West Virginia football focusing on itself as opener nears

The Mountaineers are doing themselves leading up to kickoff Sept. 12 against Eastern Kentucky and for all intents and purposes are remaining in camp mode.

That means more emphasis on themselves and going against each other leading up to the first game than they normally would in order to get in more valuable reps to refine the overall product. West Virginia head coach Neal Brown hopes to accomplish this through situational and full-speed work.

That’s no disrespect to their opponent, the FCS level Colonels, but with the off-season only truly beginning a few weeks ago once the team came together after previously working split-squad sessions at the start of fall camp it is to maximize the time available.

Yes, the off-season provided more work on the mental side of things with meetings and other aspects, but it lacked in opportunities to go through full-speed practice settings.

“I want to be smart, we’re not going to beat each other up in practice but probably going good on good a little longer than we normally would due to circumstances,” he said.

The Mountaineers will have only one non-conference game against Eastern Kentucky, which coincidentally opens their season against Marshall this weekend, before a bye week. That allows West Virginia to get in a game before having more time to prepare for the Big 12 Conference slate.

The expectation is that Eastern Kentucky, which finished 7-5 with a 42-0 loss to Louisville in 2019, will be tested three times leading up to the game. Keeping an FCS opponent on the slate, also affords the Mountaineers a chance to get in a non-conference dress rehearsal before things get difficult quickly.

You can’t underestimate any opponent but the Mountaineers are an undefeated 20-0 against FCS teams for a reason and the game will provide valuable snaps for all the players across the roster. It makes sense for both parties especially in a year like this one.

While Brown and company will have to dedicate more time on themselves than in a typical year, the good news is that they are in the second year with the program so some of the operational aspects are in place. Players are now used to what is expected out of them in practice making a difficult situation a little bit easier to manage.

“It’s just running way smoother. We’ve got a lot more guys who know what to do. Last year was a lot of guys who were trying to learn the offense and how to practice with coach Brown,” senior wide receiver T.J. Simmons said. “So I think that year under coach Brown got us a lot more experience.”

A lot of things are different this year, but the Mountaineers are getting ready for the season in their own way.

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