100 Days Until WVU Football: 100 Predictions for the 2026 Season

We are officially 100 days out from the start of the 2026 season, which means it is time to do our annual 100 predictions for the upcoming year. Let's waste no time and jump straight into it.

The 100 predictions

1. Rich Rodriguez officially names Oklahoma QB transfer Mike Hawkins Jr. the starter before the start of the season.

2. Running back Cam Cook is the only WVU rep on the preseason All-Big 12 First Team.

3. West Virginia will be picked to finish 12th or worse in the preseason poll.

4. Rick Trickett will use two or fewer starting offensive line combinations, barring injury.

5. USC WR transfer Prince Strachan generates a ton of buzz in fall camp.

6. True freshman Kevin Brown wins the starting right tackle job out of fall camp.

7. True freshman running back Amari Latimer will be listed No. 2 at RB, but Martavious Boswell will see a good chunk of action as well, backing up Cam Cook.

8. True freshman Matt Sieg will start at free safety from day one.

9. Matt Sieg does see some action on offense, but very limited. Potentially only in the first two weeks of the season.

10. Georgia State transfer Chams Diagne and Nick Taylor open the season as the starting cornerbacks.

11. Wide receiver John Neider becomes Steady Eddie, one of the most reliable targets on third down.

12. TE Josh Ball becomes just as much of a threat in the pass game as Ryan Ward, if not more.

13. WVU's offensive line will have two players who earn All-Big 12 honors at the end of the season.

14. Defensive end Darius Wiley shows serious pass rush potential and becomes a key piece of the future.

15. Linebacker Ben Cutter has the best year of his career, records 70+ tackles.

16. Maliek Hawkins becomes the primary backup to Geimere Latimer at the Nickel/Sam position.

17. I'm not great at predicting kickoff times, but who is? That said, let's say that the Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State will be at a 12 p.m. kick and be the site of FOX's Big Noon Kickoff show.

18. WVU will play two home night games.

19. Not a bold one here, but the College Gameday to Morgantown drought continues another year.

20. QB Mike Hawkins Jr. wins Big 12 Newcomer of the Week multiple times.

21. Cam Cook will be WVU's first 1,000-yard rusher since Leddie Brown (2021).

22. Cook will end the season as a top-three rusher in the Big 12.

23. Amari Latimer will rush for 400+ yards.

24. Fellow true freshman RB Chris Talley will eclipse 200 yards rushing on the year.

25. At least six Mountaineers will record a rushing touchdown. My guess? Hawkins, Cook, Latimer, Boswell, Chris Talley, Kayden Luke, and Max Brown.

26. Speaking of Max Brown, he becomes WVU's QB in short-yardage/QB sneak situations.

27. Scotty Fox Jr. does not start a single game as long as Hawkins is healthy.

28. West Virginia puts up 45+ in the season opener against Coastal Carolina.

29. WVU wins comfortably, but is held to the low 40s against UT Martin in Week 2.

30. West Virginia gets its first kickoff return for a touchdown since Winston Wright Jr. (2021).

31. Not sure if he will be the one to do the KR for a TD, but Andre Devine becomes an impact player on special teams.

32. The Mountaineers outlast Virginia in a back-and-forth affair to clinch their first 3-0 start since 2018.

33. Virginia will have a strong crowd on hand, but WVU will have significantly more fans for that neutral field game in Charlotte.

34. WVU will receive votes in the AP Top 25, but will fail to end the eight-year drought of not being ranked.

35. Kevin Brown will earn Freshman All-Big 12 honors.

36. Nick Krahe will be the highest-rated WVU offensive lineman by Pro Football Focus.

37. Krahe bumps inside to guard.

38. Amare "Bubba" Grayson will be the Mountaineers' starting right guard.

39. WR Jaden Bray will finally stay healthy and play in all 12 regular season games.

40. Strachan, Bray, and DJ Epps will be the team's top three leaders in receiving yardage.

41. Prince Strachan will lead the team in yards per reception.

42. The offensive line finishes in the top 50 in sacks allowed per game. Finished 109th last year at 2.5 per game.

43. The Mountaineers will finish with more wins than both Pitt and Virginia Tech.

44. The highest-attended game will be the Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State.

45. No idea who it will be against, but WVU will finally win a Coal Rush game. Third time is the charm, right?

46. Staying on the subject of uniforms, WVU keeps the 1965 throwbacks in the rotation.

47. Coastal Carolina DL transfer Zeke Durham-Campbell will lead the WVU defense in sacks.

48. Kicker Jack Cassidy will make multiple 50-yard field goals.

49. JUCO DL transfer Jaylen Thomas will be an impact player.

50. Oregon EDGE transfer Tobi Haastrup has a limited role, mainly in obvious passing situations.

51. Geimere Latimer and Andrew Powdrell will be the top two playmakers for WVU's defense.

52. EDGE Harper Holloman finishes in the top five of the Big 12 in pressures.

53. WVU will struggle with depth at running back early in Big 12 play.

54. WVU's defense will be much better against the run due to concerns at corner and deep safety.

55. LSU WR transfer TaRon Francis makes at least 15 grabs on the year, flashes his potential.

56. Less than five true freshmen play in more than four games, burning redshirt.

57. JUCO transfer CB Da'Mun Allen will eventually work his way into a starting role.

58. Mike Hawkins will throw 2,600+ yards on the season.

59. Hawkins will complete at least 62% of his pass attempts.

60. Hawkins will have at least three 300-yard games.

61. True freshman QB Jyron Hughley will see action in Week 2 against UT Martin.

62. RB Martavious Boswell will have one 100-yard game in Big 12 play.

63. WVU wears the traditional home or away uniform multiple times.

64. Phil Steele picks one surprising upset for WVU during his weekly in-season appearance on the In the Gun Podcast.

65. Cam Cook will be the highest-rated player on WVU's roster in the College Football 27 video game.

66. Safety Kamari Wilson will be the highest-rated defensive player in College Football 27.

67. When I run my annual simulation of WVU's season on the video game, it will predict a losing record for the Mountaineers.

68. As a team, West Virginia will run the ball 600 times. When the ground game is working, that's a very realistic number for a Rich Rod offense. Heck, they ran it 523 times with a poor run game a year ago.

69. Defensive lineman Nate Gabriel has a breakout year and earns All-Big 12 honors.

70. Geimere and Amari Latimer become the next set of WVU brothers to receive All-Big 12 honors in the same season. The first since Darius and Dante Stills.

71. The run/pass balance will be much closer to 50/50 than it was in 2025. WVU ran the ball roughly 60% of the time last season. I'll guess it will be 54% run, 46% pass.

72. A true dual-threat. Mike Hawkins Jr. finishes the year as a top-three rusher on WVU's offense.

73. Alright, I'm going bold here with this one...how about Matt Sieg leads the defense in interceptions? What's a prediction article without a few long shots?

74. Kicking the ball through the end zone is not an issue for the first time in years. They will have that fixed in 2026.

75. Speedy wide receiver Keon Hutchins will have the biggest run after the catch of the season.

76. West Virginia will actually be able to get into its tempo this year and actually tire opposing defenses out.

77. By the middle of the year, Rich Rodriguez will be considered a candidate for Big 12 Coach of the Year. It will lose steam late, but it will be there for a few weeks.

78. Former WVU running back Eugene Napoleon will pick WVU to lose just twice on this year's Walk Thru Game Day Show. He is WVU through and through and usually picks WVU to try to speak a win into existence.

79. The Mountaineers will have stronger results in the first half of the season — brutal month of November.

80. Road struggles...WVU wins just one true road game all year — Iowa State.

81. WVU still loses by two scores to Texas Tech on the road without Brendan Sorsby.

82. Rich Rod and Co. will beat one ranked team, just like they did in 2025.

83. Black Friday ends in disappointment. The men's basketball team may or may not beat North Carolina, but the football team loses in a big way on the road at Utah.

84. The Mountaineers will finish a minimum of three spots higher in Big 12 standings than where they were picked in the preseason poll.

85. WVU wins enough to become bowl eligible and plays Michigan State in the Rate Bowl in Phoenix.

86. West Virginia wins the bowl game and finishes with a winning record.

87. Retention is key nowadays, and they will be able to hold onto key pieces such as QB Mike Hawkins, RB Amari Latimer, OT Kevin Brown, etc.

88. For the second straight year, West Virginia will bring in a top-25 high school recruiting class.

89. In that class, WVU will sign two quarterbacks, just like they did this past year with Hughley and Wyatt Brown.

90. The offensive coaching staff will stay intact heading into 2027, giving them continuity on that side of the ball for the first time.

91. To build on the previous prediction, Rick Trickett keeps plugging along. As good of shape as he's in, he may coach another 10 years before retiring. Alright, maybe not that many, but I don't see him hanging it up anytime soon.

92. Staying with the o-line theme here, WVU will pay decent money for one interior starter in the transfer portal.

93. Much of West Virginia's money in the transfer portal will be spent in the front seven of the defense.

94. Only one QB currently on the roster will transfer out after the season.

95. The Mountaineers' transfer portal class will rank higher than the high school class. Fewer additions equal more money to offer.

96. WVU will have its lowest transfer portal entries since 2023, which was 21. Not predicting fewer than 21, but the closest to that number they have been since that offseason.

97. Boosters/donors see the progress in year two, resulting in WVU being in a better financial situation heading into 2027, being somewhere near the higher end of the middle of the Big 12.

98. Excitement/optimism around the program next offseason will be the highest it has been since the 2018 season.

99. Another former Mountaineer player will join the coaching staff next offseason in some capacity.

100. RB Cam Cook is the only player drafted into the NFL from WVU in 2027.

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