As BYU (4-0) prepares to face West Virginia (2-3) at LaVell Edwards Stadium this week, the 23rd-ranked Cougars are feeling confident after a gutsy, come-from-behind win at Colorado last week. The Mountaineers are licking their wounds coming off a 48-14 beatdown at home against Utah.
West Virginia's recent history
Simply put, over the last several years the Mountaineers have been about as average of a Power Four football team as you can find. Over the last eight seasons they have won somewhere between five and eight games every year. West Virginia's highs haven't been very high recently, but they've never really bottomed out, either.
They have reached a bowl game in four of the last five seasons, which is impressive, with the highlight being a 2023 win over North Carolina in the Duke's Mayo Bowl.
As far as Big 12 conference play goes, since 2017 the Mountaineers are 36-37 over the last eight-plus seasons, hence calling them a completely average Big 12 program. Being a virtual .500-type Big 12 team is something of a compliment given the quality of competition they have faced in this Power Four conference.
West Virginia's talent profile
The recruiting and talent evaluation service 247 Sports provides what's called a "Team Talent Composite" showing how much "talent" is on a team's roster based on player recruiting and transfer ratings.
On paper, West Virginia is more talented than BYU.
Per 247 Sports the Mountaineers have 10 4-star players and 59 3-star athletes with an average player rating of 86.0. They rank No. 11 in the 16-team Big 12 conference in terms of talent.
BYU, meanwhile, has eight 4-star and 62 3-star players with an average player rating of 85.4. The Cougars rank No. 14 in the conference in terms of talent, so BYU is starting with a deficit in this category.
What to watch for: The physical toll placed on West Virginia's players
How will the bodies of West Virginia players hold up in this one? Because of General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this Saturday and Sunday, the Cougars and Mountaineers will play on Friday night in Provo. That's a long trip on a short week for West Virginia, especially after just getting manhandled by Utah.
Now throw in the fact that the game starts at 8:30 PM Mountain Time, which is 10:30 PM Eastern for West Virginia. That, frankly, is nuts. The game will probably end at what feels like about 1:30 AM for the Mountaineers.
Now throw in the elevation. While West Virginia is in the Appalachians, the elevation of Morgantown is "only" 960 feet when compared to Provo's 4,650 feet.
In my view, it's a disservice to West Virginia's players to expect them to be at their best on a Friday night playing at what feels like 1:30 AM and doing so at elevation. We will see how their bodies respond as they leave the comforts of the Appalachians for the majesty of the Wasatch.