Daunting Stretch for WVU? Phil Steele Believes in the Mountaineers

Phil Steele gives his evaluation of WVU so far and the road ahead.
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It's fair to say the West Virginia Mountaineers have had a disappointing start to the season, going 2-2 in the first four games. But in the games that truly matter in the Big 12, they are 1-0 with a come-from-behind win over Kansas.

On this morning's episode of In the Gun, I asked college football analyst Phil Steele for his evaluation of the Mountaineers to this point and how he sees the upcoming stretch unfolding for them.

“I still like what I see out of West Virginia. I like the run game with (CJ) Donaldson, (Garrett) Greene, and (Jahiem) White. They’ve got a very effective run game. The defense, the pass defense is probably my biggest concern. One of the reasons I liked them against Kansas, I didn’t think Kansas would exploit that last week. As mentioned, they’ve got Oklahoma State coming up and I’m not too worried about that pass defense, and they’ve got some games at home (against Iowa State and Kansas State). I think West Virginia is going to come out of this pretty good. Do keep in mind, they’ve played Penn State which is undefeated. They’ve played Pitt which is undefeated. And they’ve played a Kansas team that is 1-3, but they’re playing pretty good football. They’ve had a pretty tough schedule so far.”

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Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

Publisher of Mountaineers Now on FanNation/Sports Illustrated. Lead recruiting expert and co-host of Between the Eers, Walk Thru GameDay Show, Mountaineers Now Postgame Show, and In the Gun Podcast.