Neal's deal: Five key items from West Virginia football

WVSports.com looks at the weekly press conference from West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and determines the five most interesting topics of discussion.

We examine what was said as well as what it means for the football team both this week and moving ahead as the Mountaineers navigate the 2021 schedule.

Next up is a home contest against Iowa State with West Virginia at 3-4 and the head coach dove into some key topics not only for this week but the rest of the season.

1—Necessary response. West Virginia had its backs against the wall heading to Fort Worth with essentially the season on the line in some respects. Sitting at 2-4 and coming off their worst football game of the season, the Mountaineers hit the bye week looking to correct and adjust some of the things that had put them into the hole they found themselves at the midway point of the season. If the direction of the season was going to shift it had to come from taking ownership not only from the players but the coaches and finding a way to respond to adversity which didn’t happen previously.

Well, the Mountaineers got an exercise in that early after the opening kickoff was returned for a 100-yard touchdown by TCU and many were left thinking here we go again. But to this team’s credit, they found a way not only to answer that score on consecutive drives but essentially control the game from that point forward. It was the most consistent performance of the year on both sides of the ball and West Virginia won it in the areas that define football games. That’s turnover margin which was at +3, rushing the football with 229 yards and controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Converting in critical situations allowed the offense to remain on the field, while the defense was able to keep the Horned Frogs from sustaining drives especially in the second half.

West Virginia now finds itself at 3-4 heading into the final five weeks of the season with a newfound sense of confidence heading into a difficult matchup at home against Iowa State.

2—Iowa State a challenge. The Cyclones are an experienced football team with veterans on each side of the ball playing significant roles for this team. Iowa State has won the last three meetings in this series rather convincingly and will come to Morgantown as a seven-point favorite coming off their biggest win of the season beating Oklahoma State. The offense features senior quarterback Brock Prudy with junior running back Breece Hall, being one of the best ball carries in the entire nation. The unit will use multiple tight ends and create gaps using shifts and formations to make it difficult on defenses.

On the other side of the ball, it’s the same scheme which essentially tricks offenses into thinking they’re presenting a light box but there are always eight eyes on the football at each snap. Nothing will be easy there and it’s a veteran coordinator with an experienced unit top to bottom. That means that staying ahead of schedule will be key in order for the offense to effectively move the football.

West Virginia has an opportunity for a signature win against a team that’s had their number of late, but this won’t be easy as the Cyclones are one of the most experienced teams in the league and just so happen to be playing their best football of the season at this junction.

3—Injury updates. Several players left the game early against TCU with injuries which Brown said following the game he would address Tuesday. At this point, the most significant news is that nose guard Akheem Mesidor practiced and will be fine after leaving the game for a period.

The second player that will need to be monitored throughout the week is starting cornerback Nicktroy Fortune who left in the first half and did not return. He is dealing with a leg injury and Brown has said that it will depend on how he progresses this week in regard to his eligibility to suit up Saturday.

The good news is that Illinois State transfer Charles Woods played well in his role when thrust into action Saturday with a game-changing interception where he broke on the ball and he also recovered a fumble. The former FCS all-American has talent, but it will ding the secondary depth if Fortune can’t go. Woods was named the defensive player of the week for his efforts, which is an encouraging sign as he continues to settle into a role in the West Virginia secondary.

4—Play calling. Brown was asked about if he simplified the playbook and streamlined the play calling against TCU heading out of the bye and he essentially dismissed it at first saying that they simply came into the game looking to run the football. They did a much better job staying ahead of schedule which helps play calling alone and they tried to pick up yards on the ground to avoid that. Once TCU countered, the Mountaineers were able to make the necessary adjustments themselves.

As far as the streamlining of the play calling itself, Brown said that it wasn’t much different than it had been and he thought that overall, the players were loose and executed at a higher level than they had.

During the bye week, Brown did admit that he consulted a group of offensive coaches that he talks to a lot although he didn’t mention any names but it was something he dove into over the bye week. Some of those are retired or out of the profession and he also spoke to some resources inside the building.

Brown said the focus was more on the schemes this past week, but the in-game play calling situation ran pretty much as it has throughout most of the games with the exception of Sean Reagan and Gerad Parker having more input based on what they had seen from the press box.

The actual communication involves two channels, the interior people on one channel and the other includes Brown and Parker. Reagan looks at primarily the pass game, while Parker handles it as the play caller. There is a lot of conversation between series but during the series there are comments made, but essentially all communication is between Parker and Brown on the one channel.

5—Mathis gives a lift. One of the biggest concerns this season for the offense was the fact that West Virginia simply wasn’t able to get any of the backup running backs to emerge and be able to spell Leddie Brown for any significant snaps. While you don’t want to take Brown off the field not only for his rushing, but his ability in pass protection, it isn’t feasible to ask him to play every snap in every game.

The coaching staff challenged the backups to rise to the occasion and one of those did during the bye week with Tony Mathis starting to emerge. It isn’t necessarily surprising when you consider that Mathis was the concrete number two back in fall camp and had made a name for himself in that role prior to an injury that derailed the early part of the season. Now, a few months removed from that Mathis has started to get his feet under him in practice and that translated onto the field against TCU.

Mathis played a total of 19 snaps, some of that in high leverage situations, rushing for 48 yards on 12 carries and looking like the running back that the coaches had previously said he was in the pre-season. Mathis ran hard and looked as if there was no drop-off when Brown wasn’t in the game. If he can continue to provide that lift moving forward it’s a significant boost for the offense as a whole.

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