Austin, Texas – Today, the West Virginia Mountaineers, 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the the Big 12 Conference, travel to play the #22 ranked Texas Longhorns, also 4-2 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
West Virginia looks for its first win on the road today. This season, the Mountaineers are 4-0 at home and 0-2 on the road, losing at Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.
Here’s how our staff experts believe today’s big game between the Mountaineers and the Longhorns will go down:
Clark Johnson, Football Analyst, The Voice of Motown (5-1 on the season): That was the WVU team we had all been waiting for. The Mountaineers didn’t only beat Kansas State, they kicked their ass. Going into Austin, however, is no easy challenge.
West Virginia is 4-1 all time playing at Texas, but I just don’t see it happening this week. It’ll be close, but the Mountaineers come up just short. Being 5-1 picking games this season has been nice, but if there was ever one I’d hope to get wrong, it is this one.
TEXAS 31 WVU 20
Hank Steinmiller, Writer, The Voice of Motown (4-2 on the season): The Mountaineers have owned the Longhorns in Austin. 4-1 all time and some memorable, down to the wire finishes. I don’t expect much different from this one.
The offense will struggle to find footing after the first 15. The defense will get 3 turnovers and that helps WVU leave the Lone Star State 5-2.
WVU 34 TEXAS 28
Aaron Shamblin, Writer, The Voice of Motown (5-1 on the season): WVU looked mighty good last week, but that was against a freshman QB that couldn’t move the ball. Against Ehlinger, who seems to have been at Texas for a decade, I don’t expect much resistance from our defense even though they’ve played well most of the season. Texas has huge WRs that don’t even need to jump to out-manuever most DBs.
We need to play keep away with Leddie Brown to limit their possessions and to keep our defense fresh. If we have a few 3 and outs back to back, it could get ugly. But I expect Leddie to have a big day running and receiving out of the backfield to keep the game close. Unfortunately, in the end our passing game is just too weak.
TEXAS 44 WVU 34
Brad Smith, Senior Writer/Owner, The Voice of Motown (2-4 on the season): Love him or hate him – and I hate him – Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger is a four-year, battle-tested leader who has been through and seen it all during his long career with the Longhorns.
Ehlinger is the difference here. He’s surrounded by weapons and has the ability to scramble and move the chains when the pocket breaks down. West Virginia’s defense is fast and won’t make it easy for Ehlinger, but I think the Longhorns will move the ball up and down the field all day on the Mountaineers.
On the other end, Jarret Doege hasn’t shown me anything to suggest that he will be able to walk into Austin, Texas and upset the Longhorns. His poor pocket presence and lack of mobility in the pocket will once again be a problem, and Texas will key on West Virginia’s dominant running back Leddie Brown, which will make it nearly impossible to move the ball or score.
Ugly loss in Austin incoming.
TEXAS 42 WVU 13
