Sunday Morning Thoughts: Something's Got to Change

Final takeaways from Saturday's loss to Texas Tech.

West Virginia fell 23-20 on Saturday to the Texas Tech Red Raiders marking their third straight loss in the series. The Mountaineers are now 2-3 on the season and 0-2 in Big 12 Conference play. To this point in the Neal Brown era, WVU holds a 13-14 record which includes a 9-14 record vs Power Five opponents. Nearly two and a half years into the job, Neal Brown is starting to feel the heat from the fan base, and rightfully so. 

If you look at each of West Virginia's three losses, it's not because the opponent was just simply better. The Mountaineers' self-inflicted wounds are the reason for the downfall. 

Rewinding back to the Maryland game, it was turnovers. WVU turned the ball over four times, yet still had a chance to win late in the game. It's simple. If they don't turn the ball over, WVU likely wins the season opener. 

Last week at Oklahoma, it was a combination of things. Poor usage of timeouts, lack of execution offensively, and critical penalties handed the Sooners a win. For example, in the 2nd half, WVU had 2nd & goal from the one-yard line. A false start by right tackle Parker Moorer pushed the offense back five, ultimately leading to a field goal. Then, with a 13-13 score with under six minutes to go in the game, center Zach Frazier was flagged for a snap infraction which was followed up by a bad snap putting WVU in a 3rd & 33. This absolutely killed the drive. The Mountaineers were on the move but once again, shot themselves in the foot. Using timeouts to get the correct personnel earlier in the half turned out to be costly as Oklahoma was able to milk the clock before knocking through the winning kick.

Losing one game like that is frustrating for the fan base. Losing in that fashion in back-to-back weeks is going to have people questioning whether or not the man running the program is the right guy for the job. Saturday evening, Neal Brown called a timeout after the Mountaineers got 1st & goal on their first drive of the half due to not having the right personnel on the field. They would score on the very next play but wasted a precious timeout. Then, it happened again later in the half leaving West Virginia with just one timeout. With under six minutes to go in the game, the Mountaineers failed to reach the end zone and take the lead. Instead, they settled for a Casey Legg field goal to tie it up. One big play from Texas Tech in the passing game pushed the ball into WVU territory and like Oklahoma did the week prior, Tech was able to run clock before kicking what would be the game-winning field goal. 

No disrespect to Texas Tech, but a program like West Virginia has no business losing to Texas Tech three consecutive years. The standard at WVU needs to be higher than 6-7 wins a season. After all, WVU is the 15th most winningest program in the history of college football. 

Now that we rehashed all of that, let's get to the good stuff.

Following the game, head coach Neal Brown started off his postgame press conference with a very interesting quote. 

"The first half was inexcusable. I apologize to the fans. [I’m] pissed with how we played in the first half. We weren’t ready to go. Our energy level was exceeded by theirs (Texas Tech), and it was not good enough. We gave ourselves a hole that we struggled to dig out of. I’m proud of how our guys competed in the second half. That’s how we should play at all times. I appreciate the fans for staying into the game. What it came down to was that we needed to score a touchdown. We had it in the red zone, and we had to kick a field goal. [We] weren’t good enough on the last drive. That’s what it came down to. I liked how our guys competed in the second half, but the first half was inexcusable."

Brown was visibly frustrated with the team's energy in the first half but quickly diverted to not scoring on the final drive in which he believes was the pivotal moment of the game. Yes, not punching the ball in the end zone there hurts but that's not what this game came down to. When you don't have your team ready, the coaching staff has to shoulder that responsibility. They came out as flat as you could be and took too long to adjust. Not to mention the misusage of timeouts for the 2nd straight week backfired. I can understand having miscommunication issues and having the wrong personnel on the field in year one, maybe year two, or even the first game of the season. This is the 5th game of the year in year number three. These are the types of things that should not be happening. It's a big reason for losing in eerily similar fashion twice in a span of seven days. 

I understand having your players' back but at some point, you have to be willing to admit the obvious and that is the subpar play from the quarterback position. Brown backed Doege in the postgame presser stating that he played well. The problem is it took him too long to get into a rhythm and had a scoreless first half. 

"If people want to get pissed at me, that’s fine. I’m fine with that, but that kid played well in the second half. He played well. I mean, what is he? He’s 25-of-33 for 318 yards. Most of that was in the second half. If they want to be upset with all of us in the first half, that’s fair. I thought he played well in the second half. There might have been one or two that he’d like to have back, but he played well. He gave us a chance."

Offensively, it's the same thing week in and week out. Jarret Doege has trouble moving the football and the staff doesn't trust Garrett Greene to throw the ball down the field. As I've said for weeks, Neal Brown is stuck. He doesn't have another quarterback on the roster that is ready to go in and sling the ball around as much as Doege does. If he did, that quarterback would have been on the field by now. But just because he is stuck with below-average quarterback play doesn't mean he or the offensive staff gets a pass. 

This is where the development piece comes into play. 

Garrett Greene has been on campus for over a year and a half now, almost two years. When this staff recruited him, they knew they would have to teach him how to read defenses. In high school, Greene played in a run-based offense that didn't ask him to go through progressions. No one is saying that he should be a fully polished quarterback at this point in his career, but he's got to be further along than when he first arrived, right? As of right now, that doesn't seem to be the case. When Greene is in the game, he provides a spark with his legs but that's about the extent of it. There are no downfield throws or anything. It's a designed QB run, read option, or an RPO with a wide receiver screen thrown in. The defense is not going to be able to continuously bail the offense out to where you're still winning games at a high clip. I mean, look at Clemson this year for example. Terrific defense but they can't score the ball at all and have lost two games because of it. 

When Neal Brown first got the job, I thought he was going to come in and have this program turned around by year three at the latest. He did a great job managing games while at Troy which is what led me to believe that his decision-making/game management alone would steal a win or two each season. It's been quite the opposite.

I don't believe Brown should be on the hot seat just yet, but I think it's certainly fair to start questioning whether or not he is the right guy for the job. When you look at the remaining schedule for WVU (@ Baylor, @ TCU, vs Iowa State, vs Oklahoma State, @ Kansas State, vs Texas, @ Kansas), it's hard to see a scenario where the Mountaineers can even become bowl eligible. That is, assuming they continue to play the way they have through the first five games. Kansas is the only sure win left on the schedule. Kansas State is beatable but other than that, it could be some tough sledding ahead for Neal Brown and co. If the Mountaineers finish the year 5-7 or worse, that will be two losing seasons in three years for this coaching staff. Should they get off to a slow start in 2022, Brown will be 100% coaching for his job week by week, in my opinion. 

The one main reason to not give up all hope on Brown being the guy is that he is still building depth on both sides of the ball and hasn't filled the two-deep with "his guys" just yet. On the offensive side of the ball, eight of the eleven starters committed to the previous staff. Defensively, only four starters were what I call "pure Neal Brown guys", meaning that they committed, signed, and played solely for this staff. However, there are some guys that committed to Dana's staff but have only played for Neal Brown such as Taijh Alston, Winston Wright, and Nicktroy Fortune to name a few. Their development is completely on this staff. Below is a breakdown.

OFFENSE

Player	Committed to 	Coached by
QB Jarret Doege	Neal Brown	Neal Brown
RB Leddie Brown	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
WR Winston Wright	Dana Holgorsen	Neal Brown
WR Sam James	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
TE Mike O'Laughlin	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
LT Brandon Yates	Dana Holgorsen	Neal Brown
LG James Gmiter	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
C Zach Frazier	Neal Brown	Neal Brown
RG Doug Nester	Neal Brown	Neal Brown
RT Parker Moorer	Dana Holgorsen	Neal Brown

DEFENSE

Player	Recruited by	Coached by
DE Taijh Alston	Dana Holgorsen	Neal Brown
DL Dante Stills	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
DL Akheem Mesidor	Neal Brown	Neal Brown
LB VanDarius Cowan	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
LB Josh Chandler-Semedo	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
LB Exree Loe	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
CB Nicktroy Fortune	Dana Holgorsen	Neal Brown
CB Daryl Porter Jr.	Neal Brown	Neal Brown
FS Alonzo Addae	Neal Brown	Neal Brown
S Sean Mahone	Dana Holgorsen	Dana Holgorsen/Neal Brown
S Scottie Young	Neal Brown	Neal Brown

Neal Brown's staff thus far has proven to be able to recruit at a high level. Currently, West Virginia has the No. 24 class in the country on SI All-American's Top 25 recruiting classes. There is a real chance that the 2022 class combined with the previous two recruiting classes Brown has brought in could be what gets things turned back in the right direction. In all honesty, if it weren't for the success on the recruiting trail, Brown might be already in danger of losing his job. 

If I'm Neal Brown, I'm no longer playing it safe. On the field, I would give Garrett Greene more and more each week in the passing game so you know what you have in him and then in the offseason, I'd make some changes on the coaching staff. First and foremost, an offensive coordinator/play-caller would be a good start. Dana Holgorsen made the same mistake early in his time at WVU by calling the shots but eventually learned he was better served to hire a play-caller (Jake Spavital). As a head coach, there are a ton of responsibilities and maybe, just maybe, the offense won't fall asleep for a half each game when you have one coach completely in charge of it with no other responsibility other than to move the ball and score. 

Until a hire can be made in the offseason, I would expect several changes to take place whether it's at quarterback, somewhere along the offensive line, receiver, play-calling, etc. Something has to change so that this offense can be more efficient. Let's be honest, how the hell does Leddie Brown only have 83 carries for 378 yards in five games? I understand not wanting to overwork him but he needs to be a bigger factor in the 2nd half of games. He is the guy the offense should be running through. Run the ball, eat clock, score, play solid defense. The only way you will develop a No. 2 running back is by giving them in-game reps. If you pound the football all day long and Leddie Brown needs a breather, give Tony Mathis or Justin Johnson Jr. a few touches. 

There's not one exact thing that is holding this team back. It's something different each week but it continues to center around the offense. Whatever it is, Neal Brown and this staff need to figure out what changes need to be made or they'll be staring down a 2nd losing season in three years. 

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