Quick Hits: Changes Coming, Defense Searching for Answers, Injury Update + More

WVU head coach Neal Brown recapped the loss to Pitt on Monday.

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Monday afternoon, West Virginia head football coach Neal Brown met with the media to put the final touches on the loss to Pitt while turning the page to the Big 12 opener against Kansas.

Opening statement

“Disappointed we didn’t finish the game on Saturday. Up ten, less than five (minutes), you should win the game. No excuses, have to get better. We own it, we didn’t get it done. We had it in our grasp and didn’t finish. We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We’re not going to sit around and be miserable. There’s people with real problems in this world and it’s not us. We didn’t play good enough in the game of football. We got to get it fixed and we will. The mentality has got to be we’ve got one football game and that’s Kansas.”

How the players can rebound mentally from the loss

“The players will take whatever direction I take. You don’t ignore it. I have the benefit of just kind of hunkering down. They don’t necessarily do that. They’ve got to go to class, they’re on their phones…that’s how they live. But there’s a lot of negativity, which happens when you play at a place where it matters. You can’t have all the good without experiencing the bad. And so when you lose and you lose a rivalry game that you were ahead in the final minutes, there’s going to be negativity. You have to process it, own your own mistakes, and then you’ve got to go about playing better. I’m not going to allow them to be miserable. I’m not going to allow them to hang their heads. We’re going to get better. We’ve got good players. We’ve got a staff that can get it turned and we will.”

What changes can be made in the secondary

“I think some guys are going to get some opportunities as long as they stay healthy this week. TJ Crandall is going to play more. Jacolby Spells, who we feel like is close to being 100%, he’s going to play and get in the mix. As far as anybody else, it’s to be determined at this point. But those are the two main guys that deserve to play and deserve some opportunities to get in the game.”

The biggest issue with the defense

“The frustrating thing is the lack of consistency. We had three three and outs where our execution was at a really high level. Even to the point where the big scramble that opened up on the next-to-last drive for them, we executed that call to perfection the series before. That’s where it’s frustrating, just the lack of consistency. But at the same time, we’ve also got to do a better job of putting our guys in position to make plays. And we also can’t continue to reward guys who aren’t playing well by continuing to play them. It is a business.”

Injury update on DL Edward Vesterinen

“He’s going to be out for a significant time. Could potentially be back right at the end of the year, but it’s going to be significant. And he has a redshirt year, so that’s in play too.”

If the defensive problems are schematic or personnel driven

“There are schematics that we have to do better. We’ve got to give certain people better opportunities to be successful. I’m not going to get in great detail right now because I don’t want to give Kansas that advantage, but we’re not going to continue to do the same things. Then it goes to a personnel standpoint. Like, we’ve got some guys that are not performing as well as they need to and really, as well as they’re capable of. It’s not an effort deal, like, they’re playing with good effort. There’s some technique, there’s some lack of discipline. They’re just not playing well and when that happens, you’ve got to give guys opportunities. You can’t continue to reward guys for not being productive.”

How he and the staff can position players better defensively

“We’ve played some man coverage in situations where it’s probably not the best situation for that player. If we had somebody else in, maybe so. And we’ve had some checks that probably we don’t need to have with certain individuals in the game. There’s better calls for the personnel we have. We can put guys in better positions. It’s hard for the play-caller, it’s hard for the coaches because you got to know who’s in the game.”

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