By: WV Sports Chat Staff
This Saturday, the struggling West Virginia Mountaineers (2-5, 0-4 Big 12) host the surging TCU Horned Frogs (5-2, 2-2 Big 12) at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, WV, for the annual Coal Rush homecoming game. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Our WV Sports Chat staff all missed their predictions last week – as each member picked the Mountaineers to win on the road at UCF. Will anyone get back on track this weekend?
Season Standings:
- Jonathan K. Martin 4-3
- Justin “Couz” Walker 4-3
- Shanna Rose 3-4
- Cole Livengood 3-4
- James Gravely 2-5
Jonathan K. Martin | This season has frustration written all over it – and unfortunately things likely won’t get any better this week.
West Virginia, under first-year coach Rich Rodriguez, is mired in a four-game skid, most recently falling 45-13 at UCF, where young QB’s Scotty Fox Jr. and Khalil Wilkins struggled.
TCU, riding a high after a 42-36 thriller over Baylor, counters with explosive playmaking from QB Josh Hoover (tied conference-leading 21 TD passes) and WR Eric McAlister (603 yards, 7 TDs).
This is a terrible matchup for the Mountaineers and the losing streak will go to five games.
TCU 38 West Virginia 10
Justin “Couz” Walker | The WVU football team is in a bad spot. They have one scholarship quarterback that is healthy, and that is true freshman, Scotty Fox. The Ohio native will be making his second start after things did not go well for him last weekend against UCF.
The quarterback on the other sideline is TCU’s Josh Hoover, who has already thrown for over 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season. Combine Hoover’s ability and the wide receiver threats the Horned Frogs have, it could be a tough day for a WVU defensive unit that has struggled in pass coverage and has not gotten a sack in four games.
Combine TCU’s offensive firepower with WVU’s freshman quarterback, an offensive line that’s struggling, and their inability to throw the football down the field, I don’t see how the Mountaineers have a chance in this one.
TCU 42 West Virginia 17
James Gravely | TCU will enter this weeks contest against WVU with the upper hand. The Horned Frogs will quickly hop over a weakened Mountaineer on the Appalachian Trail on Saturday. The Frogs will not only win, but blow out WVU (yet again).
No answers on offense. No answers on defense. This game will be over by halftime. And that’s just the truth. Let’s face the facts. This is indeed a terrible year and WVU will likely lose-out. TCU wins this game easily.
TCU 52 West Virginia 14
Cole Livengood | We all expected a rebuild year, but 2-5 entering the hardest stretch of the season was likely not exactly what we had in mind. West Virginia will again turn to the QB duo of Scotty Fox Jr and Khalil Wilkins in the hope of getting their first win in well over a month.
The Horned Frogs enter this week in a seemingly decent position with a 5-2 record, but two brutal losses in conference play have them looking from the outside in at a shot to make the Big 12 title game. The two key statistics for this matchup will be passing defense and third downs; TCU quarterback Josh Hoover is leading the seventh-ranked passing offense in the nation with over 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns through seven games. West Virginia, however, has shown glaring weaknesses in pass protection, ranking 107th in pass defense, allowing 247 yards per game through the air this season.
The Horned Frogs are also one of the best third-down conversion teams in the nation, moving the chains an impressive 52.7% of the time. The Mountaineers have struggled all season on third down, converting on just 29.4% of their chances, which is tied for the third-worst percentage in the nation.
I don’t see West Virginia hanging in with this explosive TCU offense very long.
TCU 41 West Virginia 17
Shanna Rose | Big 12 play has not been kind to WVU, who is still looking for its first conference win. The road doesn’t get any easier on Saturday as TCU comes to town. The matchup has been dubbed a Coal Rush game, adding extra excitement for both players and fans. There’s nothing quite like a night game in Morgantown—especially when those sharp black jerseys make their appearance.
The Mountaineers suffered a disappointing 45-13 loss to UCF last weekend. At halftime, WVU trailed by just a touchdown but things unraveled in the second half. Scotty Fox Jr. got the start for the Mountaineers, but Khalil Wilkins took over until getting injured in the fourth quarter. With Wilkins falling fate to the injury bug, WVU is down to just Fox and Max Brown. On Saturday, the true freshman Fox completed just 6 of 17 passes for 47 yards for the game. He’ll need a much stronger performance if the Mountaineers hope to stay competitive against the Horned Frogs. With WVU’s struggles in the air, it could use some help from its running game. Against UCF Running Cyncir Bowers and Diore Hubbard combined for just 56 yards on 17 carries.Receiver Cam Vaughn has been one of the few bright spots this season, posting 21 catches for 334 yards and three touchdowns, but the team’s quarterback instability has limited his impact.
TCU enters the matchup 5–2 overall and sits seventh in the Big 12. The Horned Frogs’ defense thrives on creating turnovers, led by linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr—one of the nation’s top tacklers. He has tallied 64 total tackles, 9.1 tackles per game, 34 solo tackles and three sacks. Against Baylor last week, Elarms-Orr had an astounding 16 tackles. Offensively, the Horned Frogs are averaging 36.3 points and 437.3 yards per game. Quarterback Josh Hoover had 231 passing yards and three touchdowns last week.
Unfortunately, I don’t see this one being the game that WVU turns things around. Instead, I look for it to get ugly.
TCU 48 West Virginia 7
