West Virginia Mountaineers
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WEAKNESSES

Youth

How will the young stars react to being heavily favored week-in and week-out? Pressure like this has been known to break a young team down, so only time will tell if they can live up to the potential they built for themselves last year.

Passing game

What passing game? The Mountaineers failed to have double digit completions in six of their 12 games last year. Not that they needed to, but what will happen if they find themselves in a hole that they cannot run their way out of? Will they be able to throw to win?

Offensive line

The Mountaineers do not run a typical style offense-which means they do not need typical tackles to bolster their line. With both starting tackles moving on, Rodriguez needs to find two new linemen who can handle their own in this running offense. The good news is that future left tackle Jake Figner looks to be more than capable of assuming that role. Right tackle, on the other hand, is wide open.

STRENGTHS

Schedule

Returning all but two players on offense, it's no surprise that the Mountaineers are expected to run away with the Big East title. Their toughest road games both come in November when they travel to Louisville and then two weeks later to Pittsburgh. But there is little challenge elsewhere as their opponents' combined record is 61-75.

Speed

Forget masking your coverage in the secondary against the Mountaineers because with the legs of Pat White and Steve Slaton, the odds of them throwing the ball more than 15 times a game are slim. In fact, White has only had more than 15 attempts in a game once in his young career (16 att; 11/2 vs. UCONN). These two weapons are so elusive that it is a nightmare for opposing defensive coordinators to try to plan to contain them.

Quarterback

With Pat White the Mountaineers have arguably their best athlete at the quarterback position. Over the stretch of his final four games last season White averaged 146 yards rushing a game-including 220 yards versus Pitt. The only question mark at the position is depth. Backup Adam Bednarik is expected to miss the entire 2006 season following shoulder surgery back in May, and former Pirate prospect J.R. House left the team before the Sugar Bowl last year. But redshirt freshman Jarret Brown looks like he has all the tools.