West Virginia head coach Neal Brown understands the challenge ahead in the season opener but there’s some work to be done in order to get to that point first.
The Mountaineers will take on Penn State in Morgantown but to get to that point the football team will use the time allotted to them in order to prepare not only for that game but the remainder of the Big 12 slate.
Then the primary focus will shift to the Nittany Lions once school begins.
“We’re in camp mode through Aug. 21, that’s the first say of school here. We’ve actually got more time in this camp than we’ve had during my time here,” Brown said.
That means that the Mountaineers will have a few weeks to get valuable reps, squeeze in a few scrimmages, try out some of the new technology and rules as well as be physical.
And as part of that it means creating more game-like situations and the expectation is that will be four or five times prior to kick off against the Nittany Lions.
“We have to be able to play our best because it’s going to take our best week one,” Brown said.
In order to accomplish that the Mountaineers plan on tackling and being physical all around. The offense plans to be based around the run which means that they’ve got to focus on coming off the ball and lowering their pads, while on defensively the focus will be on stopping the run and tackling.
“If you want to be a good tackling team there is only one way you can do it and that’s to practice it,” he said.
But there also is a fine balance that must be achieved in order for the Mountaineers to enter that meeting healthy despite the focus on making things as physical as possible in the process.
“But you better be prepared,” he said. “That’s our goal to stay healthy but have our guys prepared.”
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