WVU football in works to play Florida State

The WVU football team is continuing to complete its schedules far into the future. The athletic department remains at task to fill out the slate with a mix of classic rivalries, Power Five opponents and create a scheme which will raise the ultimate strength of schedule.

According to Mike Casazza of the Charleston Gazette-Mail, the Mountaineers could soon be fulfilling all of those prerequisites in the near future.

WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen has been proud of the schedule that his teams have faced in the past six years he has been at the helm of the Mountaineers. Holgorsen likes to see the out-of-conference slate feature a Power Five opponent, another FBS team and, maybe, a FCS-level foe.

The Mountaineers get that in the upcoming 2016 season with home games against Missouri (Power Five), Youngstown State (FCS) and a neutral site contest against BYU (FBS). On top of the grueling Big 12 schedules, the WVU football team certainly has its work cut out for it this season.

The Mountaineers should have the toughest schedule in the conference and one of the toughest slates in the entire country. That could be the same in 2020.

It’s a long way away but, really, it will be here before we know. WVU football fans will highly anticipate this potential season-opening match up with Florida State.

Sources tell Gazette-Mail WVU and Florida State talking, close to finishing deal to open 2020 season in Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.
— Mike Casazza (@mikecasazza) July 26, 2016

This will be the WVU football team’s second appearance in the Kickoff Game. In 2014, the Mountaineers opened up against Alabama, down in Atlanta.

West Virginia gave the Crimson Tide all it could handle early, but eventually fell by a score of 33-23.

If the WVU football team will secure this bid for the Kickoff Game, it will be continued great exposure on national television. That 2014 game with Alabama was broadcast nationally on ABC.

So, not only is the notoriety enhanced by the promotion leading up to the Kickoff Game, the Mountaineers will be facing off against a well-respected and well-known opponent in Florida State.

The WVU football team has an axe to grind against the Seminoles. The Mountaineers have never beaten FSU. They came close in the most recent meeting, which was in the 2010 Gator Bowl. Florida State, after being behind early, came out in the second half and defeated can uninspired WVU football team by a score of 33-21.

It just so happened to be Bobby Bowden’s final game as a head coach, so the legendary college football figure went out on a high note against the Bill Stewart-led Mountaineers.

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Florida State also beat West Virginia in 2005 and 1982. Both contests were in postseason bowl games, just like the more recent match up six years ago.

If all the details fall into place, this will be the first regular season tilt between the Mountaineers and Seminoles. As a season opener, this game will set the tone in the pivotal 2020 football season. It’s hard to tell if Holgorsen will be with the Mountaineers by then, or if FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher, despite already winning a national championship, will remain with the school.

What’s unique about the WVU football team’s relationship with the Kickoff Game is that the Mountaineers would have squared off against a pair of coaches who are West Virginia natives.

Fisher hails from Clarksburg and Alabama head coach Nick Saban comes from the tiny town of Monongah.

After the Mountaineers open with Missouri this season, they also are schedule to open the 2017 season against Virginia Tech; 2018 against Tennessee and 2019 against Missouri (though that game might be in Week 2.)

If that’s the case in 2019, the WVU football team will need another intriguing opponent.

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