In preparation for the Liberty Bowl, SDS spoke with Greg Madia of WVSports.com to get his thoughts on the upcoming matchup between West Virginia and Texas A&M.

A huge thank you to Greg Madia for participating! You can follow him on Twitter at @GregMadia

Drew Laing: Other than Kevin White, what offensive player does WVU need a big performance out of to compete with Texas A&M?

Greg Madia: Kevin White is the go to guy for West Virginia quarterbacks. At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds it was easy for Clint Trickett and Skyler Howard to spot White on the field this season, but White’s success largely came when opponents allowed their defensive backs to play against him in one-on-one coverage. After about the first six or seven weeks of the season defenses adjusted and rolled a safety over the top double-teaming White. If Texas A&M does that, fellow senior and wide receiver Mario Alford has to be ready to be targeted quite a bit by Howard. In the regular season finale, Alford caught two touchdowns from Howard. Alford is easy to overlook because of White, but has the ability to hurt a defense just like a Biletnikoff Finalist does. Alford hauled in 62 catches for 888 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.

Laing: Clint Trickett’s retirement is an unfortunate development for WVU, just days before the bowl game. What can we expect to see out of his replacement Skyler Howard?

Madia: Skyler Howard is a much different style of quarterback compared to Clint Trickett. Dana Holgorsen has shown more wrinkles of a quarterback-run with Howard seeing action. Howard has a natural ability to make plays outside the pocket. West Virginia and Holgorsen will even call for the occasional read-option. In addition to the designed run, Howard can simply make a play and extend it, if the pocket collapses during a passing situation.

Laing: Defensive stops could come at a premium in this matchup. Who do you see stepping up on the defensive side of the ball for the Aggies and Mountaineers?

Madia: For West Virginia, its most consistent defenders have been safety Karl Joseph and linebacker Nick Kwitakoski. Joseph is a veteran hard-hitting athlete who thrives while supporting help against the run, while Kwiatkoski finished the regular season as the leading tackler for the Mountaineers. When looking at Texas A&M, I think it starts with the defensive line. Myles Garrett and Alonzo Williams make a solid duo. Garrett finished the year with 11.0 sacks and Williams had 4.5 sacks, too. With West Virginia having struggled with pass rushers like Eric Striker of Oklahoma and Ryan Mueller of Kansas State, Garrett and Williams could have a big game. The only concern for Garrett is to not get caught running up field, because Skyler Howard does have the ability to break contain.

Laing: What matchup will you be watching throughout the game?

Madia: An intriguing matchup in the game has to be West Virginia SPUR KJ Dillon against whatever Texas A&M inside receiver he has to take on in man coverage. Early in the season, Dillon struggled against some of the smaller, quicker slot receivers. Against Texas Tech, Dillon struggled to stay with Red Raiders slot receiver Jakeem Grant, but the next week in WV’s upset over then-No. 4 Baylor, Dillon bounced back to play really well. He was able to slow some of the Baylor inside receivers and it play a pivotal role in the game, so I’ll keep an eye on KJ Dillon against Speedy Noil or whoever is lined up at inside receiver for the Aggies.

Laing: What’s your Liberty Bowl prediction?

Madia: I’ve gone back and forth on this a few times, but I think inevitably WV will win the game 38-32. The two offenses will be good led by young quarterbacks Skyler Howard and Kyle Allen, but the defenses will make enough plays to where this won’t be the 100-point type shootout some believe it will be. Turnovers will play a large part, especially for two teams that have a negative turnover margin.