MORGANTOWN — Even though every football season presents many questions that must be answered, this year there is really only one that counts.

Will this team win the Big East and go to a BCS bowl or will it be a big bust?

In fact, you might put the season this way: BCS or bust!

Here is what has to happen for WVU to get a BCS bowl and what could keep them out of the bowl if it doesn’t happen.

New Year’s in paradise

• Smith proves himself on the field

The first thing that fans need to do is get out of their head any comparisons between Geno Smith and Patrick White.

They are totally different animals with different strengths and to compare Smith to White would put too much pressure on the sophomore quarterback.

Smith has proven himself off the field. His demeanor is perfect, his dedication the same. He approaches the quarterback job on a professional level, intelligently learning the plays and the players.

Now he has to prove himself on the field, go out and direct the game without many errors and be content using a controlled passing game while turning Noel Devine loose.

• Noel must be Devine

Everyone in the Big East will be gunning for him, but Noel Devine is tough to target. He has 11 runs in his career of 50 or more yards and he well may need at least half that many this year to get the Mountaineers over the top.

In truth, a 1,000-yard season is not enough from Devine for it will signify injury and trailing in games where they had to throw. Devine surpassed 1,400 yards last year and must match that this year if the Mountaineers are going to be the explosive team that is expected.

• Youth must be served

While there are a good number of seniors playing on this team, the newcomers and second-year players find themselves really on the spot.

Receivers like Ivan McCartney, J.D. Woods and Stedman Bailey must contribute and do so in a big way. They showed in camp that they have talent and speed and should blend in nicely with Jock Sanders.

Put Geno Smith in that general category of youth and, while you’re at it, receiver/running back Tavon Austin needs to deliver the home run on occasion.

• The O-Line must be Braun-y

Going on the assumption that Joey Madsen, Josh Jenkins and Donnie Barclay are solid from center to left tackle, then the Mountaineers need someone on the right to step up big time and considering that Jeff Braun has the most experience and will probably go at the tackle spot there, it is him who must carry the load.

No team goes anywhere without a solid offensive front and a line is usually as strong as its weakest link. That makes it imperative both to run the ball and throw it that the line be improved.

WVU also can’t become predictable in the offense, but if it can only run to one side successfully, defenses will catch onto that quickly and slant in that direction or overshift that way.

• WVU needs something special

Like a kickoff team that actually can keep the ball on the opponent’s side of the field.

Over the past two years the kickoff team has been among the nation’s — not the Big East’s — worst, which forced Coach Bill Stewart to make some radical changes.

There will be a new kickoff man, probably Corey Smith, who transferred from Alabama, and more athletes on the team. Last year injuries kept some players from being on the kickoff team.

Toss in some new schemes and theories and maybe WVU can make this a positive this season.

A piece of coal in the Christmas stocking

• Forgetting the football and tight end

The one thing that could really hurt WVU would be if the offensive coordinator forgets to use the middle of the field with his fullbacks Ryan Clarke and Matt Lindamood, each of whom is a weapon as a runner, and his tight ends in Tyler Urban and Will Johnson.

Teams are naturally going to protect the flanks against the speed WVU has, so there should be opportunities on early downs to get a big play up the gut, and when it’s second and 2 a defense doesn’t know if will be pass or run up the middle or Devine wide or a reverse to Sanders or Austin.

• Keep what is yours

The most cherished thing you have in football is to be in possession of the ball, for that way you dictate tempo and can always be the aggressor.

Therefore, it must cherished like the family jewels.

Turnovers often come from young quarterbacks, so it has been drilled into Geno Smith that he is not to throw the ball into the hands of people wearing the wrong-colored jerseys. Interceptions don’t just happen, and defenses far more rarely than you think make great plays to get them.

They are usually mistakes, be it reads by the quarterback, bad throws by the quarterback, bad route by the receiver or letting a ball get through his hands.

Fumbles are little different. While some are unavoidable, ball security is stressed over and over because nothing changes a game more quickly than a turnover.

• Austin undersized but can’t be underused

With all the offensive weapons the Mountaineers have, it is highly possible that Tavon Austin will be overlooked and that would be a great mistake for this man is a touchdown waiting to happen every time he has the ball in his hands.

He probably should carry the ball two or three times a game on reverses, if for no other reason than to cut down on the pursuit of Devine, but they must throw him the ball five or more times a game. All of them don’t have be home runs, for he is capable of taking a screen and turning it into a touchdown.

Add that to his kickoff return duties, where he may be as dangerous as anyone in the nation, and you will be getting the ball into his hands 10 to 12 times.

• Avoid stumbling on the road

The road, as everyone knows, is a hostile environment but the great teams and the championship teams find a way to win there.

This year, in particular, with games at Connecticut, Maryland, LSU, Marshall and the rivalry game that is expected to be for the conference title at Pitt, WVU must find a way to avoid road losses. Over the last two years, six of WVU’s eight losses have been away from Mountaineer Field and some were costly as far as national ranking goes, such as an overtime loss at Colorado and an upset at East Carolina and a loss at Auburn.

Even though it is a non-conference game, LSU seems to be pivotal in that a victory there could ignite a big season.

• Avoid injuries

No team goes through a season injury free but injuries last year really demolished what WVU was trying to do.

The most obvious injury was the concussion suffered by Jarrett Brown, who never was the same quarterback after he suffered the injury in the Marshall game.

But the defense was really hurt as Reed Williams had shoulder problems at middle linebacker, Scooter Berry had injuries at defensive end and safety Sidney Glover missed games.

There are certain positions where there is not much depth and it probably will take a few games to get Geno Smith’s backup quarterbacks ready to come in and run the team in a game.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.