West Virginia Mountaineers 2019 College Football Season Betting Guide

With a new head coach taking over the West Virginia Mountaineers for the upcoming 2019 college football campaign, there are plenty of question marks surrounding the Mountaineers as they get set for Year 1 of the Neal Brown era. If you’re a college football betting enthusiast that is looking to find out just how the Big 12 title hopefuls are going to fare this coming season, then you need to gather as much expert betting information as possible. Thankfully, that’s where I come in with my comprehensive betting guide on the Mountaineers. Now, let’s get started.

West Virginia Mountaineers 2019 College Football Season Betting Guide

• 2020 National Championship Odds: +10000
• 2019 Win Total Odds: 5

2018 Betting Statistics

• ATS: 8-4 (W-L) / 6-4-2 (ATS) / 4-1-1 (Home) / 2-3-1 (Away) / 1-1-0 (Grass) / 5-3-2 (Turf)
• O/U: 7-5-0 (W-L) / 4-2-0 (Home) /3-3-0 (Away) / 0-2-0 (Grass) / 7-3-0 (Turf) / 67.4 (Total)

Last season, West Virginia went 8-4 SU while posting a solid 6-4-2 ATS that saw them cover the chalk four times at home, but just twice in six road contests. The Mountaineers also played over their O/U total odds seven times, including four times at home.

2018 Team Leaders

• Touchdowns: David Sills V (15)
• Rushing: Kennedy McKoy (802)
• Passing: Clayton Thorson (3864)
• Receiving: Will Grier (986)
• Interceptions: Kenny Robinson Jr. (4)

Last season, wide receiver David Sills V led the team in touchdowns scored and receiving yards with 15 TD grabs and 986 receiving yards. Junior running back Kennedy McKoy rushed for a team-high 802 yards and eight scores while record-setting senior quarterback Will Grier capped off his collegiate career by passing for 3,864 yards with 37 TD passes and just eight interceptions. Now, junior safety Kenny Robinson jr. led the program with a team-high four interceptions.

Offense

• Total Yards: 512.2 / Rank 8
• Passing Yards: 351.3 / Rank 4
• Rushing Yards: 160.9 /Rank 76
• Points Scored: 40.2 / Rank 10
• Field Goal %: 80 / Rank 34

A year ago, led by Will Grier’s prolific passing, the Mountaineers were phenomenal offensively in finishing the 2018 campaign ranked eighth overall, a stellar fourth in passing, 76th in rushing and 10th in scoring (40.2 ppg).

Defense

• Total Yards: 406.5 / Rank 74
• Passing Yards: 258.7 / Rank 106
• Rushing Yards: 147.8 /Rank 49
• Points Allowed: 27.2 / Rank 68
• Field Goal %: 80 / Rank 104

While the Mountaineers soared on offense last season, they weren’t quite as good on the other side of the ball in finishing 74th in total defense, 106th against the pass, 49th against the run and 68th in points allowed (27.2 ppg).

Outlook

While there’s a ton of change taking place with the Mountaineers in 2019, there’s also some good reasons to expect the Mountaineers to have a decent first season under Neal Brown. First, the former head coach at Troy University experienced some outstanding success at his former school by going 31-8 over the past three seasons. If you didn’t know, the 38-year-old is one of just six FBS coaches with 10 victories in each of the past three seasons.

In 2017, his Trojans upset No. 25 LSU 24-21 to end the Tigers’ 49-game non-conference winning streak at Tiger Stadium, so clearly, there’s no doubt that Brown knows how to coach the game at a high level. Brown inherits a quality stable of running backs and he also has some quality players on the defensive side of the ball, starting with junior college defensive end Taijh Alston, junior nose guard Darius Stills and his brother, nose tackle Dante Stills. Unfortunately, Brown is going to find replacing former star quarterback Will Grier to be an extremely ‘super difficult’ task.

Combine all of that with the fact that West Virginia also has some big questions along the offensive line and a difficult 2019 schedule and I’m thinking Year 1 of the Neal brown era is going to be a struggle. Home dates against Texas, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State look difficult at the very least, although their toughest road contest will come against defending conference champion Oklahoma.

No matter how hard I try, I’m not seeing a whole lot of success for Neal brown or the Mountaineers in year 1 of their new era, but after this coming season, I’m expecting Brown to really start molding this program into the image he wants. Right now, I’m thinking anything past a half0-dozen wins will be a big gift and you should too!