West Virginia head coach Neal Brown held his annual radio show on Thursday as the Mountaineers prepare to host No. 11 Iowa State on Saturday night.
Closing out Oklahoma State
WVU is coming in off a big win over Oklahoma State and Brown said it goes back to the bye week for how they played.
“They were refreshed and they had a lot of energy. I think it starts with that and then I thought our guys prepared mentally and physically during the week. We were ready,” Brown.
The Mountaineers held them to 14 points and Brown said that was made by a lot of tweaks they made during the off week.
“We made some tweaks defensively during the bye week that I thought paid off… we took the home crowd out of the game early and then we got some key third down stops” Brown said.
Brown added they didn’t want to run the score up and they just wanted to get out of Stillwater healthy.
“It’s a different game in the second half and there’s a bunch of different ways you can approach that if it’s a one score game or two-score game, it was a four-score lead,” Brown said.
Previewing Iowa State
There’s a lot Brown likes from Iowa State and what they present as a football team.
“Very similar to when we’ve played them in the past,” Brown said
“They’re probably running the ball at a better rate now than they ever had been… They’re a three down front playing with three safeties,” Brown added.
Brown said he recognizes how good the Cyclones are on tape by how disciplined they are.
“When you turn them on they’re a disciplined group that plays really hard so there’s a reason why they’re ranked 11th in the country,” Brown said.
Iowa State QB Rocco Becht is a familiar name for Mountaineer fans and Brown said he likes his game.
“He’s even improved you can tell he’s really worked athletically,” Brown said.
Atmosphere + Keys to Victory
Brown said he’s excited for the night game atmosphere in Morgantown and also gave his keys to victory for the game.
“I’m in the business of coaching not creating atmospheres… a lot of credit to wren and his staff. Their idea behind the uniforms,” Brown said.
As far as what WVU needs to do to win, Brown said whoever runs the ball and can convert in the red zone will win.
“Which team can establish their willpower in the run game and then red zone touchdowns,” Brown said.
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