The Three Most Interesting Games on West Virginia's 2025 Football Schedule

Breaking down some of the intriguing games on WVU's football schedule.

Sep 7, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers fans cheer during the third quarter against the Albany Great Danes at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

A little over a week ago, the West Virginia football schedule for the 2025 season was released. The Mountaineers will open up the season at home against Robert Morris, then head to Athens to take on the Ohio Bobcats, before returning home to round out non-conference play against bitter rival, Pitt.

Which are the three most interesting games on the Mountaineers' slate?

No. 3: Oct. 18th at UCF

Nov 23, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers running back Jahiem White (1) runs the ball against the UCF Knights during the third quarter at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

I considered a couple of others here - one less interesting (Robert Morris) and the Big 12 opener at Kansas. The first game for Rich Rod back in Morgantown will be electric despite the opponent not bringing much to the table as far as entertainment value goes, with all due respect. As far as Kansas is concerned, it'll be interesting to see how they refocus after the Backyard Brawl, win or lose.

But now to the game that I'm actually putting on this list. Rodriguez and several members of his staff have deep recruiting ties to the state of Florida, and what better way to send a message than to go to Orlando and win a ballgame? This will be just as important of a game for recruiting as it will be for the win-loss column. Plus, it's a battle of head coaches getting a second shot at the place where they had the most success. Can Scott Frost be just as successful at the Power Four level with the Knights as he was in the American?

No. 2: Nov. 8th vs. Colorado

Nov 23, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Colorado head coach Deion Sanders paces the field during the 2nd quarter between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Colorado Buffaloes at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images / Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

Some folks wondered if Deion Sanders would ever get to coach a game in Morgantown. There were two sides of thought to this - either the experiment in Boulder would go poorly and he would be canned, or he would follow his son, Shedeur, to the NFL after he graduated. Despite some baseless rumors flying around shortly after season's end, Coach Prime has publicly stated that he had no intentions of leaving Colorado.

While Sanders has a lot of top-tier talent to replace, he's had a ton of success recruiting out of the transfer portal and landed one of the nation's top high school quarterbacks, Julian Lewis.

Could you imagine the reaction I would have received from folks if I told them five years ago that Rich Rodriguez would be back at West Virginia and would be coaching against Deion Sanders? Well, now we have it.

No. 1: Sept. 13th vs. Pitt

Sep 14, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers running back Jahiem White (1) scores a touchdown against Pittsburgh Panthers defensive back Donovan McMillon (3) during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

You're shocked, aren't you? I mean, let's be real - there is no game that comes anywhere close to topping this one, especially when you consider the way Rich Rod's first tenure at West Virginia ended. Pitt knocked the Mountaineers of a spot in the national championship game in 2007, and that was the last time Rodriguez led the WVU program.

Although he's tried to bury that loss deep in the back of his brain, it's never going to go away. It still stings, and he's admitted that since returning to WVU. The fact that Pitt is West Virginia's first Power Four opponent on the schedule makes it even more intriguing. This Backyard Brawl is about to be wild.

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