West Virginia football looking to sort out the sync in passing game

For the second consecutive year, West Virginia was challenged against Oklahoma State in the passing game and didn’t answer the challenge.

The Mountaineers wide receivers struggled to win against man coverage on the outside against the physical Cowboys secondary and even when they did manage to do it they didn’t connect.

“Different game, same story from last year,” West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said.

That was apparent especially on the outside with redshirt sophomore Bryce Ford-Wheaton who had managed to create separation but quarterback Jarret Doege wasn’t able to connect on those opportunities. He hauled in only one catch on four targets and was missed on others.

“I thought Ford-Wheaton won a bunch we just didn’t get him the ball,” Brown said.

One of those examples came in the fourth quarter when Ford-Wheaton was able to win on the outside but the throw from Doege carried him just out of bounds.

The inside wide receivers were able to win some of their battles and the results showed as the duo of T.J. Simmons and Winston Wright combined to make eight catches for 185 yards and a score. That was all but 100 yards of the total that Doege threw for in the game.

The passing game as a whole seemed off at times and head coach Neal Brown chalked it up to a variety of reasons. While the Mountaineers didn’t win battles on the outside early in the game, Doege struggled with where to go with the football in other instances. That combination is less than desirable.

“I think a couple times we probably didn’t have good calls on,” Brown said. “I’ll take those.”

Protection was an issue at times as well as the Cowboys racked up five sacks, some of those without the benefit of blitzing. For the game, Oklahoma State only blitzed 11 total times but was able to generate pressure on 22 drop backs in the game. The fumble that was returned for a touchdown was generated due to pressure off the left side as Doege was dropping back to throw the ball.

“I don’t think we protected very well. I don’t think we threw the ball well and we didn’t win on the outside a lot,” Brown said.

It was a much different story than the opener when Doege was able to put together a pristine game from the pocket against Eastern Kentucky but of course, this was not the Colonels. The Cowboys boast one of the best defenses in the Big 12 Conference but things have to get better with the passing battery considering it was expected to be one of the strengths of the team.

Just as you can’t put too much stock in the opener, one bad game a season does not make against the Cowboys. But the focus will be on winning those individual battles in order to put themselves in a better position against some of the challenges that lie ahead on the schedule.

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