Neal Brown Shied Away from Big Moment in the Backyard Brawl

West Virginia University head coach Neal Brown touted Garrett Greene as a top 100 player prior to the season but he did not give his quarterback an opportunity to win the Backyard Brawl during a critical drive for the Mountaineers

West Virginia University head coach Neal Brown. / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

West Virginia endured another heartbreaking loss to Pitt on Saturday which adds to the long list of frustrating losses in Mountaineer football history and another loss that could have been avoidable.

While the focus is currently on the defense and rightfully so, if it was not known heading into the season the offense would have to carry the defense through the first month of the schedule, and it should have been considering all the new faces on the depth chart and they would need some time to accustomed to the defense and chemistry between one another, it should have been obvious by game three.

After the defense forced Pitt to a punt and held the Panthers to a field goal on their second drive, the defense had them on a second and 17, then flashes of the renewal of the rival in 2022 came flooding in after safety Anthony Wilson deflected the pass from Eli Holstein and landed into the hands of receiver Kenny Johnson for a 21-yard gain and the first down. Pitt finished the drive with a touchdown and took a 10-7 lead.

Then, there was the officiating. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi comments after the game, “We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, and we beat the officials too in one game,” is comical considering the timing of West Virginia’s penalties. Most notably, the 51-yard touchdown pass called back on a holding call. There were several other questionable calls that favored the Panthers but, despite all the chaos throughout the evening West Virginia took a 34-24 lead with 4:57 remaining in the game.

Up to this point, the West Virginia defense held the Pitt offense to four total yards in the second half and harassed redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein to the tune of three sacks in the second half. Nonetheless, Pitt produced a touchdown drive in less than two minutes.

The Panthers immediately moved downfield and were aided with a taunting penalty, which considering the actions of the Panthers after nearly every play, it throws into question, why now? Nonetheless, Pitt would be called for consecutive holding penalties (finally) and was facing a second and 30. This should have killed the drive, but Holstein escaped the pressure and threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to DaeJon Reynolds and Pitt was right back in the game. Tip of the cap to those two, that was a hell of a play.

Ok, Pitt scores on an incredible play but WVU was getting the ball with just over three minutes to remaining, and Neal Brown has a quarterback, redshirt senior quarterback Garrett Greene, who he considered a top 100 player in college football prior to the season. So, all is well, right?

Well, he didn’t allow Greene to put the final nails in the coffin. Instead, he went conventional against an old-school head coach with a proven defensive background and after watching their offense go right down the field, it should have been obvious the offense would have to finish the game with the ball in their hands.

I’ll start with this, it’s easy to sit back and question play calls when they do not work, and naturally, going another route does not guarantee success. However, again, I’ll refer to Neal Brown’s position during fall camp. Garrett Greene is a top-100 player. Then, why did you not give him a chance to make a play on first or second down and kill the Panthers' momentum?

Anyone watching the game knew the ball would remain on the ground on first down to force a Pitt timeout and running CJ Donaldson in the moment made sense and still does, but then again, as frenetic as this game was, shaking things up could have potentially worked, but what about second down?

Narduzzi is an old-school coach, and it should have been known he was going to man up and throw everything he had to get into the backfield and disrupt the play., the stats have proven this over the last five years. There should have been a counter to this and not being overly concerned with forcing another Pitt timeout, because a West Virginia first down would have killed the Panthers’ momentum and most likely, ended the game.

West Virginia found success throwing a quick out to Traylon Ray when he lined up in the slot in key moments to keep the Mountaineers’ drives alive earlier in the game and might have worked on second down.  

Hypotheticals are just that, hypotheticals, it may not have worked but what about something the Panthers had not seen on this night? Why not put the game in Greene’s hands-on first or second down? I repeat, Brown said he was a top 100 player, so why not let him go make a play?

Conventional wisdom will tell you to run it twice and try to make a play on third down. Well, it was not a conventional game and with all the momentum on the other sideline against a historically tough Pitt defense, it was heading towards disaster and well, it was indeed a disaster… Greene was sacked on third down. Of course, they were going to throw on third down and Pitt pinned their ears back and got to him. You could see it coming, so why did the staff fall right into the trap? It was predictable.

After watching the Pitt offense make big plays all night, it was inevitable the Panthers were at least going to get into field goal range, with 1:59 reaming in the game, but with the luck the Mountaineers have in the Backyard Brawl, it was already written, it was going to end in heartbreak, and it most certainly did.

West Virginia losing in big games has become par for the course. There are outliers and Mountaineer fans still relish in the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl victories and there have been big regular season wins, but there are key elements in those games. West Virginia went away from its comfort zone and did not shy away from the moment.

At the time, faking a punt was unheard of in Mountaineer football and seeing it on such a big stage like the 2006 Sugar Bowl was completely out of the realm of possibility but then it happened, and it sealed one of the biggest victories in program history. It’s the only thing I’ll give Rich Rodriguez credit for.

Following the Pitt debacle in 2007, West Virginia threw the ball in the Fiesta Bowl in a lopsided win over Oklahoma, and it was an area the Sooners had not seen from the Mountaineers considering the rushing attack from Pat White, Steve Slaton, Noel Devin and Owen Schmitt. Offensive coordinator Calvin McGee put together a hell of a game plan away from the offense’s strength.

This is what it takes to win big games. Making calls and plays that are not considered the “norm” and thinking outside the box in big moments to secure the victory you deserve, and it starts with just letting your playmakers make plays instead of forcing it all on way play that everyone sees coming.