The West Virginia Mountaineers have quietly placed themselves in second place in the current Big 12 Conference standings. Perhaps one of the more underrated teams in the country, the Mountaineers have a subtle No. 22 ranking in the AP poll and are the lowest rated of the remaining 13 undefeated teams in the AP Top 25.
The Mountaineers offensively come equipped with the 18th best passing attack in the nation with an average of 318 passing yards per game. That passing attack is led by senior Skyler Howard, a native of Fort Worth, Texas and product of Brewer High School.
The former Riverside City College quarterback by way of transfer from Stephen F. Austin is now in his second year starting for West Virginia after leading his team to a 2015 Cactus Bowl victory over Arizona State. Howard will now look to help his team ascend the Big 12 Conference standings when they head to Lubbock on October 15th to take on another potent passing attack in Patrick Mahomes (if healthy) and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Tech will be playing Kansas State while West Virginia is on a bye week.
Tech ranks fifth in the nation in total yards on offense and first in passing yards per game and total yards per game. With the Mountaineers riding the momentum of a conference victory against Kansas State for the first time since joining the Big 12 and on the verge of their first 5-0 start since 2012, Howard will have to continue his level of play which has helped West Virginia win nine of their last 10 games.
Howard’s QB rating has yet to reach anything under a 120 score and has a 65.8% completion percentage in his body of work this season. Though he has registered an interception in every game so far, he has completed crucial passes when it matters as evident by last week’s go-ahead score in the fourth quarter against Kansas State to overcome a 16-3 deficit. Howard has thrown for a total of 1,272 yards and seven touchdowns on the season.
Equipped with Howard and a defense that is seeming to hit its stride with players such as cornerback Elijah Battle and freshman linebacker David Long replacing a few starters, West Virginia might be the dark horse of the Big 12 that few saw coming.
Brought to You By
