Every year, EerSports lays out both ends of the spectrum for WVU football - the dream scenario and the disaster scenario. After making the case for why West Virginia could surprise the Big 12 this year, it’s time to flip the script and look at what could send the Mountaineers into a long season.
The biggest warning sign starts with the roster itself. West Virginia is bringing in more than 80 new players, and while the transfer portal has made turnover routine, that kind of overhaul is still extreme.
The returning production numbers at several position groups are almost nonexistent. Running back is at 0.0%, bandit at 0.0%, and nickel/safety at 0.0%.
Wide receiver is only at 4.6%. Tight end sits at 21.4%, defensive line at 18.4%, linebacker at 10.9%, and cornerback at 11.2%.
The only groups above that are quarterback at 48.3% and offensive line at 41.7%, and most of those snaps will not come from the current starters, Scotty Fox and Landen Livingston.
That lack of continuity would be enough on its own, but the schedule could make things much uglier late. The first seven weeks are manageable enough, with only one true road game and WVU expected to be favored or a slight underdog in each of those seven.
The back half is another story entirely. In the final five games, the Mountaineers face four of the top five teams in the Big 12 Conference by conference championship odds: at Texas Tech, at Utah, vs Houston, and at TCU.
Texas Tech and Utah are both being picked by many pundits to reach the College Football Playoff, and going on the road to both is a brutal ask. If WVU doesn’t bank wins early, the finish could get ugly fast in Morgantown.
There are also real questions attached to some of the key personnel decisions. Cam Cook is the obvious example.
He has already been through the Big 12, held a starting job, and didn’t produce. In 2024 at TCU, he started the first seven games and never once broke 100 yards in a game.
He didn’t even reach 85. He topped five yards per carry only once, going 14 for 77 against Houston.
By the Utah game, TCU had already started shifting carries to wide receiver Savion Williams. The next week, Cook was the fourth option in the backfield, and that was essentially the end of his role.
The rest of the year, he lingered as the third or fourth back. Meanwhile, Williams averaged 6.3 yards per carry over those final weeks, scored six rushing touchdowns in six games, and TCU put up 35, 34, 38, 49 and 20 points in the five games Cook did not start, going 4-1.
Then there’s the sheer volume of uncertainty across the roster. The offensive line includes a true freshman in Kevin Brown, a converted tackle in Nick Krahe who has never played guard, Wes King at center without a snap there, Amare Grayson from a lower-level program, and Carsten Casady from UConn. The receiver room is just as full of questions: Prince Strachan is back after falling down the depth chart, getting hurt, transferring to WVU, getting hurt again, and being cleared last week; John Neider is a converted quarterback who started half a season at UConn; Jaden Bray is coming off three season-ending injuries; TaRon Francis couldn’t get on the field at his last Power Four stop; DJ Epps wasn’t even the starter to begin last season at Troy; and Armoni Weaver is a redshirt freshman Rich Rodriguez had to rediscover before deciding, “oh yeah, he’ll play.”
All of that feeds into the final concern: this isn’t a tiny leap WVU needs to make. It’s a massive one.
This is not the 2015-to-2016 type of jump, when a competitive 7-5 team could reasonably climb to 10-2. The 2025 Mountaineers were nowhere near that.
Even with Tye Edwards healthy all year, the answer to whether they could have reached a bowl game was no. In Weeks Four, Five, Six, and Seven, West Virginia fell behind by three touchdowns in every game, and in three of those it happened in the first half.
The Mountaineers were only competitive in six games all season, and the 4-8 finish was closer to 2-10 than 6-6.
In Other News...
Mike Hawkins Jr. Could Change How Dangerous WVU Looks Fast
The quarterback picture in Morgantown may not stay cloudy for long, and Mike Hawkins Jr. is the reason why. The former Oklahoma backup arrived at West Virginia after weighing other Power Four options, and his quick grasp of the offense has already put him on track to be the Mountaineers starter in 2026. What has stood out most is how rapidly he has picked up the system, along with the accuracy and running ability that make him a very different kind of threat for a West Virginia offense trying to find a higher ceiling.
Hawkins also gives the Mountaineers a chance to pair a more dynamic passing game with Cam Cook in the backfield, which is where the intrigue really starts for WVU. If the quarterback-to-running back combination clicks the way the staff is hoping, the offense could look much more dangerous in a hurry. The promise is obvious, even if the full picture will have to wait until Hawkins gets his chance to run the show. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rodriguez Era Openers Showed Exactly What WVU Fans Remember
Rich Rodriguezs first chapter in Morgantown was never shy about making an impression, and the season openers from that stretch say a lot about why West Virginia fans still remember it so vividly. Across eight debuts, the Mountaineers went 6-2, with a mix of fast starts, eye-catching offense and the occasional reminder that early September can still get messy when a team is trying to set its identity.
Some of those openers were comfortable wins and others were far more uneven, shaped by turnovers, field position and the kind of growing pains that come with a new season. What ties them together is the same Rodriguez signature West Virginia supporters came to expect: big-play potential, a clear offensive personality and enough drama in the first game of the year to make the opener feel like more than just a tune-up. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Freshman Tackle Is Already Carrying Serious Early Expectations
West Virginias offensive line already has a newcomer drawing plenty of attention, and its not hard to see why. Kevin Brown, a true freshman, is expected to make a significant impact up front, with line coach Rick Trickett describing him as a good player who could grow into one of the best in the Big 12.
The buzz around Brown has only been amplified by the kind of praise that tends to follow a player long before he has played a meaningful snap. Former Mountaineer Eugene Napoleon went so far as to compare Browns potential to Mark Stepnoski, the former NFL standout, a sign that the early expectations around the freshman tackle are already unusually high. [Read more 🡒]