On Tuesday, West Virginia head football coach Neal Brown spoke on his weekly Neal Brown Radio Show with Mountaineer Sports Network director of broadcasting Andrew Caridi and radio sideline reporter Jed Drenning, reflecting on a bounce-back domination against Cincinnati, where the Mountaineers took their seventh win over the Bearcats, 42-21.
Now, up next for West Virginia is its regular season finale against the Baylor Bears on the road, with WVU looking for their eighth win of the season going into bowl season. Ahead of the final game, Brown put away the events of the Cincinnati matchup and he also talked about what aspects have been improving recently for the Mountaineers, to put them on the right track.
Below is a comprehensive summary, in chronological order, of what Brown had to say on Tuesday ahead of WVU's final regular season game against Baylor in the 12th edition of this season's Neal Brown Radio Show.
— Brown says that Cincinnati was a big win and that there was a little pressure on the team to win with former head coach Don Nehlen there and the festivities going on for him. For him to be recognized when WVU played Cincinnati and for the home crowd to welcome him, Brown thinks he felt appreciated.
-- Brown said he was proud of his players and how they bounced back after a public failure against Oklahoma. He said they started fast and were able to jump on Cincinnati early since they've been struggling.
— He said the quarterback is playing better and Brown feels like that when he's playing well, it can give the team more flexibility. He said they wanted to get their young players involved and it bodes well for the future of the program. He said that when it comes to in-game situations, when something isn’t going how you like, you change it and don’t keep doing the same things.
— The third touchdown to go up 21-0 against Cincinnati was a separator for Brown after they struggled the drive before. However, he said after that, they were off and running.
— In terms of weather, Brown said it’s been a really calm year for weather for West Virginia.
— After the Oklahoma game, Brown said him and the coaching staff were telling quarterback Garrett Greene how they feel about him after he struggled because they have a lot of belief in him and he was a bit shaken after that contest. Brown said they wanted to show Greene the confidence they have in him by coming into the Cincinnati and throwing the football early and often.
— Brown feels like every reciever that plays football says they want to catch more passes, but there just isn’t enough to go around for everyone in WVU's current system. He said that in their style of offense, you get some big chunks plays to their starting guys and they’ve all bought into that and have really bought into blocking downfield as well.
— He said that wide reciever Preston Fox has been playing really well and that fans should have pride in the fact that two Morgantown natives are starting and seeing significant playing time for the Mountaineers. Brown showcased that there’s a lot of West Virginia natives playing for the Mountaineers and that it's something that all fans should be prideful in.
— Brown said that WVU was coming off its worst performance of the year against Oklahoma and that included a bad day on the offensive line. Alongside that, center Zach Frazier had a challenging matchup that he was ready for against the Bearcats and the unit as a whole was snubbed from the Joe Moore award. Brown thinks all of these things played into the dominance the offensive line showed against Cincinnati. He said they’ve also overcome injuries with that group and they have some good depth there.
— He said that the difference for why they’re playing better recently is because the running backs are playing much better and are breaking more tackles as well. Brown said there’s a lot of young guys running behind that offensive line and it's been working better.
— For Brown, he feels like height isn’t a big deal for running backs and to him, he's more focused on lower body strength and that's what they found with freshman running back Jahiem White. Brown said that all of his best football and learning are still ahead of him.
— Brown discussed that West Virginia has two different types of athletes on their team, those that can run fast and jump high and there’s that are versatile and could play a variety of sports. He said that White can surprisingly do both and that’s true of many of his players in this year's freshmen class. He also feels like a high school kid that plays more sports shows more signs of overall great athleticism.
-- When looking at Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, Brown said that Baylor's players still believe in him as the coach and that they bring a lot of answers defensively. He said that he knows they're going to get the Bears' best when they go down and play on Saturday.
-- Brown also admitted that it's a tough place to play and that West Virginia has a 1-4 record as a program playing on the road against Baylor. He said they've made some changes which will help his team adjust to playing there and that the Bears' score against TCU was misleading. He said that last year, Baylor outplayed them and it's a big opportunity for them to finish the regular season strong.
-- On defense, Brown said that Aranda does good at scheming against pass protections and that he's one of the best in the country in terms of pressuring on third down.
-- For this week's PARCS Superstore Hardest Worker of the Week, Brown selected guard Ja'Quay Hubbard because he's played well recently and Brown felt like he played his best game on Saturday against Cincinnati. As a rotational lineman this season, Brown said he's changed his body and if he continues to develop he could be a great player.
-- With Baylor's offense, Brown said that Aranda trusts his defense, so he'll play with four downs more often than other teams. To him, this means that WVU's defense will need to be prepared for that and the situational differences that come with it. He also said that Baylor's offense plays in different personnel groups a lot and they do a lot of motions and shifts, which will make it really important to be correctly aligned on the defensive front, where they can play well.
-- He said that West Virginia and his team have dealt with some self-inflicted setbacks but if you look at the team, they've responded well to that adversity. Brown said that their story for this season is still unwritten and that their guys are playing to face off in a superior bowl game against a strong opponent and have the opportunity to get to nine wins.
-- Brown said that every game they've played was one they could win or lose and it's apart of the grind in the Big 12 Conference. He said it's a highly competitive and creative league on both sides of the ball. However, Brown is proud of his guys he said they need to put a finish on the season.
-- Brown also said that he is proud of his coaching staff and how far they've come, but that they need to continue to build on their momentum going into the end of the season and finish strong.
Kickoff against Baylor from McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas on Saturday is set for 7 p.m. on FS1.
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