Well, yeah, the Alabama Crimson Tide lost their final two games to close out last season, and the Oklahoma Sooners surprised a lot of people by defeating the machine in the 2014 Sugar Bowl, even though it was just a consolation game, right? So, that could only mean the West Virginia Mountaineers can take it to the Tide as well because they have a similar offense, right? After all, it’s common knowledge OU and WVU are closely connected by plays, terminology and signals. Did you know that? It’s true, and using this comparison, the word out of Charleston is the Mountaineers can beat the Tide as the kindred spirit to Oklahoma.
We’re all guilty of over analyzing every aspect of the football season before a single snap. There’s no escaping the habit to speculate what could, or won’t happen, and by the time the first weekend is in the books, it becomes obvious there’s no way to accurately predict every single outcome. Intertwining the parallels between West Virginia and Oklahoma is an interesting angle, but let’s not get carried away. Anything is possible on game day, blah, blah, blah, however, we can’t ignore recent history.
The Mountaineers are hoping to rise above their on-field struggles into a legit contender in the Big 12. This is obvious, though they weren’t able to achieve a .500 record within the conference in either of their first two seasons. Okay, let’s be optimistic. WVU returns seven starters on offense and defense, and the running game should be near the top of the Big 12. You would also like to think after a bad season in 2013 the experience would help put a couple more wins on the 2014 schedule.
The Mountaineers will be better, they might even make a bowl game.
But they will not beat Alabama.
Oklahoma beat the Tide on the back of five ‘Bama turnovers. The Sooners’ defense constantly forced A.J. McCarron out of the pocket, while the secondary smothered Tide receivers, forcing seven sacks. There’s no reason, outside of hope, to expect a West Virginia defense that finished with just 17 sacks last season to have the same success against the ‘Bama offensive line that the Big 12’s runner up in total sacks (Oklahoma) did.
There’s no denying new senior associate head coach Tom Bradley will help the WVU defense, but will the effects be seen immediately? Keep in mind over the past two seasons the Mountaineers have had one of the worst defenses in the nation, ranking 91st nationally against the run in 2013. Alabama has had a punishing ground game in recent years, and this year will be no different with T.J. Yeldon returning, and Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake close behind him.
As mentioned, the Sooners devastated the Tide by creating five turnovers, while quarterback Trevor Knight only threw one interception. The seven returning starters for the West Virginia defense this season were part of a unit that ranked ninth in the Big 12 in turnover margin last season. They lost a total of 32 possessions due to turnovers, which included at least two per game eight times.
Until quarterback Clint Trickett proves otherwise, he will be the destruction of West Virginia’s chances to even be competitive against the Tide. Trickett was only able to throw above 60% in two of his six games last season, and had terrible outings against Baylor and Oklahoma. To his credit, Trickett did spend the off season getting healthy and working with former Florida State QB and Heisman winner Chris Weinke.
Crazier things have happened, but the stars just aren’t aligned in the Mountaineers’ favor as their date with Alabama approaches.
We’ll just have to wait until Saturday afternoon to find out.
*Section Photo credit to Tyler Evert-AP Photo; Featured Photo (above) credit to John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
