Texas @ West Virginia preview

Texas at West Virginia

Last Meeting ( Nov 12, 2016 ) West Virginia 24, Texas 20

No. 25 West Virginia, one of three 5-2 teams tied for second in the top-heavy Big 12, has its sights set on a berth in the conference championship game. But even with a showdown against first-place Oklahoma looming next week in Norman, the Mountaineers can’t afford to look to past Saturday’s home finale against visiting Texas.

At least that’s the mindset of West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen as he gets his team ready for a Senior Day matchup against the 5-5/4-3 Longhorns. “I’m putting everybody on high alert on this 5-5 thing (with Texas),” Holgorsen said at his weekly Tuesday news conference. “We’re sitting here at 7-3 (overall) with three losses to (top-20-ranked) teams, and they (the Longhorns) aren’t any different. Those guys have lost close games to the likes of Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and TCU, and the last time I checked, those teams are in the top 15, right?” Texas, meanwhile, needs one more win to become bowl-eligible in coach Tom Herman’s first season in Austin, and the new coach also is looking for a signature victory. “We’ve got to win one that we’re not supposed to,” Herman said at his Monday news conference. “I think right now, save for the very first game, we’ve won the ones that we’re supposed to and we haven’t won the ones that people said we weren’t supposed to. So I think that’s got to be the next step.”

TV: Noon ET, ESPN. LINE: West Virginia -3.5

ABOUT TEXAS (5-5, 4-3 Big 12): The Longhorns entered last Saturday’s home game against lowly Kansas with three losses in their previous four contests, and were able to fend off a late Jayhawks surge to climb back at .500. Quarterbacks Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger both threw touchdown passes in the game, and Holgorsen expects both to take snaps Saturday, with the sophomore Buechele the more polished passer and freshman Ehlinger the bigger threat to run. Linebacker Malik Jefferson, who has totaled 93 tackles, including 10 for losses, leads a Texas defense which is the Big 12’s second best in terms of the fewest rushing (115.0) and total yards (367.3) allowed and also is the second stingiest with 21.9 points permitted per contest.

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA (7-3, 5-2): The Texas defense, however, will face one of its toughest tests of the season in quarterback Will Grier (fourth nationally with 344 passing yards per outing) and the rest of the Mountaineers’ offense, which ranks 12th nationally in scoring (39.0) and seventh in total yards (513.9). Grier’s top three targets – wideouts Gary Jennings Jr., Ka’Ruan White and David Sills V – all rank among the Big 12’s top nine in receptions and receiving yards while running back Justin Crawford is third in rushing (89.9 yards). Defensively, the Mountaineers are surrendering an average of 29.2 points and rank second in the conference against the pass (245.3 yards allowed) but ninth against the run (191.1 yards).

EXTRA POINTS

1. West Virginia holds a 4-2 lead in the series after posting 24-20 (2016) and 38-20 (2015) wins in the last two meetings.

2. The Longhorns could get a big boost with All-American OT Connor Williams looking like he’s on track to return from a knee injury that’s kept him sidelined since the third game of the season.

3. Since 2000, West Virginia is 112-15 when scoring 30 or more points.

PREDICTION: West Virginia 33, Texas 27