What Neal Brown said Following the Win over Albany

West Virginia University head coach Neal Brown provides instant analysis after the Mountaineers win against Albany.

Sep 7, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown talks with West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Garrett Greene (6) after he threw for a touchdown during the second quarter against the Albany Great Danes at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The West Virginia Mountaineers (1-1) handled the Albany Great Danes Saturday evening, 49-14.

Head coach Neal Brown met with the media following the game to give his initial thoughts on the first win of the season.

Opening statement

"I want to thank our fans. We had a great crowd at the Mantrip and a lot of energy. (It was) a beautiful day, that helps too. Then, I thought our fans turned out today for a non-conference game, especially after we didn’t perform very well a week ago. So, I am really happy for them to stay behind our team, and it was a good atmosphere. It was loud in the first half, and a lot of them stayed and hopefully they enjoyed the light show there in the second half.

"It’s always good to win, it’s always hard to do. My man Tony Caridi told me two days ago that less than 3% of the year are game days, and that kind of resonated with me. I trumped him and said 1.9% of them are home games, so when we get those opportunities, we need to enjoy them. It’s hard, and I was proud of our guys for bouncing back.

"Albany has got a good FCS football team. They did some nice things. They minimized possessions, they held the ball. They did a nice job. They’re well-coached, and the kids played really, really hard. And I thought they showed well on a bigger stage today, and they're going to win their fair share games and be very competitive in the CAA."

Defense’s performance

"I thought our rush defense was really good. Our end-of-possession downs were good. We got off the field on fourth down, which was a positive. I thought (sophomore linebacker) Ben Cutter and (redshirt senior safety) Anthony Wilson were really active in the game. You know, we didn't get any takeaways. Trot (redshirt freshman linebacker Josiah Trotter) and Rod (sophomore two-way player Rodney Gallagher) both had opportunities to get picks and we have to play the ball down the field better. I think that's evident."

Offense’s performance

"We really had three bad plays in the game. The rest of them, we kind of showed beginnings of what we're capable of being, which is a team that's balanced, that can run and can throw it. We got multiple weapons.

"(Senior quarterback) Garrett (Greene) had a ball slip out of his hand, and then made a poor pass on one possession there where we punted. Then (sophomore running back) Jahiem White learned a hard lesson, man, you got to hold the ball the right way, and he had it out the whole run. It was an explosive run, but they got it out. And so really, three bad plays. But, you know, we were five-for-five in the red zone, and that was a huge flip from what we did a week ago. We had two, 100-yard rushers, (I) thought we threw and caught the ball quite a bit better than we did a week ago."

Special teams

"We did a nice job. We were able to play a lot of people on special teams. Played more so on defense than probably offense, just because of how the game went. I wanted to get more guys in. It was a fast game, which I know nobody here is complaining about, but I'd like to (have) played with a few more people. But all in all, (it was a) good win, and we're going to enjoy it. Then we'll get ready for the Backyard Brawl."

On the offensive line’s evening

"Yeah, better, you know. A week ago, the numbers were a little deceiving because we had all those negative plays. But, really only had two negative rushing plays. So, I thought we were pretty clean. They tried to slant and kind of junk up the middle. But I thought we sorted it out pretty well. The only blitz we missed was at running back.

"That's the only time we got pressure on Greene, and so it was a good day, and our expectations are high for those guys. You know, we've got guys up there that played a lot of football, and we can. We need to continue to play at a high level and continue to get better."