Initial Thoughts on WVU's Ultimate Collapse on the Big Stage

Rapid reactions to West Virginia's loss to Iowa State.

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The Coal Rush concept was a cool look both on the field and in the stands, but the performance by those in the all-black uniforms was a sight for sore eyes. West Virginia fell to No. 11 Iowa State Saturday night, 28-16.

Here are a few of my thoughts following this one.

A slow, painful (you know)

After West Virginia's eight-minute scoring drive to open the game, Iowa State took full control although it didn't show on the scoreboard until the fourth quarter. The Mountaineer defense did a good job of getting the Cyclones to third down, but just failed time and time again to come up with a stop and get off the field.

Offensively, every time they would find a spec of momentum a bad snap, missed assignment, poor play call, or lack of execution would occur. It was a one-score game for the majority of the night, but the way WVU struggled on offense, it never felt like it.

Missed opportunities

WVU had a chance to go up two scores early in the game, but a drop by Rodney Gallagher in the red zone limited them to a field goal attempt. Michael Hayes hooked a 36-yarder leaving the possession empty-handed. Just a few plays later, Jaylin Noel hits his head on the goalpost on a wide-open Cyclone touchdown.

In the second half, WVU's defense bent but didn't break, and the offense didn't do a single thing to help get back in the game as Garrett Greene threw a pair of picks. When the defense needed to step up late in the fourth quarter and get a stop on fourth down, they failed to come through.

Another big stage fail

West Virginia is no 3-16 under Neal Brown when playing against ranked opponents. At some point, you need to start winning these games more often to show signs of progress. Their three wins at the moment? UAlbany and a pair of Big 12 teams who have a combined 0-6 record in league play.

Getting beat is one thing, but to constantly beat yourself is a bigger issue. That's a coaching and discipline problem. Brown said his team wouldn't flinch on the big stage and they may not have flinched, but they certainly did step up and make winning plays. Neal will have another shot at a ranked opponent next week. We'll see.

Umm...Brandon Yates...

Yates had to have had at least ten bad snaps and most of them put the offense in a tough spot. I understand you don't want to yank a sixth-year senior for a redshirt freshman in a game like this, but sometimes you have to roll the dice. I mean, it couldn't be any worse, right?

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