Brown talks Oklahoma State and adjustments on weekly show
On Thursday, West Virginia head football coach Neal Brown spoke on his weekly Neal Brown Radio Show with WVU play-by-play commentator Tony Caridi, talking all about WVU's upcoming matchup against Oklahoma State following the team's second loss against Houston. Brown discussed the narrative around Oklahoma State this season and how the Mountaineers need to improve in two phases, defense and special teams.
Below is a comprehensive summary, in chronological order, of what Brown had to say on Thursday ahead of WVU's first home contest in three weeks against Oklahoma State in the fifth edition of this season's Neal Brown Radio Show.
— Practice started on Monday and the players have remained sharp and been into it. They didn’t play as well as they wanted to of course and Brown said they didn’t play good in two phases, on special teams and defense, and didn’t play well enough to win.
-- He said the team took ownership on Monday then went about correcting and fixing problems. Brown said the players have come to work and will continue to grow on offense and fix those two other phases. The last play against Houston will not define them but they’re not shying away from it. He also said that it helped to have down time after playing on Thursday to process the game.
— Going into the Pittsburgh game, Brown felt that an offensive breakout was close, but then Garrett Greene got injured and there was a readjustment. Once Greene came back, they practiced well and he was surprised that they played well on offense but he believes it’s not going to be a one off and they’re going to be more balanced moving forward. Brown believes that Greene has elite arm talent and he knew that he’d play well and he thinks the offense will continue to play well.
— Against Houston, Brown thought they didn’t run the ball as well as they like to but Greene leads the Big 12 conference in yards per attempt since they’ve turned into an offense that can depend on the run and then take deep shots down the field, and Greene likes it that way.
— Brown thinks they can play better at running back and Donaldson had a stretch of really good games, and despite his yards per carry going down, his situational efficiency has been good recently. Freshman Jahiem White will continue to grow and Brown said he's done good. He also expects Justin Johnson Jr. to get some more opportunities this week since he was sick and didn't travel with the team last week.
— Wide receiver Devin Carter played both wideout and slot receiver last week and there's benefits to both spots. In the slot, Brown said you get pressed less and you get more free runs, but it's also easier to motion him when he’s off the ball. Brown said that Carter was also used to help in the blocking game and he can be useful in play action.
— Tackle Wyatt Milum practiced all week and will play on Saturday alongside safety Aubrey Burks who practiced all week and will return. Guard Tomas Rimac was better on Thursday but to Brown he’s still questionable and will most likely come back against UCF.
— Brown recognized the news that former WVU head coach Don Nehlen will get immortalized at Milan Puskar Stadium on November 18, and Brown think it’s well deserved and it’s a great honor for him. As time passes, Brown feels like fans begin to have more appreciation for what he accomplished.
— Overall, Brown feels like Oklahoma State has been resilient this season. After South Alabama beat them soundly in a game where everything that could have gone wrong did, Brown felt like there was a national narrative with questions around Cowboys' head coach Mike Gundy and OSU.
-- Brown said that their offense has finally stuck on one quarterback, Alan Bowman, and have leaned heavily on running back Ollie Gordon and the run game and it's been good for them. Wide receiver Brennan Presley has been great in the slot for them, and they’re running the football well, not turning the ball over and getting off the field on defense. Brown said Oklahoma State is on a streak right now, with a lot of confidence. He feels like they’ll remember last year’s game and the success they've had in Morgantown.
— Brown said linebacker Ben Cutter did some good things in last week's game but also did some freshman things in his first start. He’ll get his second start this week and Brown believes he could be an all-conference player before he’s done at WVU.
— Brown said he watches the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams to watch what they do offensively but he doesn’t watch much football on TV.
— WVU's uniforms for Saturday's contest will be blue helmets, with a blue jersey, and gold pants, which is West Virginia's traditional home uniform.
— Brown said he feels like the extra days between games are helpful, especially with the emotion and traumatic aspect of the Houston game.
— Brown said that he has had experiences where other coaches can feel your pain after a game like that and be there for you whether they’re close to you or not and it’s comforting to him. You look back at a game like that and try to use it to learn and respond.
— In relation to Michigan’s recent sign-stealing investigation, Brown believes sign-stealing is a part of the college game while in the NFL it’s not an issue. However to Brown, sign stealing is an issue in college football but there are ways to change it. He said they’ve tested the in-helmet technology in the spring game at WVU before like NFL teams use. He thinks within the next year it could be implemented in college football but he thinks there are additional costs and problems associated since NCAA Division I and Power 5, all of the way down to Division III, are connected and that could be a barrier.
— Brown said that Oklahoma State’s special teams are unique since they randomly substitute and utilize two different punters, one of which is left footed and the other right footed. He said that WVU's special teams unit needs to get back to how they were the first five weeks.
— Brown thinks this game against OSU will have a lot of impact in the Big 12 Conference standings and that for fans, there are a lot of good reasons to come back since it's homecoming and an impactful game. Brown said they need the fans this week to be there and be loud.
— This week's PARCS Superstores Hardest Worker of the Week is linebacker Tyler Cain. Brown thinks he’ll be an outside linebacker and he could be a real factor and a contributor in his WVU career. Brown says he does a great job representing opposing players on scout team during practice.
— To Brown, it’s important that the guys who are the future, of the program, the young guys, receive intentional coaching and are corrected on film since they’re the next ones up.
— Coach Brown’s keys to the game are to limit OSU's offensive explosiveness on defense, especially in the run game. He thinks that first down will be really important to get them in second and longs. Then, the defense needs to create some takeaways in the red zone or force them to kick field goals and allow less touchdowns. Offensively, Brown is focusing on taking care of the football while letting the offensive line lead the way to running the football better and scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Brown also believes WVU must do better in specialists positions and limit Presley in the return game.
Kickoff against Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon will be at 3:30 p.m. with the television broadcast available on ESPN.
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