West Virginia finished 2022 with a mediocre 5-7 record. The team did knock off Oklahoma and Oklahoma state, but they lost every other high-profile game. This year, FanDuel Sportsbook has opened the bidding on West Virginia’s win total at 5.5, with the under juice to -176. West Virginia also comes in at +7000 to win the Big 12, which ranks ahead of only BYU and Houston. With all of that said, let’s dive into the West Virginia roster.
2023 West Virginia Football Season Preview & Predictions
2023 West Virginia Football Season Preview: Coaching Staff
Somewhat surprisingly, West Virginia retained Neal Brown as head coach after numerous offseason firing rumors. Brown is 22-25 in his West Virginia tenure, which makes this a make-or-break year for the head coach.
He elevated Chad Scott to full time offensive coordinator after serving as the co-offensive coordinator previously. On defense, Jordan Lesley retained his position after coming in ahead of the 2020 season. Ultimately, this could be a make-or-break year for all of the major coaches on this roster.
2023 West Virginia Football Season Preview: Offense
Quarterback
West Virginia lost former starter J.T. Daniels to Rice in the transfer portal. Instead of adding a transfer, West Virginia elected to lean on their depth. Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol battled for the starting job this spring and that competition projects to extend into the summer.
Greene is more experienced with 62 completions on 108 attempts (57.4%) for 664 yards (6.1 yards per attempt), five touchdowns and three interceptions. While unproven as a passer, Greene has elite mobility. So far, he has rushed for 613 yards on 99 carries (6.2 yards per carry). Marchiol barely played last year, but he is a former 3-star recruit from the 2022 class. He appears mobile as well with 32 rushing yards on six carries. This position does not have depth or experience right now, which could be a problem for a coach on the hot seat.
Running Back
Last year’s top rusher Tony Mathis transferred to Houston this offseason. Fortunately, dynamic rusher C.J. Donaldson returns for his second season. Donaldson is 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, and rushed for 526 yards and eight touchdowns on 94 attempts. He also caught nine passes without a drop last year. He averaged 4.2 yards after contact and forced a missed tackle on 19.1% of his attempts. Donaldson previously played receiver and tight end, making him one of the most intriguing players on this roster.
Behind him, Justin Johnson and Jaylen Anderson both return. Anderson is a former 4-star, but both were top 500 players. Johnson rushed for 434 yards and three touchdowns on 97 attempts. He also caught eight passes, but he only averaged 2.59 yards after contact and forced a missed tackle on 17.5% of his attempts. Anderson rushed 35 times for 277 yards. He averaged 4.66 yards after contact and forced 15 missed tackles as a true freshman. Anderson should get a longer look this season after showing this efficiency on a small sample. Ultimately, Donaldson should lead this backfield, but West Virginia possesses surprising depth.
Wide Receiver
The receiver position will look completely different for West Virginia in 2022 after losing four of their top pass catchers in Sam James, Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Kaden Prather and Reese Smith. The team returns their fifth leading receiver Cortez Braham after catching 14 passes for 147 yards last year. He is 6-foot-2, 198 pounds, and played out wide 98.1% of the time. However, West Virginia hammered the transfer portal, so it is possible that he does not even start.
Devin Carter comes over from North Carolina State after recording 25 catches for 406 yards and two touchdowns last year. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound receiver played out wide 93.2% of the time and recorded an efficient 1.77 yards per route. Ja’Shaun Poke comes over from Kent State after catching 32 passes for 359 yards and one touchdown last year. Poke missed the first five games of the year, limiting his production. He played in the slot 94.4% of the time and recorded 1.92 yards per route.
Finally, E.J. Horton transferred in from Marshall. He is 6-foot-0, 180 pounds, and caught 13 passes for 188 yards last year. Horton played out wide 84.5% of the time and recorded 1.40 yards per route. West Virginia also recruited a pair of 4-star receivers in Rodney Gallagher and Traylon Ray. Gallagher comes in as the No. 311 recruit and Ray was the No. 360 recruit in this class. Both should be asked to play in some capacity this year. They also added Angelo State transfer Noah Massey in late May. He is 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, and caught 52 passes for 684 yards last year. This group will be completely remade, and they could take a slight step back.
Tight End
West Virginia lost tight ends Mike O’Laughlin and Brian Polendey this offseason, but they added LSU transfer Kole Taylor. Taylor is 6-foot-7, 250 pounds, and played 254 snaps last year. He caught five passes for 55 yards, but he also blocked on 64.4% of his snaps. They also return Treylan Davis, who played 179 snaps and caught five passes. West Virginia will often use four-wide sets, so the tight end is not quite as important to this offense.
Offensive Line
The offensive line was a surprising position of strength for the Mountaineers last year. West Virginia just lost left guard James Gmiter from last year. However, he suffered an injury in Week 7, allowing some other players to develop experience. Left tackle Wyatt Milum returns after 851 snaps last year. He has only allowed three sacks in two years as a starter, and he did not allow a single sack last year.
Left guard Tomas Rimac played 440 snaps last year and most came at left guard after the Gmiter injury. Center Zach Frazier returns after 883 snaps last year. He now has three years of starting experience under his belt. Right guard Doug Nester comes back after 807 snaps. He now has four years of starting experience, two with West Virginia and another two with Virginia Tech. Finally, right tackles Ja’Quay Hubbard and Brandon Yates both return after 509 and 406 snaps last year. Hubbard is a guy receiving hype this offseason after struggling with weight issues early in his career. Regardless, having depth at this position is a positive for West Virginia. Look for this team to increase their reliance on the run this year.
2023 West Virginia Football Season Preview: Defense
West Virginia ranked 99th on defense in 2022. This included the 40-ranked run defense, 92nd-ranked pass rush and 125th-ranked secondary. West Virginia lost a ton of snaps on defense, but much of this could be addition by subtraction. The Mountaineers also dealt with numerous injuries, which contributed to them starting many young players. In addition to the young players receiving another year in the system, West Virginia added eight transfers on the defensive side of the ball.
Defensive Line
On the defensive line West Virginia lost edge defenders Taijh Alston and Lanell Carr this offseason. This leaves Sean Martin and Jared Bartlett as the likely starters here. The pair played 410 and 365 snaps apiece last year. Martin highlights thig group after recording four sacks and eight tackles for loss. Bartlett played more as a rotation piece, but he will be asked to step up. The Mountaineers also added Abilene Christian edge Tyrin Bradley after a strong showing at the FCS level last year. West Virginia did not have the best pass rush to begin with, so it is hard to see this unit getting any worse.
On the interior, the Mountaineers lost Dante Stills and Jordan Jefferson. These were two of the more talented players on the defensive line, making this a tough position to replace. Mike Lockhart will be asked to play a larger role after 269 snaps last year. He has yet to step into a full-time role, but he does weight 317 pounds.
Luckily, West Virginia hammered the portal at this position. Davoan Hawkins comes in from Tennessee State. Penn State transfer Fatorma Mulbah also transferred in after just 39 snaps last year. Tomiwa Durojaiye also comes in from Kentucky. He could play inside or the edge. While this team will have to replace two key starters, West Virginia took a quantity over quality approach.
Linebacker
The linebacker position saw Exree Loe depart but struggled at times last year. Lee Kpogba returns after 724 snaps. He led the team with 92 tackles but struggled mightily in coverage. This was only his first season with West Virginia after transferring in from Syracuse.
The Mountaineers will rely on a second-year jump. Their other projected starter is former Penn State transfer Lance Dixon. He only played 195 snaps last year and the rest of the position played even less. While this is not the most important position on the West Virginia defense, it comes with major question marks.
Defensive Back
The secondary overall proved a major liability for West Virginia last year. The defense lost safety Jasir Cox, corner Rashad Ajayi and corner Wesley McCormick. They do have a fair amount of experience at this position due to injury. Among the returners Malachi Ruffin played the most with 449 snaps. He tied for the team lead with five pass breakups and recorded two interceptions. Ruffin has the best chance to start.
Andrew Wilson-Lamp and Jacolby Spells return 165 and 246 snaps apiece. The coaching staff has spoken highly of Wilson-Lamp this offseason and Spells was thrown to the fire as a freshman due to injuries. Both will require a step forward to secure starting roles. From there, West Virginia hammered the portal. Beanie Bishop comes over from Minnesota after previously playing with Western Kentucky. He only allowed 133 yards into his coverage, which proved solid for a player that starter as a rotational piece.
Montre Miller comes in from Kent State with two years of starting experience. He took a major step forward last year with nine pass breakups and a pair of interceptions. Finally, Keyshawn Cobb transferred in from Buffalo after playing 765 snaps last year and recording five pass breakups. There is a chance that all three newcomers will start here, but at least the position has more depth.
At safety, the Mountaineers lost Jasir Cox, but they return a pair of starters in Aubrey Burks and Marcis Floyd. Burks played 667 snaps and operated as one of the team’s top defenders with 66 tackles. Floyd was a little more up and down. However, he broke up four passes and notched 64 tackles on 596 snaps. West Virginia also added Georgia Southern transfer Anthony Wilson after three seasons of starting experience. Ultimately, this is the more experienced of the secondary positions, but still comes with questions.
2023 West Virginia Football Schedule & Predictions
2023 West Virginia Football Schedule
West Virginia did themselves no favors in non-conference, scheduling Penn State and Pitt with Duquesne sandwiched in between. In conference play they draw Oklahoma, TCU, Baylor and UCF. While they dodge Texas, this schedule does not look particularly easy — especially with three trips to Texas on the schedule.
2023 West Virginia Football Win Total Prediction
Given the difficulty of this schedule, 5.5 wins seems about right. With the current juice, waiting for a 4.5-win total might be the best move. It is highly unlikely that West Virginia will push for a Big 12 title. However, the offense could be decent with their strength in the run game. The defense is a massive question after last year’s disaster. For these reasons, over 5.5 wins at +142 would be the move. However, waiting for a better price makes sense here.
Best West Virginia Football Win Total Prediction: Over 5.5 Wins +142 at FanDuel
You can read the rest of Matt Gajewski’s 2023 college football season previews and predictions below!
- Alabama Season Preview & Predictions
- Arkansas Season Preview & Predictions
- Auburn Season Preview & Predictions
- Georgia Season Preview & Predictions
- Kentucky Season Preview & Predictions
- LSU Season Preview & Predictions
- Mississippi State Season Preview & Predictions
- Missouri Season Preview & Predictions
- Ole Miss Season Preview & Predictions
- South Carolina Season Preview & Predictions
- Tennessee Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas A&M Season Preview & Predictions
