Brown talks TCU on weekly radio show, what expect this Saturday
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 about the team's matchup with TCU this Saturday and what the first Big 12 road game could look like for the Mountaineers, along with what to expect from TCU.
Below is a comprehensive summary, in chronological order, of what Brown had to say on Thursday ahead of Saturday's massive matchup against Pittsburgh in the third edition of the Neal Brown Radio Show this season.
— Coach Brown was upset about previous performances against Texas Tech and he was aware that’s the only team they hadn't won against and it was even better since he used to work there. Brown turned the film on and it was gross, so that set the tone for the week for him and the players. Brown said the players played angry and physical and they were embarrassed by last year's game. He acknowledges that they played hard against Texas Tech but didn't play necessarily well in the offensive skill position group. Brown's not ashamed to win an ugly game like that, and they’ve won two back to back like that now.
— Brown says the offensive line is a prideful group and the key leaders, Wyatt Milum, Doug Nester, and Zach Frazier played really well and the whole group dominated. Brown believes that if they would have played like their capable of at running back, such as with breaking tackles and hitting holes faster, then they could have had higher rushing totals against TTU.
— Brown was adamant that they needed to win the game against Texas Tech and make sure they beat the Red Raiders and get to a 1-0 record in Big 12 play. Brown thought that if WVU can defend its home turf, then they would have a chance to have a good or even great year. Brown thinks that the three-game home stretch has set the team up like they expected it to. Now, they’re playing the defending national runner ups, and every week that they continue to win it setups a really big game every week. Brown said for this team to be a contender, they have to go on the road and defeat good teams.
— The game against Pitt was physical,and the running backs against Pitt were getting hit a lot. Brown underestimated the inexperience in his skill position players like running back Jahiem White, wide receiver Rodney Gallagher III, running back Jaylen Anderson, quarterback Nicco Marchiol and running back CJ Donaldson, so when they reduced practice reps it affected them, but this week he didn’t repeat the same mistake and practiced hard.
— Brown has a lot of respect for TCU and he thinks they're a talented team. TCU head coach Sonny Dykes coached Brown at Kentucky when Brown played WR. He’s really happy for Sonny's achievements and what he's done well at TCU, is that he's kept things that the team was doing well and Dykes changed things that needed to be changed. TCU's 3-3-5 defensive coverage is different for a younger guy at quarterback and this is the first of three teams they’ll play that have that same scheme. TCU has recruited skill positions well and according to Brown, they have a perfect mix of WR’s. Brown said they’re a really good football but he thinks he also has a really good football team too, so this game will be a good gauge of where they are.
— Brown said Dykes is a balanced offensive mind, but they’ve always played fast and currently have the second most plays in the country. TCU's new offensive coordinator Kendall Briles has always played fast too but their tempo is different than Texas Tech because they speed you up and rely on the run instead of the pass.
— Brown felt like the Texas Tech game was never in doubt until late into the fourth quarter because they were no longer holding the Red Raiders to second and longs and third and longs. They lost that edge later in the game in that department, but they did great at stopping them and forcing long conversions on third and fourth down for three quarters.
— WVU has good leadership, so they’ve never had a belief issue up front, so for Brown that gives them a chance every week. The Mountaineers get good leadership from safety Aubrey Burks, linebacker Lee Kpogba, and defensive lineman Sean Martin. For Brown in regards to the younger players, you can see things in practice or games and then once you correct that, they take it into a game and have a realization and learn what to do right.
— Brown said Martin is coming into his own and his measurables are unbelievable. He said there are a ton of NFL scouts rolling through talking about him among others like Zach Frazier. However, Brown thinks the guy that has made the biggest jump this season is nose tackle Mike Lockhart since he’s grown up and gotten in better shape.
— Brown said TCU plays the run well and are a top 20 defense in the country in terms of stopping the run. Brown thinks it will be a really good matchup since TCU plays really hard on their front like WVU does.
— Brown admitted that TCU knows what’s coming and that WVU will not go in there and surprise them by running the ball. He thinks whoever plays the best that night in the run game and makes adjustments, along with TCU's front six vs. WVU's offensive line and its running game will decide who wins the game.
— Last year against this team, C.J. Donaldson broke his ankle, but Brown said there was some good offensive play against TCU at home last season but WVU's offense in the red zone just wasn’t good enough.
— Brown announced that on Saturday, West Virginia will wear white jerseys, blue pants, with their white Country Roads helmet that has the state outline, and flying WV on the inside of it. Brown made an interesting remark that this is the last season for these set of uniforms.
— As a tradition, Brown said that every year on the Halloween weekend, WVU’s student and equipment managers are allowed to dress up as a coach on the staff and imitate them, then whoever has the best costume and imitates the best wins cash at the end.
— Brown understands that until WVU throws the ball well, TCU will stack the box to stop the run. So, WVU needs to improve its execution in the pass game but running is what they’re doing best right now.
— Brown thinks that a guy like Rodney Gallagher III deserves more touches and needs to get the ball more, but to him it’s hard to get WR the ball unless you hand it to them. It takes a lot of steps from blocking, the player getting open, passing the ball and catching it to get a WR the ball.
— Brown said the team made a big push in the offseason to focus on not getting procedural penalties and it’s worked so far this season. However, he said TCU's stadium is very loud now with their success, so they’ll need to focus on that again like they did against Penn State in regards to noise.
— Brown announced that it’s going to be a game-time decision for quarterback Garrett Greene's injury but both him and Marchiol got repetitions this week in practice and he hopes that they can both be available.
— Defensive lineman Tyrin Bradley was a big find in the portal according to Brown and last week’s game was personal for him since Texas Tech didn’t recruit him and he was from that area.
-- Brown talked about a variety of players, such as tight end Will Dixon, who he said needs to continue to get bigger but he has great hands and can run. He also spoke about defensive lineman James Heard Jr., who is behind Jared Bartlett and Bradley in the depth chart, but he's had some minor injuries that have held him back, but WVU would love to redshirt him and Brown thinks he can contribute. Brown said Heard Jr. is strong and has natural instincts but that he needs to gain weight. Brown also complimented fullback Luke Hamilton, who they plan to continue to utilize in the run game and on special teams since he's done a great job.
-- According to Brown, if every player on WVU's roster ran a 40-yard dash, wide receiver EJ Horton would win and that he is the fastest on the team. Brown said he’ll get more snaps this week.
— Brown said the silliest name that they have for a play in their playbook is Kirby, which is named after the team's chaplain. He said he lets the players name the plays since it helps their memory.
— In terms of away games, Brown said they leave later than most teams and have morning practice before games and to upkeep their normal routine all-year round. Brown says they start with a meeting at 9 a.m. on Friday, followed by a full-body workout by WVU strength coach Mike Joseph. Then, the players do a full-go practice for 10 minutes, followed by a light practice with a walkthrough for the next 20 minutes. Next, the team flies out of Clarksburg, West Virginia around 2 p.m., take a bus to the hotel once they arrive. After, they do more meetings and have dinner before bed check at 10 p.m. The players then wake up by 9:30 a.m. and have another walkthrough at the hotel and a pregame meal.
— Brown picked walk-on linebacker Donald Brandel as a player who has impressed this week. He thinks that the walk-on program is the heart and soul of the team. He said it shows how important every single person is for the program and it also tells people what it means to play for the Mountaineers.
-- Brown said they can only bring 70 players to every away game, but they try to fill it up as much as they can. Brown said it ends up being around 175 people in total that travel with the team.
Kickoff against TCU in Fort Worth, Texas will be at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday.
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