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 2024 schedule.
Next up is a match-up with Kansas to open Big 12 Conference play at home.
1—Owning the loss. West Virginia blew a 34-24 lead with 4:55 remaining to their rival Pittsburgh and Brown didn’t waste any time taking responsibility for what unfolded. It was a game there for the taking and the Mountaineers allowed two touchdown drives sandwiched between a three-and-out to allow the Panthers to complete the comeback. Brown said that there are no excuses for what occurred, and West Virginia simply needs to be better, but all they can do is own what happened in the Backyard Brawl and look to improve.
The sixth-year head coach did make it a point to say that while that game serves as a stark teaching point, the Mountaineers aren’t going to give up on the season or sit around and feel sorry for themselves with nine conference games still on the slate. That’s where it becomes important for Brown to be a leader for his football take because they will be a direct reflection of how he and his coaching staff handles this situation.
But the head coach believes in his team and his players despite the poor start so now it’s about translating that onto the field. The focus is on fixing the issues that has led to this 1-2 start to open the year and that starts with finding a way to beat a Kansas team that enters this weekend in a similar state.
2—Two teams with their backs against the walls. Kansas opened the season ranked in the pre-season top 25, while West Virginia believed that they were primed to make a jump after a 9-4 campaign last year, but both of these teams have struggled out of the gates to 1-2 records. The two open Big 12 Conference play desperate for a way to change their fortunes and get off on the right foot in the league.
Kansas has dropped two close games with quarterback Jalon Daniels at the helm, while the Jayhawks return a lot of talent around him such as running back Devin Neal and depth at wide receiver. On the defensive side, Kansas is a talented football team that is especially good on the defensive line and at cornerback.
You can’t change what has already happened but one of these teams is going to move to 2-2 and the other 1-3 in the first month of the season so flipping the script and moving forward will be critical.
3—New opportunities in the secondary. Brown made it clear that when it comes to the secondary, West Virginia is going to allow some players on the roster to get opportunities this week. Junior cornerback Jacolby Spells has worked his way back from a spring injury and is close to 100-percent healthy, while transfer TJ Crandall played against Albany and then a series against Pittsburgh but will have the chance to earn more. Both of those players deserve to have more opportunities to show what they can do in a game situation and the plan this week is to allow them to do that.
Now, Brown said that anybody else remains to be determined but did mention that freshman Keyon Washington is a candidate perhaps down the line also to see a role.
4—Changes? On top of new personnel, the most frustrating thing for Brown when it comes to the play of the secondary is the fact that there hasn’t been any consistency. He pointed out that while the unit has played at a high level at times, other times the group simply hasn’t and it’s led to big plays for the opposition.
The head coach said that outside playing different players and not rewarding those that aren’t playing well by continuing to play them there are other avenues that the coaching staff can take as well.
The coaching staff has to do a better job of putting players in position to make plays and Brown believes that despite the struggles of the group he still stands by his statements in the preseason about the group playing better in fall camp. It’s not something he just said, but in fact the group did perform well but hasn’t been able to show that in any of the three games at anything close to a consistent level.
As part of putting players in better situations, Brown said that they’ve played man coverage in situations where it’s probably not the best for certain players and there have been some checks that probably didn’t need to be called with certain individuals in the game. And while the head coach isn’t going to throw any players under the bus there are definitely ways for the coaches to put players in better spots moving ahead.
5—Injury updates. Brown confirmed that senior defensive lineman Eddie Vesterinen is going to miss a majority of the season with his lower body injury but there is still an opportunity he could return toward the end of the season if he elects to do so. But, Vesterinen also has the ability to use a redshirt to return for the 2025 campaign so that also is an option for him as well.
Linebacker Reid Carrico left the Pittsburgh game with an upper-body injury and Brown said that he is progressing through the protocols there and so far so good. Finally, wide receiver Preston Fox is banged up and while he didn’t practice Monday, Brown said that he is going to be careful with him throughout the week even though he doesn’t think it will keep him out of the game at this point.
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