Kickoff: Saturday, September 5 at 11:00 AM CT
Location: Milan Puskar Stadium
TV: TNT
DraftKings line (Aug. 30): WVU -21.5
Over/under: 56.5

The setup

Ryan Beard’s first game at Coastal comes with Coastal as the 21.5-point underdog. The result matters, but so does whether the new identity is visible immediately. West Virginia won the last matchup 31-0 in 2010.

What I’m watching

Something has to give when Coastal has the ball. Its offense ranked No. 111 nationally, but West Virginia’s defense was only No. 119. One struggling unit gets a chance to look much better in Week 1.

Personnel snapshot

• Coastal: Ryan Beard enters Year 1 as head coach. 5 starters return—1 on offense and 4 on defense. That defense allowed 443.8 yards and 33.1 points per game last season.
• Coastal quarterback: Deuce Bailey is projected to start for Coastal. Last season at Missouri St, he threw for 335 yards, 2 TD and 0 INT.
• West Virginia: Rich Rodriguez enters Year 2 as head coach. 3 starters return—3 on offense and 0 on defense. Key offensive linemen back include Nick Krahe and Landen Livingston. That offense averaged 349.5 yards and 21.8 points per game last season.
• West Virginia quarterback: Michael Hawkins Jr. is projected to start for West Virginia. Last season at Oklahoma, he threw for 167 yards, 3 TD and 0 INT.

How the game is decided

The winner is probably the team that makes fewer bad situations worse. A modest run game and a quarterback willing to take the easy throw may matter more than highlight plays.

Prediction

I make my final predictions on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook at @uthinkuknowsports.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.