Quick Hits: Backyard Brawl Atmosphere, WV Kids Having Success, Greene Calming Down + More

WVU head football coach Neal Brown discusses this week's game against the Pitt Panthers.

On the Backyard Brawl

"This is the biggest rivalry that we have in our program here. We understand that both from in our building here and from a fanbase standpoint. Really a unique atmosphere. You could feel it. I think rivalries make college football. A lot of the rivalries have gone to the wayside which is disappointing. I've said this., I'm in favor of playing this game. This makes a lot of sense to be our non-conference Power Five opponent each and every year. I think it's a game our fans and their fans like to see. This is heated. We understand that and our guys are excited to get back into that."

The atmosphere on Saturday

"I hope it's electric. This is one that's been circled for a long time. It's been sold out for a long time. A lot of people coming into town for this. It's a great opportunity."

If Hudson Clement will have a role moving forward

"He's going to play. He's productive. Both those outside guys are pretty much interchangeable and so, Devin will play and Hudson, he put up big numbers so he's going to continue to play. We may flip him over and play him more at X and then when Devin comes back, he plays Z."

Success recruiting West Virginia kids and them playing at a high level

"A lot of it's timing. We're fortunate. I don't know if we'll ever have three elite offensive linemen that can start at the same time. I think that's timing. We've had some unfortunate timing with some things, but we've been really fortunate with that. I think there's a little bit of good fortune and I'd be the first to admit that. And I think the other thing is, the walk-on program goes way before me. There's a long, long history of West Virginia kids walking on and earning scholarships and playing a lot of football."

Garrett Greene controlling his energy/emotions

"He's a ball of energy. That's his greatest strength, so you don't necessarily want to [mess with it]. He does a really good job of being that energy guy all the time. That probably works against him a little bit at the start of the games because he is so amped up. So we've got to figure out a way as a staff and I'm talking about everything from our sports psych people to our strength and our sports science and to coaching to get him to calm down a little bit where he can execute a little bit higher. I'm not trying to get too specific here but he throws a really tight ball. Like he's got RPMs on his ball. It's a tight spin. And when he gets really excited, that ball comes out hot. And those balls are hard to catch sometimes. He knows this and he's conscious of it, but it hurts him a little bit early in the game. He'll get better, it's just handling those emotions."

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