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 2019 schedule.
1—Injury updates. It was a mix of good news and bad news for West Virginia on the injury front as the team prepares for the third week of the year. What was expected since it occurred has now become official as redshirt sophomore defensive end Taijh Alston is out for the year after sustaining a torn patella tendon in the second quarter against Missouri after a block.
Alston, 6-foot-4, left the game on a cart and had surgery Tuesday morning. He had played 31 snaps through two games and was a regular in the rotation at the five-technique defensive end but now the program will be forced to pick up the prices.
Brown said that it wasn’t a dirty play on the block, it was just something that happens in football. Alston had recorded one sack in his snaps but West Virginia will now rely on a combination of Michigan graduate transfer Reuben Jones and Jeffery Pooler at the defensive end spot. The one fallout is that the Mountaineers likely won’t be able to show some of the look that they did against Missouri with two defensive ends on the field at the same time given the loss of Alston.
On the positive front, the Mountaineers will get sophomore running back Leddie Brown back after missing the first two games with a rolled ankle. Brown will provide a physical element to the run game that has been severely lacking through the first two games and could provide a boost.
Now, Brown has been out of football for around four weeks but he has started to slowly look like himself which comes at the right time to compete at the position.
2—Changes are coming. Brown stopped short of saying which players are going to see action but one thing is clear there will be some moves when it comes to personnel. The biggest place this will be true is on the offensive line where the plan is going to be throwing in some of those backups into the rotation to see how they are able to respond. The goal will be to figure out the best five up front and that means reps for players such as John Hughes, Briason Mays and James Gmiter. Competition will be the keyword for essentially every spot on the offensive line as the coaches look to identify some answers to the problems up front. Brown made it clear that outside of left tackle where Colton McKivitz, none of the other four starters have played well and that means competition will be there.
But it doesn’t just stop at the offensive line. Brown plans to allow running backs to get in the mix to compete with the two seniors such as Alec Sinkfield, who ran the ball better than anybody against Missouri, as well as Brown who returns from injury. True freshmen wide receivers Ali Jennings and Winston Wright are going to see the field for the first time this year to add to the battle at that spot while the plan also is to increase the role for nose guard Jordan Jefferson.
The Mountaineers also plan to play s-back Logan Thimons more after he made the most of his opportunity late in the game to clear at least some holes in the run game.
Practice will be the ultimate determination but West Virginia is going to see some changes and it's the right move. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, this is a sane approach.
3—Disappointment. West Virginia was soundly beaten by Missouri and while Brown can handle losing, the disappointment stemmed from a lack of physicality on both sides of the ball and not doing what they were coached to do. It started on the opening play of the game where the Mountaineers were attempting to steal a possession due to how the Tigers lined up but a poor kick resulted in essentially a pooch to give Missouri the ball near midfield to start the game.
There were obvious issues when it came on offense and defense that stood out to the head coach. On defense, those involved allowing 232 yards rushing to the Tigers and missing 22 tackles along with 5 sacks on Bryant. Turnovers on offense along with an inability to run the ball were the biggest issues.
Brown echoed that while it was disappointing, he isn’t discouraged for the future and there is an opportunity to grow from the failure moving forward. How the team responds from the first adversity of the season is going to be an indication of where the team is at and what Brown wants to see.
The coaching staff showed the team the tape of the game and confronted what they have to work on moving forward with brutal honesty and then flip the page to the next game. Still, things have to improve in four items: playing hard, doing what their coached to do, being a tougher football team and being invested in what they are doing. Those are non-negotiables for Brown and while it won’t be an overnight deal it’s something they have to work on moving forward.
4—Punting still needs works. West Virginia needs to get more distance on the rugby kicks and more hang time when the Mountaineers attempt to directionally punt. It’s not as if Josh Growden hasn’t had success kicking the ball, it’s just a matter of inconsistency with the execution. Against Missouri, Growden hit the ball well twice but the other kicks have to get better.
That is especially true when it comes to the coverage aspects in order to give that team an ability to do their jobs. The plan is to continue to mix things up with the punt team every week in order to make things difficult to prepare for that unit. The punting situation as a whole is in a much better spot than it was during the during the spring but there is still work that needs to be done.
The Mountaineers are going to have to win on special teams to win football games that means being more sound in that area of the game.
5—N.C. State under the radar. The Wolfpack has done an excellent job recruiting and building things up under head coach Dave Doeren under the last seven years. Over the past two years, the program has won 9 games back-to-back, which represents the second most in the Atlantic Coast Conference during that time behind only Clemson. They have done a good job developing what talent they have been able to add over the past couple years and are 2-0 on the season.
Starting quarterback Matthew McKay has started two games in his career and reminds Brown a lot of what he just saw a week ago against Missouri in Kelly Bryant. It doesn’t hurt that he has plenty of playmakers around him both with the tight ends, who they use vertically, and the wide receivers along with a backfield that is going to get a number of players involved.
On the defensive side, the Wolfpack have transitioned from a four-down front to a three-down front and have some principles from the 3-3-5 stack with former West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson now on staff. The strength of the unit is the defensive line and the Mountaineers are going to have their work cut out for them as the Wolfpack has allowed only 49 yards rushing in two games.
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