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 road trip to Arizona.
1—Quarterback starter uncertain. Garrett Greene is the starting quarterback when healthy, Brown shot down any notion that wouldn’t be the case by calling any potential switch at the position a non-starter. But Greene left the game against Kansas State at halftime and his status for this weekend is very much unclear at this stage as the senior didn’t practice Monday and it isn’t a certainty he will be back this week.
I asked Brown if Greene could play without practicing much this week and he said that it’s too early to tell as West Virginia has to be careful with the player and make the decision that’s in the best interest of them. Then the coaching staff has to weigh if they have enough experience or practice time to go and play the game. Clearly, Greene has the experience to do that, but it remains to be seen on the practice time.
If Greene can’t go, the job will go to Nicco Marchiol who outside of last week has fared well when called upon during the course of his career including earlier this season against Oklahoma State. It will be critical for Marchiol to make the most of the practice reps that he does get this season, and the Mountaineers would call plays that they are confident in him handling in the game with a left-handed theory.
2—Injuries. Obviously senior quarterback Garrett Greene’s status is up in the air if you read the first bulletin here, but as for the rest of the banged-up players, Brown said that it’s too early to tell where left tackle Wyatt Milum is at in terms of playing ahead of the Arizona game. Running back Jahiem White should return as Brown said that by the middle of the week he should be able to go after leaving at halftime of the Kansas State game.
But several players will definitely be out as spear safety Aubrey Burks will not play against Arizona, while wide receiver Jaden Bray is in the same boat although he should return after the bye.
Brown is hopeful that cornerback Ayden Garnes will return to practice by Wednesday and be able to play while defensive linemen TJ Jackson and Hammond Russell were limited against Kansas State but gave the Mountaineers some good snaps and are expected to play Saturday.
3—Moving forward and sustaining. West Virginia could point to a lot of excuses in what happened in the second half against Kansas State such as the mounting injuries, but Brown understands that people don’t want to hear that, and they simply didn’t play well enough to win the game. But that one is now in the past and the focus is flipping the script forward to Arizona and what comes next.
The Mountaineers put the Kansas State game to bed Monday and were able to own the mistakes from both the players and the coaches while looking at ways to improve. But even in that 45-18 loss, Brown did see some things that if the team can sustain them moving forward and make some tweaks it could lead to some success over the final five games of the schedule. West Virginia was very good on special teams, while they did a very good job against the top rushing offense in the conference. But where the Mountaineers must improve is being much better in the passing game even though it was well blocked and defended the pass.
Perhaps most importantly, West Virginia needs to be careful this week and get the guys who are healthy and prepared to play and make the most of their opportunities.
4—Preparing for McMillan. West Virginia is set to go against the most talented wide receiver that they’ve played this season and arguably over the past couple in Arizona junior Tetairoa McMillan. Through seven games, McMillan has hauled in 47 passes for 780 yards and 4 touchdowns including a 300-yard receiving game in the season opener against New Mexico. Like most teams, West Virginia is going to have to pay a lot of attention to No. 4 and Brown admitted that they aren’t going to be able to line up and play him like they have everybody else this season.
Don’t expect man-on-man coverage there, as McMillan is likely a top-ten pick in the NFL Draft next season and on the surface is the best pass catcher that the Mountaineers have faced since Quentin Johnston from TCU during the 2022 campaign. Expect that trying to limit how he can impact the game to be a major focus of the West Virginia defense in the game against the Wildcats.
5—West Virginia needs more explosives on offense. The Mountaineers aren’t getting as many explosive plays in the run game, which has limited their ability to hit on those passes down the field as they were able to do down the stretch last season. The offense has hit a number of passes that are in the ballpark of an explosive play only a few yards short, but they need to be able to consistently hit those types of plays in order for them to be much better on the offensive side of the ball over the final five games.
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