WVU Covers Up Internal Distraction to Keep the Focus on What is Most Important

Neal Brown is doing all he can to prepare his team for this week's massive Big 12 game against Iowa State.

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West Virginia has played two games on the big stage already this season and failed in both opportunities despite having completely different feelings at the end of the game.

Although it's another big challenge this weekend with No. 11 Iowa State coming to town for a primetime kickoff, Neal Brown isn't that concerned about the stage being too big for his guys.

“The Pitt game was winnable and we didn’t win it. I’m disappointed that we didn’t play very well versus Penn State, but they won’t allow us to play them again. That’s kind of water under the bridge and on to the next.

"We got a bunch of really good teams on the schedule. We’re playing good people, but I don’t know if anybody cares. If you’re 5-0, we don’t play anybody. All that really matters is that you’re 5-0. The thing that it does is our guys aren’t going to blink in these games. This is just the next really good football team that we play.

"So our guys, when we start talking about the next opponent whether it’s Iowa State, Kansas State, or Arizona, they’re like oh, okay. They’re going to be really good, just like the other teams we played. Our guys aren’t going to blink.”

As I mentioned earlier this week, this matchup with Iowa State is without question the most meaningful Big 12 home game since the Mountaineers hosted Oklahoma in 2018 for the right to play in the conference title. That's until next week when a ranked Kansas State comes to town and then the following week they make a cross-country trip to Arizona.

This schedule is loaded with good football teams and everyone in that building knows it. But to help center the focus on what's most important, that week's game, Neal Brown had someone put a big white sheet over the team's schedule that's on the wall in the team facility that says 1-0. He explained the reasoning for doing so in his weekly press conference.

“We were getting a bunch of questions of how many ranked teams we played, what the rest of the schedule looks like and I’m like, why even show it to them? It’s next up and I think that’s the way you got to approach our league now. 

"The good thing about this league is you got a chance to win every week. The bad thing about this league is you got a chance to lose every week. There’s pretty good coaching, the talent is pretty evenly distributed, and so for us, I think it’s better to keep our eyes on exactly what’s in front rather than worrying about anything in the future.”

It's super cliche for a coach to say, "We're worried about going 1-0," each week but that's exactly the mindset a team with championship aspirations has to have.

To even be in the mix for the conference crown, you have to take care of business at home. WVU has two straight home games against ranked opponents, so if they win both, they'll be in a terrific spot. But forget about Kansas State for now. All focus and attention is on the Cyclones.

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