Neal Brown Admits WVU Put Trey Lathan in a Bad Position in the Arizona Game

Jordan Lesley's two Tampa 2 calls put West Virginia in a bad spot in Tucson.

West Virginia University linebacker Trey Lathan / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

West Virginia has not found any answers against the pass all season long, and that proved to be the case this past weekend in Tucson. Noah Fifita threw for nearly 300 yards while star receiver Tetairoa McMillan went for over 200 receiving and a pair of touchdowns.

The Mountaineers' inability to solve things on the back end ultimately cost defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley his job on Tuesday.

When a decision of that magnitude is made, it doesn't just happen overnight or after one play. It's something that has been considered for quite some time. But when Lesley had West Virginia in Tampa 2 twice - a coverage that has linebacker Trey Lathan playing deep centerfield with no safety help, that's a problem.

Neal Brown even admitted that they shouldn't have had those calls on in those situations, especially when facing one of the best receivers in college football.

“Not good defense. Maybe once you get stuck. What we’re doing is playing a Tampa 2 where he’s running the middle. On the first one, if we get to the quarterback, it’s a non-issue. He actually played it pretty well but the scramble, he got out-athleted. One of those, okay, but we should have never put him in that position again. That’s not Trey’s fault.”

I would even point out another instance that probably doesn't get talked about as much because the ball didn't go McMillan's way on the play, but whew, this was bad, too. On a 3rd and goal play, Lesley had Garnett Hollis in press-man coverage against McMillan up top with no help shaded to that side of the field. I'm still surprised the ball didn't go in that direction immediately, or at all for that matter. That's just poor situational awareness.

Coaches talk all the time about putting players in position to succeed. This has been an issue all season long, it didn't just show up in the Arizona game. I mean, how many times did West Virginia have an opponent in a 3rd and medium (say 4-6) and not play the sticks? They provided way too much cushion, allowing for a simple pitch and catch to get the first down.

This is the same defensive unit that blew a 10-point lead to Pitt in the Backyard Brawl exactly one week after allowing an FCS quarterback to go over 300 yards through the air. Last Saturday's game against Arizona nearly became the Backyard Brawl 2.0, which is totally unacceptable. Had West Virginia lost that game and fallen to 3-5 on the season, it wouldn't be Jordan Lesley that everyone would be talking about. It would be primarily Neal Brown.

As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again and it's expecting a different result. Brown can't afford to live by that definition with his job in a murky spot.

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