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 2020 schedule.

1—Depth chart out, but still in flux. West Virginia released a depth chart for the opener against Eastern Kentucky but even with that in place Brown made it clear that nothing is set in stone. In fact, the coaching staff is promoting battles between the positions heading into the final practices before the Mountaineers kickoff against the Colonels. This isn’t ground-breaking news by any means and is often a tactic used by coaches to squeeze the most out of their club prior to the first game, but it could become interesting at some of those spots that still hold an “-or-“ designation on the depth chart such as tight end or at several other spots across the roster. That also could come into play at some other spots as well as Brown isn’t holding back on his desire to move people around especially in a game where many players are expected to see the field given the nature of the contest against an FCS opponent.

2—West Virginia focused on itself. Eastern Kentucky is coming off a 59-0 loss to Marshall in their season opener in which they were held to 166 total yards and almost had as many punts (6) as first downs (7). It was a lopsided game that clearly showcased that the Mountaineers would be considered heavy favorites over the FCS level Colonels. Brown certainly tried his hardest to instill confidence that Eastern Kentucky would be making a significant leap from the first game to the second, but that first contest certainly left a lot to be desired from a competitive angle making the jump against a power five team.

But it’s Brown’s job to keep his team focused on the task at hand and while this game is considered a mismatch on paper, games certainly aren’t won there. The message from the head coach is that West Virginia will have a showcase opportunity on FS1 and the goal is simply to get better. Trust the climb has been the mantra of the program since the head coach took over and taking care of business in these situations is just the next step on that ascension.

There is no question that West Virginia enters this game as the overwhelming favorite, but none of that matters if the Mountaineers don’t take care of business and come prepared to play. Effort and physicality matters and that is going to be what they want to see in this opener. Brown believes they are at that stage and even in a game like this one, they will be able to find out some things about themselves moving forward to the much more challenging slate that lies ahead.

3—Chemistry, leadership a concern. While Brown believes his team is ready to hit the ground running for the opener when it comes to the on-the-field aspect, there are items that still need resolved. Namely those categories are with chemistry, leadership and discipline. It’s understandable considering the very unique and different off-season that the Mountaineers have gone through but it is something that is eventually going to have to be addressed as this team matures.

Chemistry is a concern in large part because that is often formed when teams are around one-another over the course of the summer but due to circumstances out of their control that couldn’t happen this year. The Mountaineers have only been practicing as a full-squad for the past two weeks meaning that there simply wasn’t enough time to build that aspect. Yes, there have been some limited team activities such as dinners during the off-season but those were with small position groups so there wasn’t a chance to really hone in and develop that critical aspect. It isn’t something unique to West Virginia though as all teams are going through the same challenges and it doesn’t have to be formed now as last year’s team displayed toward the end of last season but it does eventually need to occur.

Leadership is much of the same, as those also emerge once the entire team is working together. That did start to happen in winter workouts, but the long layoff clearly affected that and now the challenge is to identify those leaders on the club and build them up over time. Getting a game under their belt will certainly help here, but these things that are often taken for granted will be key in a very unique year.

4—Expect a lot of players. A low leverage opener is typically a place to get in as many players as possible and that is especially true this year. Expect to see plenty of freshmen, newcomers and just numbers of personnel in general in order to get game-action for those on the roster. Brown has said that anybody that has proven they are ready to get in the game will get a chance against the Colonels which is good to get the feet wet for some of these players that could play much bigger roles down the road. This was going to be true regardless but with no redshirt rule, or worry about eligibility, this could be a significant increase on the total number of players that could see the field against Eastern Kentucky. That is the only way that Brown is going to be able to find out what they can do in game situations and it’s a good start in a game where again the program is considered the heavy favorite.

5—Only one injury, but methods to the madness. Outside of sophomore safety Kerry Martin, who opted out due to health concerns, the Mountaineers will only have one other player that is assured to be out against Eastern Kentucky in redshirt junior defensive end Taijh Alston. The defensive lineman continues to recover from a season ending injury and isn’t expected to be back on the field until the mid-way point of the year at the earliest.

Of course, it’s important to note that this year is unique in the sense that things could quite literally change by the minute when it comes to player availability with the threat of COVID-19, but that’s where we’re at heading into the first part of the week. Brown said that they will go into each home game with a dress out list and a jersey list and will approach this year the same way while devising contingency plans for each position on the roster if a player wouldn’t be available.

The Mountaineers will test today as well as Friday to determine if any player is going to miss the game due to that but for now, things are looking positive on that front.

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