What a Realistic, Disappointing, & Dream 2022 Season Looks Like for WVU

2022 marks the fourth year of the Neal Brown era in Morgantown and after a disappointing 2021 season, the pressure is on to turn the program around. To break it all down, I listed what a dream season, realistic season, and disappointing season would look like for WVU in 2022.

Dream

Of course going a perfect 12-0 is a dream scenario, but we're going to keep it realistic here. For West Virginia, getting to 9-3 or better is what a dream season looks like in 2022. With road games at Pitt and Virginia Tech, it leaves very little room for error in conference play if they were to split those two non-conference matchups. Assuming WVU takes care of business against Towson and Kansas, that leaves seven more wins on the table.

Not only would a 9-3 season keep Neal Brown it Morgantown, but it would do wonders on the recruiting trail and potentially set up even a bigger season in 2023. Some may think nine wins is a bit of a pipe dream but there's a lot of talented pieces coming back at key positions. Anytime you return five starters along the offensive line, have multiple receivers with two or more years under their belt, and a defense that has consistently been one of the league's best, you stand a chance.

If the Mountaineers do put together a "dream season", you're looking at Neal Brown as Big 12 Coach of the Year and potentially playing in a New Year's Six bowl game; something WVU has yet to do since entering the league.

Note: The only way West Virginia gets to nine wins is if new quarterback JT Daniels plays all 12 games. Considering he hasn't played in more than five games since 2018, it's a big if.

Realistic

I get the excitement around this team heading into the 2022 season, I really do. When you have a former five-star quarterback taking over the offense and have a new offensive coordinator with a successful past, it's easy to get caught up in the hype. But as I just mentioned above, the health of JT Daniels is going to be key.

That said, it's more than just the quarterback staying on the field. Tony Mathis and Justin Johnson Jr. have to step up in place of Leddie Brown who was a bell cow in the Mountaineer backfield for the past three years. Mathis showed some good things at the tail end of last season and in the spring but doing it across a full 12-game season is a different story.

Does the receiving corps finally take a step forward? There is a ton of talent in that room but they've battled drops and inconsistency over the past three seasons.

Defensively, you're not going to replicate what Akheem Mesidor brought to the field. His presence will be sorely missed and defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley will have to find other ways to create pressure from inside. Oh yeah, and then you have a secondary that is extremely young after starters Daryl Porter Jr. and Nicktroy Fortune transferred out.

This team has a ton of question marks surrounding it which leads me to believe a record of 7-5 or 6-6 is what the expectation should be. This group reminds me an awful lot of that 2017 Will Grier-led team. They had a ton of talent but it was really a year in which they figured out how to not only play together but win together, setting up major hype in 2018. The same scenario can play out in 2022, setting up bigger expectations in 2023 with an older, more experienced group.

Disappointing

To many, 7-5 or 6-6 may be considered as a disappointment. For me, it's 5-7 or worse. AD Shane Lyons has not indicated that Brown is on any sort of hot seat and most recently voiced his support at Big 12 media days saying that the program is "heading in the right direction" and called the rebuild "a process". However, failing to reach a bowl game in 2022 with a healthy JT Daniels could put Brown on the hot seat heading into year five

I've been in Brown's corner throughout the first three years mainly because of the situation he walked into when he first arrived. It was a complete mess. The pandemic didn't help the rebuild whatsoever but we're now at the point where having a losing season is unacceptable.

A third losing season in four years is going to make it hard for the administration, players, and fan base to continue to "Trust the Climb". At some point, you have to start winning ball games an be competitive in the Big 12. This team is too talented to be under .500, regardless of who is under center.

West Virginia Football Roster - 2022

2022 WVU Football Schedule + Results

WVU Football Recruiting Hot Board

Schuyler Callihan's Preseason Big 12 Rankings

Big 12 Quarterback Rankings

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