Three Things You Can Guarantee About WVU Football in 2026

There are no absolutes in college football these days, but WVU fans should feel pretty good about these three things being true about the Mountaineers this fall.

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Okay, I'll admit before I even get deep into this thing...there is no such thing as a guarantee in college football, especially with the way things are now. With the transfer portal and so much turnover with this WVU team in particular, it's hard to say anything is a certainty — good or bad.

But there are a few things that I feel pretty confident about and would like to think they're as close to a guarantee as you can get. Let's discuss, shall we?

Rick Trickett fixes the offensive line

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I'm about as confident in Rick Trickett getting this offensive line on track as I am in Mountaineer fans packing out the blue lot every home game and throwing a big pregame party. This is kind of one of those "Does a bear do his business in the woods?" or "Is the sky blue?" type of things. If you give Rick Trickett the keys to an offensive line room, those jokers are going to run like a well-oiled machine in a short period of time.

Obviously, any time you have this much turnover, there will always be some level of concern, and that's no different with this group. It's more about who will be the right five and when they will find that grouping, more so than if they'll ever find it. I'm fairly confident it will end up being Carsten Casady, Nick Krahe, Landen Livingston, Amare Grayson, and Kevin Brown, but there are a few other guys who could be solid contributors as well, such as Malik Agbo, Devin Vass, Cam Griffin, and Wes King.

If you put some combination of those last four names as part of a starting lineup, I think you'd probably yield better results than the starting group from 2025, and they'll be in a reserve role this fall. Last year's starting unit entered the year with a combined 1,948 snaps. This year's projected five will enter with 4,197 snaps, and that's with true freshman Kevin Brown having a goose egg next to his name.

No QB roulette this year, barring injuries

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Even if virtually every quarterback that touched the field for the Mountaineers didn't get hurt in 2025, they still would have had multiple guys playing. They just didn't have the answer on the roster, at least early on. Scotty Fox Jr. figured some things out late once he had more weeks of development under his belt, but even then, he still had his fair share of struggles, which is typical for a true freshman.

Oklahoma transfer Mike Hawkins Jr. is going to be the guy for Rich Rod in 2026 and has already gained the full confidence and trust of the coaching staff. The things he can do on the field we haven't seen from a Mountaineer quarterback in a long time. You think it's a coincidence that Pat White, Rasheed Marshall, and Rich Rodriguez have all spoken so highly of him after just fifteen practices?

Turning into a rock star overnight may or may not happen, but he is absolutely going to give West Virginia something to build around moving into the future. There is a certain level of confidence and IQ that he brings to the table that screams future pro. When he puts it all together and becomes a star is anyone's guess, but as far as 2026 is concerned, he will be the guy the Mountaineers ride with.

The Mountaineers close the gap

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West Virginia lost eight games in 2025, six of which were by multiple scores. In their four blowout losses to BYU, Utah, UCF, and Texas Tech, they fell by an average of 36.5 points. Yeah, it was bad. Like real bad.

That's not going to happen in 2026. Will they lose a game by 30+? Possibly. Will they lose multiple games by 2+ scores? Potentially. Overall, though, you're going to see a more competitive group. Texas Tech aside, there's no reason for fans to think they can't win on any given week. Yes, the Red Raiders lost Brenan Sorsby, but Will Hammond is pretty damn good in his own right, and that roster is still loaded.

After last spring, you could tell Rich Rod had a feeling he was about to be in for a long year. This offseason, he seems to be pretty happy with where things are while also knowing they have a lot of work to do. It helps to have more experience and production on the roster — something they had very little of in 2025.

Essentially, what I'm getting at here is this team is going to be in just about every game, if not every game it plays. The talent, the experience, and the toughness are all there. It may result in a 6-6 or 7-5 season, but Saturdays this fall will be far more enjoyable for Mountaineer fans.