3 bold predictions for Texas football vs. West Virginia

What has turned into one of the most important games of the regular season is about to arrive for head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas football this weekend against head coach Neal Brown and the West Virginia Mountaineers. Texas will face a good team this weekend coming off one of the worst losses in Big 12 play in recent memory.

Sark and the Longhorns fell short last weekend at the hands of new head coach Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Big 12 opener on the road in Lubbock, by the final score of 37-34 in overtime. That loss to Texas Tech moved the Longhorns’ record on the season to a mediocre 2-2 (0-1 Big 12).

Texas comes into this meeting with West Virginia not only looking to get the first win of Big 12 play but also to gain momentum before the Red River Rivalry game arrives next weekend against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Bold predictions for Texas football vs. West Virginia in Week 5

With that in mind, here’s a look at three bold predictions as the Longhorns get set to host West Virginia at home at DKR in Austin on Oct. 1.

Ovie Oghoufo gets home with two sacks

The play of the Texas defensive line could hinge on a few key factors in this game. First and foremost, the Longhorns will need the interior defensive linemen to be healthy and ready to go. Last week, the absence of senior defensive lineman Moro Ojomo definitely hurt this group in the trenches.

If Ojomo is able to return for the Texas defensive line this weekend, I do believe the duo of him and sophomore nose tackle Byron Murphy can help to stymie the West Virginia ground game.

That duo could also help create some pressure on the quarterback from the interior of the defensive line. If that is the case, we could finally see either senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown or senior edge rusher Ovie Oghoufo get home more often.

The same could also be said for sophomore edge rusher Barryn Sorrell. Since the first week of the season, we’ve really been waiting to see Sorrell show the type of flashes he put on display in the win over the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks with a career-high 1.5 sacks.

Yet, I do believe that this could be a good spot for Oghoufo. The team-leader in quarterback pressures this season, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before Oghoufo can finally get home.

Getting the quarterback to the ground was the real problem for Oghoufo so far this season. He has 15 quarterback pressures under his belt this season, with just one sack. That is one of the worst quarterback pressure/sack ratios in the Big 12 this season.

Oghoufo is one of the quicker edge players that West Virginia could face this season. It’s just about Oghoufo actually taking the right angles to the quarterback.

And if we see the duo of Murphy and Ojomo moving some extra bodies in the trenches against West Virginia compared to Texas Tech last weekend, I could see either Sorrell or Oghoufo having a big game.