WVU Football Set to Improve on Last Year’s 7-6 Record

The West Virginia University football team is 1-0 after a win last week over Georgia Southern. The Mountaineers hope to turn the early win into a successful season. 

A year after finishing 7-6, including a loss to Texas A&M in the Liberty Bowl, the Mountaineers are hoping last Saturday’s 44-0 win over Georgia Southern is a sign of things to come. WVU limited Georgia Southern to 224 yards of offensive output. The Mountaineers on the other hand went for 544 total yards. Head Coach Dana Holgorsen said WVU should be even more prepared for Liberty University because both teams run a similar offense. 

“What we do offensively is a heck of a lot more similar to Liberty than Georgia Southern,” Holgorsen said. “They pose some pro-style challenges with good personnel. They’re good up front and they have a great quarterback who can make the throws and they got one great receiver and some quality receivers with some running backs as well, but that’s kind of what we do too.”

The Liberty Flames are coming off a 32-13 victory over Delaware State last weekend in their opener. Liberty plays in the Football Championship Subdivision, whereas teams like WVU and Marshall play in the Football Bowl Subdivision. It’s a difference that Holgorsen said doesn’t matter on game day. 

“It happens every year as you all know. FCS teams, if you take them lightly and don’t respect your opponent then it’ll come back to get you, it’s got to a point where I think it might happen every week,” Holgorsen said. “Last year they were 9-5 and really got on a run toward the end of the year, I think they won 7 out of their last 9 and they got everybody coming back on offense.”

The Flames and Mountaineers will kick off at 3 p.m. Saturday in Morgantown.