West Virginia hosts No. 17 Kansas State on Saturday, and Wildcats head coach Chris Klieman gave a preview of the Mountaineers.
"This week, we’re playing a really good West Virginia team that I’ve got tons of respect for Neal and what he’s done," Klieman said.
Klieman is 2-2 against the Mountaineers in his career, as he, too, is in year six of his tenure at Kansas State, similar to Brown.
Relationship with Brown and WVU's Atmosphere
Klieman said he has a lot of respect for Brown as a coach as well as the teams Brown coaches.
Brown and Klieman serve together on the AFCA Board of Trustees, and Klieman often relates to Brown because they both came to the Big 12 as head coaches in 2019.
"100 percent toughness. Mentally tough as well as physically tough. Really disciplined teams that play the game the right way, they play hard," Klieman said of the identity of football teams coached by Brown.
Klieman added he is happy for the success Brown has had and also talked about the atmosphere he knows his team will be walking into this weekend.
"Neal’s had a ton of success, happy for him and it’s a tough atmosphere to go into, we know that in West Virginia.
"We know it’s a really good atmosphere and it’s really good football down there. They’re going to give us everything. Every week is a different battle in the Big 12. It doesn’t matter if it’s home, it doesn’t matter if it’s away, you cannot get seduced by success," Klieman said.
West Virginia's Offense
Klieman said WVU's running game stands out to him the most when he looks at WVU's offense.
He said the duo of CJ Donaldson and Jahiem White in the backfield pose a lot of problems for opposing defenses and then Garrett Greene's rushing ability adds another layer to it.
"They run the ball and they run the ball really effectively with three different players. Both tailbacks are really good and can beat you inside or outside. And they’re two maybe different-sized backs but they both run inside, they both run outside," Klieman said.
As far as Greene, Klieman is a big fan of his and how he plays the game. He said he remembers one of Greene's first starts back against Kansas State in 2022 and his energy translates down the roster for the Mountaineers.
"Then, Greene, he’s one of my favorite kids to watch play, I don’t know if I’m going to really like to watch him on Saturday night. But he’s a competitor, he makes plays. He makes plays with his arm, he makes plays with his legs. Not afraid to run inside, he’ll cut back, he’s not going to run out of bounds or slide very often, been very impressed with him," Klieman said.
Klieman also voiced the enthusiasm Brown has shown behind the scenes about Greene's growth over the past two years.
"Been impressed with him, maybe his first start was against us in [2022[ somewhere around there, and I was impressed with him then and then I think he’s taken probably about every snap since then. I know Neal has been really impressed with him and you can tell his energy sparks their team," Klieman said.
West Virginia's Defense
Klieman said WVU's defensive line has made plays and it shows up when he watches film on the Mountaineers. He also said they are running similar concepts to what they've done in the past but are multiple at times, especially on the defensive line.
"It’s been some of the things we’ve seen in the past from them. They’re going to be some three-down, they’re going to be some four-down. Even their three-down they may have an overhang guy. They’re going to pressure you, I think they’re really disruptive up front, I think they’re really physical, they get upfield," Klieman said.
He was very complimentary of TJ Jackson, who has wrecked opposing backfields throughout the season.
"They’ve got a guy that I think leads the country in TFLs. They’re not just reading and reacting, they’re penetrating. I’m just starting to get into watching some of the coverage things they’re doing, I’ve spent some time on the other side of the ball but a lot of veteran guys and that’s the thing you see now with transfer portal and kids coming back and every team seems to have a lot of older players," Klieman said.
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