By: George Ahearn

The 4-1 Mountaineers travel to Houston in the first matchup between the two as conference foes. In Houston’s first season as a member of the Big 12, they have gotten off to a rocky start. They sit at 2-3, with their only wins coming against winless Sam Houston State and 2-3 UTSA. 

For the Mountaineers, they have been a pleasant surprise in the college football world this year. In his fifth season, head coach Neal Brown looks to have finally caught his stride in Morgantown. They won a gritty game against rival Pitt and upset Texas Tech as six-point home underdogs, and, most recently, upended TCU as 14-point underdogs. Safe to say the loyal West Virginia fan base is finally pleased with the direction of the program. 

In Houston, their bumpy start was relatively expected, as transitioning from the American to the Big 12 was expected to produce some growing pains. However, the manner in which they have lost some of their games leaves much to be desired. They lost a double overtime bout to Rice and were run out of the game against Texas Tech and TCU. 

Houston head coach Dana Holgorson has had a polarizing start to his time at Houston. His first two seasons were mediocre, but in 2021 and 2022 he looked to have finally established a winning culture. The last two years, they produced a 12-2 record and an 8-5 record, respectively,  results much more congruent with the expectations of what Coach Dana Holgorsen would bring to this team. 

However, this game should bring out some serious emotion for Houston’s head coach. 

Holgorsen made the rare decision to leave a Power Five program for, at the time, a Group of Five program, when he left West Virginia to return to coach at Houston. Before tonight’s game, Holgorsen was asked about his emotions regarding his former team, whom he coached for eight seasons. 

He said, “the best way to approach it is to turn the phone off and go to work.” 

Safe to say Holgorsen understands the importance of this game, not only for him, but for his Cougars to get back on track and gain some momentum.

The fault of Houston this season, like most Dana Holgorsen squads, is their inability to limit opponents’ scoring. Against Big 12 opponents, they have given up 36 and 49 points. Thankfully for the Cougars, they themselves have the ability to score points at a rapid pace.

The Cougars average over 400 yards of offense per game and will undoubtedly need points to stay in this game tonight. 

West Virginia sits at an impressive 4-1, and all the credit goes to the job Neal Brown has done with this Mountaineers team. Yet, I still believe they are playing way above expectations, and I believe they will return to Earth tonight against the Cougars. 

The Dana Holgorsen “revenge game” should provide sparks, and I anticipate this Cougars squad playing passionately for their head coach. Back in front of their home crowd, I think the Cougars will win and get their season back on track. 

Back Houston to play for their coach; nothing better than betting on a group of fired-up 20-year olds. 

The play: Houston +3