Three Bold Predictions for WVU Football in 2022

West Virginia kicks off the 2022 season in 74 days when they open up on the road against Pitt in the Backyard Brawl. Head coach Neal Brown is entering his fourth year on the job and this could be his most talented team yet.

What could the 2022 season have in store for the Mountaineers? Here are a few early bold predictions for the upcoming season.

Dante Stills finishes with 12 sacks

You would think that losing someone as talented as Akheem Mesidor would hurt Dante Stills' production in 2022, but it won't. Sure, Stills would love to have Mesidor in there with him but I actually think this frees up more plays for Stills to make. He's yet to hit double-digit sacks in a single season but he's been close twice. He finished with eight in 2019 and seven a year ago. Both years he had a handful of plays that he barely missed that could have got him to that total. I'm expecting a bigger, faster, stronger, smarter Stills to show out in 2022 and tie his father, Gary, with the 4th-most sacks for a single season in program history with 12.

WVU beats Oklahoma for the first time as a member of the Big 12

Neal Brown and the Mountaineers almost did it in 2021. They were very close and quite honestly, should have beat the Sooners it if weren't for the offensive collapse at the end of the game and a missed opportunity for a touchdown in the third quarter. With Lincoln Riley, quarterback Caleb Williams, and several others now out of the program, this is a great opportunity for West Virginia to knock off the Sooners. I'm not sold on OU taking a major step back in year one with Brent Venables but I do think they will be vulnerable on the road in what will be an electric atmosphere.

JT Daniels plays all 12 games, wins Big 12 Newcomer of the Year

West Virginia's new starting quarterback has had trouble staying on the field throughout his collegiate career and has been the reason he never regained the starting jobs back at USC and Georgia.

The third time is the charm.

With his third school, I see Daniels staying healthy for the entire season behind what has become a very experienced group of offensive linemen in front of him. He knows Graham Harrell's system having played in it before at USC as a true freshman. There will be some growing pains early on in the season as he continues to gain chemistry with his receivers and understand their tendencies, but as we get deep into the year Daniels will be firing on all cylinders and become the quarterback everyone knew he could be.

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