Distractions, Distractions, Distractions...Can WVU Finally Overcome Them vs. UCF?

West Virginia hopes to end the home portion of its schedule on a strong note.

West Virginia University offensive lineman Wyatt Milum (74). / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Things have not gone that well for the West Virginia football team this season, particularly at home. Typically, Mountaineer Field has been a challenging venue for opposing teams to play in, but this season, the Mountaineers have had some of their worst performances at home, losing four of the six contests played there this season.

Saturday's game versus UCF will be the final home game of the year, meaning it will be the last time that QB Garrett Greene, LT Wyatt Milum, DL Sean Martin, and several other seniors will take the field in front of the home crowd.

Senior Day is filled with all sorts of emotions, and it can be challenging to block out all of the thoughts running through your head, knowing this will be the last game you play with your teammates at home. It's a distraction, albeit a positive one.

“It’s one of the things in college athletics I think we have all wrong," WVU head coach Neal Brown said when asked about Senior Day. "I’d be a proponent of doing all of your senior stuff at the beginning of the year. There’s a couple reasons for that. Number one, then most important reason I would do it at the beginning is because everybody’s healthy, and you do it in one of your early home games, either your first or second home game of the year.

"Second thing is there’s still a lot in front of you when you’re doing that, so it wouldn’t be quite as emotional. We’ll start training our guys tomorrow. I think it’s a really tough deal. You think of all the things with Senior Day compared to a normal game. First of all, you get your name called. We don’t necessarily do starting lineups like in basketball, where you run through a tunnel of whatever it is. It’s the only time in your career your family is waiting for you. That’s emotional, and it could be emotional if they don’t have family because of travel precautions or whatever.

"And then, there’s a little bit of flashback. The days are long, but the years are fast. I think you have to train yourself as you go about it throughout the week. We’ll have several guys that’ll walk. I wouldn’t read too much into if somebody walks that has eligibility left. I don’t filter that. If they want to walk for Senior Day, they’re going to walk for Senior Day. I’m not trying to talk anybody in or out of it.”

West Virginia has failed to block out the distractions all season long, dating back to the season opener against Penn State. It was the most hyped home opener in well over 20 years, and minutes into the third quarter, the energy was sucked out of the stadium as they went on to lose 34-12.

You could argue that, for the most part, they were able to block out all the noise heading into the Backyard Brawl, but they failed to complete the mission. Another opportunity to win a very meaningful game was put to the wayside after blowing a double-digit lead with three minutes to play.

A few weeks later, the team held its first-ever Coal Rush versus Iowa State, paying homage to the hard-working coal miners in the state by wearing black uniforms from head to toe to match the crowd that wore all black. After failing to take a two-score lead early in the game, things spiraled out of control as the offense fell flat.

The very next week, WVU had another primetime game inside Milan Puskar Stadium against Kansas State. They hung around in the first half despite not playing that well on either side of the ball but let things get away from them in the second half, ultimately losing 45-18.

And then, just last week against Baylor...it wasn't viewed as a big-time game nationwide, but for the Mountaineers, it was. A win would have kept them in the race for a spot in the Big 12 championship game. Unfortunately, the defense forgot to show up, allowing 35 first-half points.

Now you have the distraction of Senior Day and even the pressure of picking up win No. 6 to become bowl-eligible. Can the Mountaineers finally handle the adversity?

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