WVSports.com Q Mailbag

WVSports.com takes your questions and provides the answers in our mailbag feature.

What's on your mind with the West Virginia teams or recruiting?

We tackle it and provide you with the answers.

What's your over-under on pass attempts per game by WVU in the fall?

Over the last two years Jacksonville State has averaged 24.59 pass attempts per game with last season that total being 22.42. But I think that total should be similar in year one at West Virginia. Yes, the run game is going to be the focal point for the Mountaineers under Rich Rodriguez. That much is crystal clear but this offense has shown the ability to put the ball in the air. My best guess would be by the end of the season the Mountaineers fall right around in that 24.5 mark with that total likely lower in convincing wins and higher when attempting to play catch-up.

Likelihood in your opinion of beating the 5.5 wins projected by DraftKings and others?

This could be entirely misplaced and I’ll openly admit at this stage it is nothing more than a feeling but I think the Mountaineers definitely get to at least six. Rodriguez has made it crystal clear that the plan is to try to win right away and not treat this season as any sort of rebuilding type of year as he believes he was largely hired for the success he’s had both recently and in the past.

The actions of the coaching staff to bring in 64 new players, many of whom were juniors and seniors, also reflect the commitment to try to get older and more competitive in short order. Now, this team did lose a lot of production from last season both due to graduation and the transfer portal but the coaches attempted to remedy that by diving head first into the portal to replace those departures.

The schedule is difficult but nothing daunting and while there is plenty of unknown I believe that West Virginia with Rodriguez at the helm is going to be a positive surprise in 2025.

Do you foresee a bowl game for WVU in the 2025 season?

If I have West Virginia hitting the over on the 5.5 win projection, I better have the Mountaineers in a bowl game, right? It’s truly so hard to have a real read on this team at this stage of the off-season given how guarded things were in the spring and the massive amount of roster movement. But Rodriguez impressed me with what he was able to do at Jacksonville State leading the Gamecocks through the transition from FCS to FBS and a 27-11 record in three years overtop the program.

Rodriguez and his coaching staff understand how to navigate the transfer portal and rebuild a roster quickly so that is advantageous given all the shifting with the Mountaineers team. Ask me again in August for a more accurate season prediction guess, but I do think they get at least six.

Who is still available @ DT from the portal? Only those who we are offering please.

There are defensive linemen that are certainly available but in terms of known West Virginia offers there are none that I’m aware of after adding Missouri defensive lineman Eddie Kelly and junior college three-technique Elijah Simmons. Still, I do agree with the intent of your question that this is a spot that could still receive another addition before it’s all said and done. Still, at this stage the transfer portal has been picked over quite a bit and it wouldn’t be out of the question to see another junior college addition as a target if the coaching staff decides to go that route.

How does our men’s baseball team stack up vs Kansas? Can we take at least 2 from them?

With the changes in the Big 12 schedule it’s no guarantee that West Virginia and Kansas will play twice as the league is expected to move back to an 18-game league schedule with 16 total teams, That means that it’s likely that every team will have the chance to play the other 15-teams and three teams twice although it’s no guarantee that will be the format used. But in large part it means that the teams in the league will be able to have a bye built into the schedule, which was something that coaches within the league pointed out last season at multiple times.

So, at this stage it’s impossible to predict if the Mountaineers are going to get Kansas twice, but as far as stacking up it’s too early to make any sort of real determination with both teams still putting together their rosters heading into next season.

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