West Virginia's explosive offense and inexperience defense will get their first test of the season when NCAA Division I Football Subdivision (FCS) foe Villanova pays its first-ever visit to Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 30.
The Wildcats of head coach Andy Talley, who has amassed a 155-98-1 mark in 23 seasons at the helm, return 33 lettermen and 17 starters from a team that posted a 7-4 overall mark and 5-3 record in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2007.
What follows is a position-by-position breakdown of WVU's opening day opponent:
Quarterback: Gone is starter Antwon Young, who completed 99-of-153 attempts, and his 1,192 yards and 14 touchdowns. In his place will be 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore Chris Whitney.
Whitney, who played in six games in 2007, did complete 59 percent (59-of-100) of his passes for 616 yards and five scores and tossed only three interceptions as the Wildcats finished fourth in the CAA's South Division.
Wide Receivers: Just like at signal caller the Wildcats will be without their top performer in '07 as Matthew Sherry and his 37 catches for 461 yards and five touchdowns have graduated.
Good news is that senior Phil Atkinson (32-324, 8 TDs) and junior Brandyn Harvey (25-435, 3 TDs) are back and should prove to be a thorn in the sides of most of the Wildcats' opponents.
Running back: This could be sounding like a broken record, but Villanova will come to Morgantown minus its leading ground gainer in '07.
Matt Dicken was the Wildcats' primary running force a year ago, rushing the football 221 times for 922 yards and four touchdowns in his final season.
Good news is that sophomores Aaron Ball (47-247, 1 TD) and Matthew Szczur (23-173, 0 TD) are back and Whitney (71-100, 2 TDs) proved he could run the football when he wasn't sacked for 145 yards in losses.
Tight end: Just when you thought the Mountaineers were the only team that didn't throw to its tight ends in 2007, along comes a Villanova squad that has three tight ends-John Jackson (Fr), Stephen Pimm (Sr) and Eric Predatsch (Jr)-listed on its roster and none have a catch to their credit.
Offensive line: More good news for fans of Wildcats football as nearly the entire two-deep as these positions return.
Senior center Michael Sheridan (6-2, 310) anchors a front five which should include senior Izzy Bauta (6-4, 300) at one tackle, junior Brian Brannigan (6-3, 285) and sophomores Ben Ijalana (6-4, 325) and Brant Clouser (6-3, 290). Also look for junior Jonathan Bugli (6-5, 285) and sophomore Thomas Weaver (6-1, 300) to see plenty of playing time.
Defensive line: More good news for Villanova fans as every player who saw action in the Wildcats' 3-5-3 alignment on the front line returns.
Anchoring the group will be senior ends Greg Miller (6-3, 250) and David Dalessandro (6-3, 265). Weaver, who serves as the backup at center on offense, was the team's starting nose guard a year ago.
Linebackers: Top tackler Osayi Osunde heads up this talented group. The junior-to-be led the Cats with 82 total stops in '07 (36 solo), five tackles for loss and a sack.
Also back are starters Darrel Young (6-4, 215, Sr.) and Terence Thomas (6-0, 220, So.).
Holding down one of the cornerback slots will be returnee Jarred Corey (5-10, 180, So.) while the other job belongs to senior-to-be Salim Koroma (5-6, 150).
Secondary: Senior Eugene Clay and his two interceptions has departed, but Villanova has plenty of playmakers in their defensive backfield with the return of redshirt sophomore Martel Moody, who led the team with three interceptions for 71 yards.
Also returning is junior Ross Ventrone (5-9, 185) and sophomores Fred Maldonado (5-11, 185) and John Dempsey (6-0, 205) from the two-deep chart.
Special teams: More good news for the Wildcats as placekicker Joe Marcoux, who connected on 34-of-35 PATs and 12-of-18 field goals in 2007, returns for his final season and punter Zach Ugarte is back after averaging 37.8 yards per punt during his sophomore season.
2008 Outlook: The Wildcats come into the season as the No. 17 ranked team in the fifth annual pre-season AnyGivenSaturday.com poll of the FCS.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that Villanova's first opponent will be a Mountaineer squad led by a Heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback Pat White and a defense which will be looking to make an early statement because of all of its losses from a year ago.
Next up: The Pirates from East Carolina
