is in a place that they haven’t been in quite some time prior to the start of the season. The past five seasons WVU has either been the favorite or the second place team in their conference’s preseason poll, but in the grand scheme of things, WVU has been here before.
In 2005, WVU was predicted to finish third in the Big East conference. This was the last time WVU was projected lower than second place until now. The Mountaineers started the season with Adam Bednarik playing quarterback with a few packages that featured redshirt-freshman Pat White. Not long into the season, the Mountaineers would unleash White as the starting quarterback. Soon after, freshman Steve Slaton emerged and, along with fullback Owen Schmitt, Slaton and White created one of the best backfields in Mountaineer history. West Virginia’s only loss of the season would be against no. 3 ranked Virginia Tech in the fifth game of the season. West Virginia would finish the season with a staggering 11-1 record and national ranking of no. 11.
With their strong finish, WVU would go on to earn a Sugar Bowl bid against no. 8 ranked Georgia. Georgia was a team that was considered one of the best in the NCAA that season and many fans and analysts wrote WVU off from the start. Slaton obviously didn’t get that memo. He rushed for 204 yards and 3 touchdowns during the game, leading WVU to a 38-35 victory.
Two seasons later, WVU would again be a late season underdog. After holding a no. 2 ranking, the Mountaineers missed out on a chance to play in the national championship after losing to rival Pittsburgh during the last regular season game. The Mountaineers were still able to land a spot in the Fiesta Bowl behind Slaton and White. The Mountaineers were ranked no. 9 and were facing the no. 3 Oklahoma Sooners, who were also snubbed for a national title bid. Before the game, 84 percent of voters picked the Sooners to win the game, placing WVU back into the underdog category. On top of it, WVU had just lost their head coach Rich Rodriguez and would go into the game being led by special teams coach and interim head coach Bill Stewart. WVU would go on to pull out a resounding 48-28 victory, proving the nation wrong once again.
Fast forward to today. With the Mountaineers no. 8 preseason ranking in the Big 12, they find themselves back in a familiar place. They find their backs against the wall, with most of the nation counting them out. But does it matter? WVU has proved time and time again that they shine the most when the country is against them. This time, they’ll start out with that mentality and they’ll beg the question, “Can we do it again?”
