MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — The West Virginia Mountaineers finished 9-4 during the 2023 season after an impressive 30-10 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Duke’s May Bowl. West Virginia’s successful season and big bowl win set the program up for major momentum heading into the 2024 season.
The Good
West Virginia has most of its offense returning, including its outstanding offensive line, one of the best running back groups in the Big 12 Conference, and redshirt senior quarterback Garrett Greene, who could be one of the most dangerous and electric players in the nation in 2024. In addition, the Mountaineers have filled several holes through the transfer portal and the defense should be improved.
Neal Brown has built a tremendous culture, and the roster is loaded with players who represent the university well on and off the field. Brown has shown that he was willing to make adjustments in his 5th season after failing to do so for his first four seasons at West Virginia.
Country Roads Trust is one of the top NIL collectives in the nation and in today’s game, that is extraordinarily important. The Mountaineers have been able to retain its top players – CJ Donaldson, Jahiem White, Wyatt Milum, Garrett Greene, Rodney Gallagher, Sean Martin and Aubrey Burks, among others – and the team should be a real contender to win the Big 12 Championship next season.
The Bad
The Mountaineers face a really challenging schedule in 2024 with non-conference games against Penn State and Pitt, and tough road conference games at Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Arizona. While West Virginia returns a lot of talent, they will face an even more difficult scheudle next season, and could potentially take a step back.
West Virginia’s receiving corps has talent there with young stars Rodney Gallagher, Traylon Ray and Hudson Clement, but the team still lacks a proven #1 wide receiver right now.
The Ugly
Over the last 5 years, West Virginia’s record just hasn’t been good enough.
2019: 5-7
2020: 6-4
2021: 6-7
2022: 5-7
2023: 8-4
Overall, Brown is 31-29, 20-24 in the Big 12 Conference and has zero Top 25 apperances. Neal Brown has never beaten a team that finishes the season in the Top 25 (0-16) and didn’t beat a team with a winning record this season. While an 9-4 record is certainly good, he didn’t beat a team with a record better than 6-6 other than a severely-depleted North Carolina team in the bowl game. The Tar Heels were missing 20 key players (and West Virginia was missing important players, too) and the although the Duke’s Mayo Bowl was certainly a nice win, it could be seen by many as little more than a glorified scrimmage.
Closing
I’m very excited about the 2024 season and the overall trajectory of the West Virginia football program. With a talented, young returning roster combined with an excellent NIL collective, the Mountaineers are in position to be successful now and for many years to come.
