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 2023 schedule.
Next up is a home contest with Duquesne and Brown discussed that matchup as well as how his team is looking heading into the opener.
1—West Virginia competed. Yes, the Mountaineers dropped the opener on the road at No. 7 Penn State but Brown was encouraged by some of the things that unfolded. For starters, the fifth year head coach felt that his team wasn't outmanned or didn't let the environment of the 110,000 inside Beaver Stadium get to them. However, they simply just didn't make enough plays in critical times to win a football game of that magnitude. Brown believes that in those matchups of the Mountaineers top players versus those of the Nittany Lions his football team won their fair share so there was signs that his football team was prepared to compete.
However, that also meant there were areas that West Virginia must show improvement as well moving forward. On the plus side, the operation and game management was one of the biggest concerns going into the game but his team navigated that with only one, albeit a costly one, procedural penalty. West Virginia also took care of the football and didn't have any turnovers which allowed them to stay in the game despite some of their issues in other areas of the football game.
2—Passing game was an issue. This was obvious to anybody watching the game, but Brown drove home the point as well across the board. Redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Greene and his battery of pass catchers had some positive moments at times, but things must improve for this football team to take the next step. With Greene, Brown commended him for his ability to run the offense, but he has to improve when it comes to simply making the layup throws within the offense which didn't happen enough. The head coach was pleased with his competitiveness during the game but the Mountaineers have to execute in critical passing situations.
Right alongside of that, is the ability to be more explosive when West Virginia does elect to throw the football. Greene and his wide receivers had only a handful of throws over 15-yards in the game and only once of those came when the result was truly up-in-the-air on a 37-yard pass down the right sideline to Devin Carter.
Some of those issues could be resolved with injured players such as EJ Horton and Ja'Shaun Poke making their way back from injuries in the next week or two as well as allowing some of the freshmen to inherit bigger roles. Still, this is a major concern.
3—Freshmen will have opportunities. Freshman wide receiver Traylon Ray was targeted four times in the game and finished with a pair of catches for 7 yards, while Rodney Gallagher was limited to just a single offensive snap. There were opportunities for Ray to have an even bigger game with one misfire being a potential huge gainer on fourth down in the contest and another drop, while Gallagher was limited due to the limited use of 11-personnel for the matchup. That won't be the case every game and the plan is to get Gallagher more involved in the offense beginning this coming week.
While not necessarily a wide receiver, pass catching running back Jaheim White also was out in the opener due to injury but practiced this week and is expected back. His presence should also give the Mountaineers more explosion when the ball is thrown.
4—Defensive ups and downs. West Virginia was encouraged by the play of the front seven as it was something that had showed itself in the lead up to the game throughout fall camp. After being dominated at times last fall, the front seven held their own against a better overall West Virginia offensive line group in practice.
Now, you truly never know what that is going to look like until a game is played and for the most part the Mountaineers continued to look much improved there. The defense played well against the run at times and generated some big red zone stops.
But on the flip side, the secondary struggled mightily and that has to take a step forward if West Virginia is going to be a better defensive team. The Mountaineers allowed too many easy completions as well as explosive plays through the air. Some of that was tied to the fact that West Virginia wanted to make Drew Allar, who was making his first start, beat them and he certainly did that.
The coverage must be tighter and the group has to play with more urgency. Brown expects that to occur in the matchup this weekend.
5—Important three-game stretch. West Virginia will open the first of what is a critical three-game home stand this weekend against Duquesne. A proud FCS program, the Dukes certainly have the respect of the Mountaineers but this week is about creating positive momentum and getting better as the team heads into the meat of the schedule.
After this week, West Virginia will take on Pittsburgh and Texas Tech in back-to-back home games that very well could come to define the season. The goal for this coming matchup is to first win and even the record at 1-1 while continuing to play clean football and improving in those areas mentioned above.
If all of that occurs, the hope is that West Virginia will be able to get more people into the game in order to gain some valuable experience for what lies ahead.
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