The WVU Offense Stalls as Texas Tech Rolls

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown voices frustrations after lopsided loss

Lubbock, TX – The Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-3, 2-2) hammered the West Virginia Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3) 48-10 Saturday evening.

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown credited Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, his staff and the players to open the postgame press conference.

“That’s as well as they executed, coming off a bye week,” he said. “I thought they were good, and we were equally as bad. Probably as disappointed as I’ve ever been as a football coach in my entire career, especially in the second half” Brown said.

Texas Tech jumped out to a 14-0 lead after constructing consecutive touchdown drives on the offenses first two possessions before the defense settled in. However, a WVU offense that grew more efficient each week, struggled to find any rhythm in the first half.

“We go into half 17-3 and I thought we kind of weathered the storm with their offense and I thought we played about as bad as we could offensively, but we showed that we can actually play worse in the second half,” said Brown.

The offense produced its worst output of the season, tallying a just 282 total yards of offense committed four turnovers, and the Mountaineers were 4-14 on third down, a group that was converting 50% on the season coming into the game

“Offensively, we were just bad. We didn’t play well at any position. We never gave our team a chance. Four turnovers, two of them on balls that we just got taken away from us. [We] didn’t protect well up front. Receivers were a non-factor in the game.”

Oct 22, 2022; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders wide receiver Loic Fouonji (19) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the second half at Jones AT&T Stadium and Cody Campbell Field / Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Using tempo, the Texas Tech offense racked up 594 yards of offense on 103 plays.

“Defensively, to be fair, you’re going to look at the numbers, but it’s tough to even evaluate them because they had to go and play after four turnovers, added Brown. “And the results are what they are because they had to play 34 minutes in the game and 100 something plays. Some of that’s self-inflicted.”

Brown clarified some of the defense's issues come down to fundamentals, which he again reiterated is the “most frustrating part” about the loss but not taking advantage of opportunities when presented, has also been a lingering issue.

“We competed at times on that side of the ball,” Brown said. “I thought we had opportunities for the ball in the first half. I think they put the ball on the ground three times, maybe four. I thought one of them was wrongfully officiated. And then we had an interception on the first drive that we didn’t make a play on. And they were more physical than us. They moved the pile all night and a lot of that has a lot to do with they did a good job running but we tackled high all day.”

“They kind of just chipped away at us. Credit them they were patient,” added Brown. “They got it into third and shorts and fourth and shorts and converted.”

Consistency continues to elude the Mountaineers and for Neal Brown it's exasperating.

“This team’s just been a rollercoaster,” Brown said. “We played really well against a really good football team last week in Baylor and won the game. And then we played about as bad as we can possibly play the game of football today. It’s unbelievably frustrating to say the least.”

West Virginia will be back in action Saturday at noon as the Mountaineers host the TCU Horned Frogs at noon and broadcasting on ESPN. 

You can follow us for future coverage by following us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook - @MountaineersNow

Twitter - @MountaineersNow and Christopher Hall @WVHallBilly