WVSports.com looks at the weekly press conference from West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and determines the five most interesting discussion topics.
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 home night game against Iowa State.
1—West Virginia takes the 1-0 mentality to heart. It’s been the battle cry for the Mountaineers to focus on the game at hand and not look forward to anybody on the schedule. So as a way to enforce that, West Virginia threw up a blank white sheet of paper in front of the schedule in the team room and wrote 1-0 on it.
Each week in the Big 12 presents an opportunity to win or lose given how close the teams are talent-wise in the league and the way things are laid out, so Brown wants to ensure that the focus is on what is exactly in front of them instead of anything that lies ahead in the future.
2—Injuries. At this stage of the week, nobody who was injured in the game against Oklahoma State has been ruled out which is a positive. Brown said that he remains hopeful that they’ll have the full complement of players available for the Iowa State match-up. One player who will return is spear Aubrey Burks, who missed time against the Pokes, while wide receiver Justin Robinson is trending toward playing after dealing with injuries that have cost him the opportunity to play in the past two games.
Now, some of those players might not practice all this week but there is optimism that the Mountaineers will at least be close to full strength.
3—Run game gets going. West Virginia as a team rushed for 389 yards against Oklahoma State and while some of that is the matchups as Brown felt that they had advantages in the interior, the rest was how the Mountaineers executed in that aspect of the game. Not only was it up front on the offensive line with the communication between themselves and the tight ends, but fundamentally it was the best effort, too, as the Mountaineers controlled the line of scrimmage.
The wide receivers also played a critical role not only with perimeter blocking but running off defenders in man coverage which was an issue early in the year. This is a team that wants to run the football and the effort all around was as good as it's been all season against the Cowboys. Now, the key is to keep that effort moving forward.
4—Iowa State presents challenges. The Cyclones are currently 5-0 on the season and ranked No. 11 nationally ahead of the matchup with the Mountaineers. Offensively, it’s quarterback Rocco Becht that is the engine to the attack and he is currently playing at a high level. The redshirt sophomore keeps plays alive with his feet and is executing the offense at a high level at this stage of the season.
The Cyclones will use a lot of shifts and motions with multiple tight ends but have a pair of pass-catching wide receivers in Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins who both have over 400 yards receiving. On the ground, Iowa State will use three different running backs with over 200+ yards this season, while Becht also can run.
Defensively it’s the same three-safety look under Jon Heacock and while it’s not only an impressive scheme, the veteran coordinator always seems to have answers. The Cyclones will mix up their coverages on the backend and have big bodies up front that are long and are able to eat up gaps. The defense is designed to make things hard on opposing offenses and will show a light box, but the safety becomes the fitter.
The Cyclones have been very good in the second half of games under Heacock which means that adjustments are being made and the Mountaineers need to be prepared for that.
5—West Virginia not repeating past mistakes. After a disappointing performance in the season opener against Penn State where Brown said that his team appeared to be anxious at times with the spotlight on them in a nationally televised platform against a high-level opponent. Well after looking back at how the Mountaineers handled the lead-up to that game, the Mountaineers aren’t going to allow some of things that perhaps weren’t in the best interest of their players in terms of exposure.
The focus this time is to minimize the distractions and make things completely focused on the game itself and the opportunity ahead for this football team. That means putting their blinders on and getting ready to host a talented Cyclones football team.
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