West Virginia prepares for grueling October schedule
September 30, 2015 12:00 AM
Ray Thompson/Associated Press
West Virginia wide receiver Shelton Gibson catches a touchdown pass while being defended by Maryland defensive back William Likely during the first half Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Morgantown, W.Va.
Share with others:
0
inShare
By Craig Meyer / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s 3-0 start to the 2015 season has inspired hope, quelled doubts, heightened expectations and raised more than a few eyebrows, not just because the team has won, but how it has won, steamrolling opponents by an average of 35.7 points per game.
The beginning of Big 12 Conference play Saturday will represent a new challenge for the Mountaineers, but even a word like “challenge” undersells what awaits them. All four games in October will come against teams currently ranked in the top 20 of both major polls, a slate that includes, in order, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 20 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Baylor and No. 4 TCU.
What some may label a litmus test may be better described as an unforgiving wringer, one that has the potential to either vault the No. 23 Mountaineers into the national-title discussion or fracture them beyond repair.
“You don’t really want to talk about four games, but if you just look at where they are ranking-wise and where they are in the national spotlight and you look ahead, you go, ‘Wow, that’s a pretty good gamut,’ ” said safeties coach and special teams coordinator Joe DeForest.
As the rankings stand, no other team in the Football Bowl Subdivision has had or will have four consecutive games against ranked teams this season.
On the Big 12 coaches teleconference Monday, Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen downplayed the magnitude of his team’s upcoming schedule, even saying he didn’t know who was on the schedule after Oklahoma. At his weekly news conference Tuesday, he reiterated that script.
“Every game is hard and every game is challenging,” Holgorsen said. “You could say, ‘OK, last year, you went to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, and they weren’t great.’ But let me tell you, those games are as tough as any that we played in last year.
“It’s all the same. Going to Iowa State is hard. Going to Kansas and Kansas State is hard. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care who is on our schedule. We’re going to focus hard on who the next one is and we’re not going to worry about what’s ahead of us until it’s time to worry about what’s ahead of us.”
The taking-it-one-game-at-a-time approach is as reliable a cliche as there is in sports. and was one several West Virginia coaches have turned to in the lead-up to the Oklahoma game.
But for the Mountaineers, there may be some value in an otherwise empty saying. Rather than looking at their imposing four-game stretch as a whole and running the risk of becoming overwhelmed, the best chance for success might be trying to conquer a single opponent at a time without an eye toward the dangers ahead.
“It’s all about Oklahoma right now,” defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. “To be honest with you, I know Oklahoma State is next, but we have to focus right now on the task at hand and not worry about what the future holds. Just get through this week and prepare our kids and not think about that. Because if you start thinking about that, you’re not going to get your job done this week.”
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG.
