Tennessee vs. West Virginia 2018: Time, TV/live stream info, and pick prediction

Expectations are high in Morgantown for 2018. West Virginia will field an offense that harkens back to the Pat White-Steve Slaton era, and the Mountaineers can prove they don’t just belong in the Big 12, but can also reign over it. But the first step to a historic season is a win over a rebuilt Tennessee team with plenty to prove.

The two Power 5 standbys will meet in Charlotte, where new Volunteer coach Jeremy Pruitt will have his defensive chops tested by the All-American duo of Will Grier and David Sills V. Last fall, those two combined for 18 touchdowns in a disappointing 7-6 campaign. That’s left plenty to prove for 2018 — but West Virginia will have to squeeze everything it can out of a defense that allowed 31.5 points per game last fall, more than 89 other FBS teams.

The perception among the national sportswriters is that West Virginia University has two of the top college football players in the country, based on the Associated Press’ preseason All-America team revealed earlier this week. Senior quarterback Will Grier and senior wide receiver David Sills V were recognized on this year’s AP’s preseason All-America team, just the second Mountaineers ever picked, so the history is brief.

The 2017 freshman All-American is expected to work at left tackle to start the season after playing right guard for the majority of last year. Head coach Jeremy Pruitt seemed pleased with where Smith is physically on Wednesday.

“I think Trey is probably excited to be out there,” Pruitt said on Wednesday. “He jumped right in there and took all of the reps. We probably limited him a little bit there just to build him up. He looks like he has doing everything except for hitting, so no real surprise there.”

Tennessee suffered through college football’s most arduous coaching search last winter, a months-long slog that resulted in a fired athletic director and, eventually, a hired Pruitt. The former Alabama defensive coordinator inherits a defense that ranked 83rd in the FBS in points allowed but returns plenty of experience to combine with blue chip recruits.

He’ll have the opportunity to exceed expectations on the defensive side of the ball, but the Vols are less solid along the offense. Tennessee has plenty of quantity along its offensive line and in the backfield, but the quality there has yet to be determined. Can a defensive-minded coach sow the seeds for an offensive revival in Knoxville? Or will Pruitt struggle the same way his predecessors have?

Pruitt faces a steep learning curve in his first game with Tennessee; West Virginia has all the tools to leave him rubbing his eyes and hoping the “30” he sees on the scoreboard Saturday is really a “03.” It won’t be though. S&P+ gives the Mountaineers a 65 percent chance of winning this one — but the margin of victory is less than a touchdown at 6.6 points.