Sunday Morning Thoughts: It's Year Six...There Are No More Free Passes

Final thoughts from what happened in Morgantown on Saturday night.

= / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Surprise, surprise. The West Virginia Mountaineers lost to a ranked team once again on Saturday night, dropping their record to 3-17 against such opponents during the Neal Brown era.

Thanks for reading, we'll see you next week!

All kidding aside, there's not much more I or anyone needs to say about that. The record speaks for itself.

You have example after example everywhere around college football of turnarounds happening in year one, two, or three, yet it's year six and WVU continues to be okay with results like you witnessed last night.

Did the injuries to Garrett Greene, Jahiem White, and Wyatt Milum play a factor in the game? I mean, it didn't help the cause, but I'm not sure much changes with them on the field. The game tilted the moment WVU botched the handling of the fourth down attempt at the end of the first half.

Why is no one talking about this?

Neal Brown took entirely too long to get the play call in, out of a timeout mind you, which left Garrett Greene with very little time to relay the call, get lined up, see what the defense is presenting you, and make a play. There was absolutely no time for adjustments or time for WVU to try and get Kansas State to jump offside to gift them a first down.

No one has an issue with going for it on 4th & 1. The issue is getting the play call in so late that you never give your quarterback or offense a realistic shot.

Even before that, Greene was struggling in the passing game against what was the 15th-ranked pass defense in a 16-team Big 12 league. He made several bad decisions throwing the football and toward the end of the half, Greene running the ball was the only offense the Mountaineers had.

They couldn't get Jahiem White going. They couldn't get C.J. Donaldson going. It was a mess. White and Donaldson combined to rush for 2.7 yards per carry on the night, by the way. So, no, I don't think a healthy Jahiem White or Garrett Greene would have made a difference in this game.

My main point with the injuries is that Neal Brown doesn't get a pass for this loss because of a handful of key guys going down. What has he proven in these games against ranked teams to convince anyone watching last night that after an awful first half, they would win that game?

I'm not giving him a pass for it. No way.

Folks, barring some miraculous end to the season where WVU wins out, wins a few games convincingly, wins its bowl game, AND gets some help along the way, the Mountaineers are in line to go six full seasons without spending a single week inside the AP Top 25, putting them in the same conversation as Rutgers, Vanderbilt, and Texas Tech.

Seriously? That's the company you keep six years in?

Very few coaches in college football get the leash Neal Brown has had with the lack of results to show for it. One nine-win season against an extremely light schedule should not "buy more time" to turn the program around. The Mountaineers are in danger of having their fourth (!) losing season in six years. Fourth. That doesn't happen at West Virginia.

I'm showing my age here, but since the year I was born, 1996, West Virginia has had six losing seasons. Neal Brown is responsible for three of them.

Frank Cignetti had a brutal four-year run from 1976-79 going 17-27, but to find a six-year stretch that rivals the one the Mountaineers are currently in, you have to go all the way back to Gene Corum's tenure from 1960-65 when he went 29-30-2. Neal Brown is currently 34-33.

I'll leave this space the same way I did last week - at some point, the results, the record, and the product on the field are going to be too loud to ignore.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

Mountaineer Postgame Show: Kansas State 45, WVU 18

What Neal Brown Said Following the Loss to No. 17 Kansas State

Having Fun? Initial Thoughts on West Virginia's Embarrassing Loss to Kansas State

West Virginia Hammered in Homecoming against No. 17 Kansas State