Take Two: Would undefeated West Virginia make the CFB Playoff?
MORE TAKE TWO: What's the new pecking order for Jadon Haselwood?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a topic in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network.
THE STORYLINE
West Virginia is averaging more than 41 points per game. The Mountaineers are giving up only 18.6 points.
Quarterback Will Grier could be a Heisman contender as he’s completing more than 71 percent of his passes for 1,819 yards with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. Two receivers - David Sills V and Gary Jennings - have six touchdown receptions each. Marcus Simms leads the team with 490 receiving yards. West Virginia’s receiving corps might be the best in the country.
The Mountaineers look unstoppable - but they’ve also played weak competition. Wins over Tennessee, Youngstown State, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Kansas to start the season. The win in Lubbock was the best, but a huge matchup against NC State was canceled because of a hurricane.
The schedule gets much tougher - and that’s when we should learn a lot more about Dana Holgorsen’s club. West Virginia visits Iowa State this weekend, not an easy place to win. Baylor is tougher and then the Mountaineers have Texas, TCU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma in November.
Can West Virginia keep winning games and does an undefeated Mountaineers team get into the College Football Playoff?
FIRST TAKE: KEENAN CUMMINGS, WVSPORTS.COM
“At this stage that’s the million-dollar question with this team. West Virginia can lay claim to something only seven other Power Five teams can say and that is they remain undefeated. But outside a road game at Texas Tech, who was perched inside the top 25 at the time, they’ve yet to really be challenged. Some of that isn’t their fault, considering the game with NC State was canceled due to a hurricane.
“November will be and what always would be what will come to define this team. The schedule is back-loaded and as long as the Mountaineers don’t stumble before getting there, they will have every opportunity to prove that they are the class of the Big 12.
"West Virginia is 2-1 at Texas since joining the Big 12. It will also have to beat the only team it hasn’t in Oklahoma, which will be in Morgantown. This defense is playing at arguably the highest level in the conference and everybody knows what the Mountaineers have on offense with Will Grier & Co.
"I believe West Virginia is going a little under the radar since they have the best pure quarterback in the league, but they’re going to have every opportunity to prove it is playoff worthy.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“If an undefeated West Virginia team comes out of the Big 12, it gets screwed. You have to be Texas or Oklahoma to get the benefit of the doubt in the Big 12.
“The schedule is daunting moving ahead. It has a lot of good teams on their schedule and we will learn a lot more about it soon enough. I wasn’t too pleased with the way they looked this past weekend against Kansas. The Mountaineers have an OK defense. The offense is awesome, but I’m not sure they can run the table and if they don’t run the table, you can pretty much eliminate them.”
