What If... The Seasons That Could’ve Changed Everything (But Didn’t)

WVUs had plenty of great teams.

But which one of them left the most on the table? Whats the biggest What If team in WVU football history?Thats the question masterofawesomeness asked in our Discord the other day, and it immediately felt like the perfect way to kick off some preseason discussion.

Ive put together a quick summary of the teams that were mentioned the most and added a little bit of context.

The ones where everything was in place...

and then fell apart.Im leaving 2007 team out of this conversation for obvious reasons.

That wasnt a What If it was a We Know Exactly What, and I dont have the emotional bandwidth or the desire to talk about it again.

If youre here expecting 13-9, you arent getting it.

Officially, the game never happened.

Because of the war.

Thanks for understanding.With that out of the way, lets talk about the teams that didnt get their hearts ripped out at the finish line, but slowly unraveled before they got there.

What If Jeff Mullen Had Never Touched the Playbook? (2008) Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Coming off three straight 11-win seasons and fresh off a Fiesta Bowl upset of Oklahoma, West Virginia entered 2008 ranked No.

8 with legitimate national title aspirations with the eighth-best odds to win it all (+2000).

Pat White returned for his senior year.

Noel Devine was ready to break out.

The offensive line was veteran and physical.

And the defense led by Jeff Casteel was loaded, finishing the year ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense.

The roster was still built in Rich Rodriguezs image.

All they needed was to keep the formula intact.Instead, Bill Stewart got the head coaching job after the Fiesta Bowl win and handed the keys to the offense to Jeff Mullen, a man who called plays like he was actively trying to smother Pat Whites legacy with a pillow.

The tempo slowed.

The creativity vanished.

Drives died at 3rdandlong.

The run game was bland.

Play design felt random.

West Virginia scored 21 or fewer points five times, despite having one of the most explosive backfields in college football.

Mullens system neutered what should have been a top-tier offense, and the result was a 94 season that included losses to East Carolina, Colorado, and Cincinnati.

Frankly, Jeff Mullen should have to answer for his crimes.

What If a Playoff-Caliber Offense Had Literally Any Help at All? (2012) Photo by Justin K.

Aller/Getty Images In their first season in the Big 12 and the Orange Bowl win, Dana Holgorsens No.

11 ranked Mountaineers entered, started 50 and climbed to No.

5 in the AP Poll.

Geno Smith threw 24 touchdowns with zero interceptions in that stretch, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey put up video game numbers, and the offense averaged over 50 points per game.

They dropped 70 points on No.

25 Baylor in an absolutely unhinged shootout in Morgantown, then followed it with a win over No.

11 Texas in Austin that felt like a program-defining moment.

At that point, West Virginia looked like a legitimate national title contender.And then the defense fell apart.

From mid-October through mid-November, WVU gave up 49, 55, 39, 55 (again), and 50 points in five straight losses.

Defensive coordinator Joe DeForests unit was completely lost blown assignments, missed tackles, no depth, and no adjustments.

Holgorsen, to his discredit, did little to intervene.

The offense kept swinging, but even Tavon Austin couldnt keep pace with what was happening on the other side of the ball.

West Virginia finished 76 after getting run over by Syracuse in a miserably cold, snowy Pinstripe Bowl.

What If the Fiesta Bowl Hangover Never Happened? (1989) Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images Coming off the programs first national-title appearance in 1988, expectations for West Virginia in 1989 were sky-high.

Head coach Don Nehlen returned a veteran core, and Major Harris came back as a decorated All-American and Heisman finalist.

The team entered the season ranked No.

17, started 40, and climbed to No.

9.

With no conference title game to navigate and a manageable schedule, the idea of back-to-back runs didnt feel unrealistic.But then came the Pitt collapse.

West Virginia led 319 in the fourth quarter and somehow tied, 3131, as Pitts Ed Frazier knocked through a 42-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

That wrecked the seasons momentum.

The very next week, WVU slogged through a brutal 1210 loss to Virginia Tech, where the offense looked out of sync and out of rhythm.

Penn State beat them again.

And the year ended with a 277 loss to Clemson in the Gator Bowl, where the offense never got off the bus.

The defense held strong, but the team never found its footing after that collapse in Pittsburgh.

What looked like the start of a golden era quickly became just another almost.

What If They Had Just Finished the Job? (2018) Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images With Dana Holgorsen in Year 8 and Jake Spavital in Year 2 as offensive coordinator, West Virginia entered the season with a senior-heavy roster built to win.

Will Grier, David Sills, Gary Jennings, and Yodny Cajuste headlined one of the most experienced and explosive offenses in the country.

Through early November, it showed.

WVU climbed as high as No.

7 in the AP Poll, and a wild 4241 win over No.

17 Texas in Austin capped by Griers walk-off two-point conversion felt like a defining moment.

Win the last two, and the Mountaineers would be in the Big 12 Championship Game with a shot at the College Football Playoff.Instead, they blew it.

A 17-point second-half lead vanished in Stillwater as WVU lost to Oklahoma State.

One week later, Kyler Murray and Oklahoma came to Morgantown and dropped 59 points, spoiling Senior Night in one of the highest-scoring games in FBS history.

Grier sat out the bowl game and left for the NFL.

WVU got embarrassed by Syracuse (again) in the Camping World Bowl.

Dana stayed in Florida after the bowl game.

Days later, Tilman Fertitta flew in to pick him up on a private jet and headed to the Caribbean.

Not long after, he was officially off to Houston with a massive new deal in hand.

A season that had the look of something special turned into a collapse that closed the book on one of the most talented rosters WVUs ever had.

What If They Didnt Waste a Wide Open Big East? (2004) Paul Chapman-Imagn Images This was supposed to be Rich Rodriguezs first complete team.

West Virginia entered the season ranked No.

10 after a Gator Bowl appearance and brought back key starters on both sides of the ball.

Rasheed Marshall had experience.

Kay-Jay Harris was a grown man at running back.

Chris Henry was nearly impossible to cover.

And with Miami and Virginia Tech gone to the ACC, the Big East was wide open.

It was all there: a soft schedule, a proven offensive system, and a clear runway to a BCS bowl.And then they choked.

Back-to-back November losses to Boston College and Pitt knocked them out of the rankings and out of contention.

Both games were winnable.

Chris Henry was ejected during the Rutgers game for unsportsmanlike conduct and then suspended for the Pitt game after violating team rules.

The offense slowed to a crawl.

A 3018 loss to a very average Florida State team in the Gator Bowl capped it off.

The Mountaineers finished the year 84 (42 Big East) a great start, a forgettable finish, and a team with real potential that played small in big moments.

What if WVU Had Just Finished One of Those Games? (1998) Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images Coming off a solid 1997 campaign, Don Nehlens 1998 squad returned key pieces on both sides of the ball.

Marc Bulger was at quarterback, Amos Zereoue was back for his junior (and final) year, and the defense was stout.

Expectations were high.

The Mountaineers entered the season with a No.

11 ranking, a manageable schedule, and one of the most talented rosters Nehlen ever had.

This was supposed to be the year he finally broke through in a major bowl.

The Mountaineers stayed in the mix for the Big East title all season and had the firepower to get it done.

But they couldnt close.

WVU lost 3431 at Miami, then 2713 at No.

20 Virginia Tech a week later two critical games that swung the conference race.

Both were winnable, especially with the offensive talent on hand, but the Mountaineers came up short in big moments yet again.

We remember these teams because they felt like they couldve been something and that only stings because we cared.

You dont feel that kind of letdown unless you are invested.

But over the last few years, the intrigue dried up at least, in my opinion.

The games felt flat.

WVU football stopped feeling dangerous, exciting, or even all that relevant and that mightve been the worst part of all.Thats not a shot at any one coach or staff every season has its own context, and none of this is about assigning blame.

Its just about what it felt like as a fan.

And when that sense of possibility vanishes, you feel it.(OK, maybe I am assigning blame with Jeff Mullen.)This years team probably isnt destined for a What If conversation, but with Rich Rodriguez back on the sideline, the vibe has shifted.

It doesnt guarantee wins.

It doesnt mean WVU is suddenly a Big 12 contender out of the gate.

But it does mean the offense might finally have an identity again.

It means theres a coach on the headset who wont flinch when the moment gets big.

It means national outlets are at least looking Morgantowns way again and for the first time in a while, fans arent just hoping for progress, were curious about potential.So whos your pick?Vote below for the biggest What If? team in WVU history and if I missed one that still keeps you up at night, drop it in the comments.

Misery loves company.What's the biggest "What If" team in WVU football history?.

This article has been shared from the original article on smokingmusket, here is the link to the original article.