3 bold predictions for Texas football vs. West Virginia

Bijan Robinson will put up more receiving yards than rushing yards

This is the boldest of the bold predictions that I have on this list.

Bijan will get his shot to make an impact in this game in multiple ways. Sark and the Longhorns will look to Bijan to get in space and pick up some yards in chunks both in the rushing and the receiving games.

It goes without saying that Bijan is going to be an integral part of Texas setting the tone on the ground. If Sark and the Longhorns can get a few chunk plays with Bijan on the ground to start the game, that can help Texas alleviate some of the time of possession woes out of the gates.

But where Bijan can make a real impact on this game is with his ability as a receiver out of the backfield. If Bijan can pose a threat to the West Virginia defense on a consistent basis as a receiver, that would add another dimension to this offense that would make life difficult for the Mountaineers.

And I do believe Bijan will have the opportunity to find more space in the receiving game than the ground game this weekend. It’s worth noting that West Virginia has a defensive stuff rate so far this season of 21.3 percent, good for 29th in the FBS (per College Football Data). That means this West Virginia defensive front is going to be one of the more capable that Bijan faces this season in Big 12 play.

Yet, West Virginia has a passing down success rate on defense of just 30.1 percent, good for 64th in the FBS. And if you exclude the matchups in the last two games against the Virginia Tech Hokies and FCS Towson Tigers, West Virginia ranks in the bottom 20 percent of the FBS in terms of passing down success rate on defense.

The fact of the matter is that West Virginia will allow Texas more big plays in the passing game than they will on the ground unless Sark and the Longhorns get really creative this weekend. And if Texas is going to continue to target Bijan at the same rate (three per game) or more often (such as the first two games against ULM and Alabama) than they did in the first four weeks, he could be in for at least four targets in the passing game against West Virginia.