Predicting WVU football 2023 season

MORGANTOWN, WV—There has been a lot of bold predictions for the West Virginia Mountaineer football team going into the 2023 season. Especially opening up at Penn State to start the season!

Some fans are saying 3-9, others 10-2 . We’ve even heard 12-0 predictions! So here goes my predictions for the season. I’ve covered sports for two daily newspapers and a TV station going back to 1969, so while I’m no expert, I have a lot of experience to go on.

Opening the season at Penn State is going to be rough for WVU! Let’s take a close look at their history: The last time West Virginia won at Penn State was October 28, 1944 during World War 2. WVU won 28-27. The Mountaineers only other victory at Penn State was their first matchup October 15, 1904. WVU won 34-0. All time Penn State is 48-9-2 vs. WVU. The Mountaineers lost 25 straight games between 1959-1983. The streak ended in October 1984 at Mountaineer Field with a 17-14 victory. In 1988 at Mountaineer Field with Major Harris at quarterback, Joe Paterno suffered his worst career beating ever losing 51-30. The last time PSU played WVU was 10/24/92 and the Nittany Lions whipped the Mountaineers 40-26 at Mountaineer Field.

PREDICTION: PSU 36 WVU 17

Game 2: Let’s look at the Duquesne game at Mountaineer Field. The last time these two teams played each other was November 16, 1935. WVU lost 19-0. The series record is 4-3-1 in WVU’s favor.

PREDICTION:: WVU 55 Duquesne 13

 Game 3: At home vs. Pitt in the backyard brawl. Anyone who has followed these games over the past 100 years knows that anything can happen. Pitt topped the Mountaineers in Pittsburgh last year 38-31. It was the first time they faced each other in 10 years. Pitt leads the all time series 35-55-2 but WVU has been more successful in the last 10 matchups going 6-4. Pitt is 19-14-2 in Morgantown.

Prediction: WVU 40-Pitt 27

 Game 4: Texas Tech at home. All time history is a 6-6 record. WVU has a four game losing streak but will bounce back after a humbling loss last year at Tech 48-10.

PREDICTION: WVU 40 Texas Tech 31

 Game 5: At TCU. Mountaineers travel to Fort Worth Texas to take on the Horned Frogs who came up short in the 2023 National Championship game against Georgia after a stunning victory against Michigan in the playoffs. WVU holds the series record at 7-5.

PREDICTION: TCU 38 WVU 31

Game 6: WVU will travel to Houston to face each other for the first time. This will be a wild game facing former coach Dana Holgorsen and one the fans will be truly excited about.

PREDICTION: WVU 45 Houston 40

Game 7: WVU will come back home to face Oklahoma State. Mountaineers won last year 24-19. WVU is 5-9 all-time against the Cowboys.

 PREDICTION: WVU 35 Oklahoma State 31

Game 8: WVU goes on the road to face UCF. WVU owns a 2-0 all time record. The last time the two teams faced each other was September 10, 2004. WVU won 45-20 in Florida.

Prediction: WVU 45 UCF 10

Game 9: Back home to Morgantown to face BYU. The only time these two faced each other was in 2016 on September 24. Mountaineers won 35-32.

PREDICTION: WVU 42-BYU 21

Game 10: Mountaineers travel to Norman, Oklahoma . Not much to say here. Oklahoma Sooners have dominated this series 11-3. WVU finally beat Oklahoma 23-20 last season.

The last time WVU beat Oklahoma away was with Jeff Hostetler at quarterback in 1982, 41-27.   

PREDICTION: Oklahoma 51 WVU 24

Game 11: Mountaineers back home to face Cincinnati. Mountaineers own a 16-3-1 record against the Bearcats. Cincy is 2-9-1 at Morgantown. WVU won the last meeting at Paul Brown Stadium 24-21 in November 2011.

PREDICTION: WVU 37 Cincinnati 31

Game 12: WVU travels to Waco, Texas to face Baylor. The Baylor Bears are 4-1 in Waco against WVU. All time WVU holds a 7-4 edge over Baylor. The Bears have never won in Morgantown. Mountaineers won last year 43-40.

PREDICTION: Baylor 45 WVU 38

Final prediction. WVU goes 8-4 and Neal Brown secures another year as head coach.

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