Neal Brown put his cards on the table not once, but twice.

But we’ll get back to those a little later.

In his debut as the West Virginia head coach, things certainly weren’t pristine. In many ways it had the look of a first-game with misfires and mistakes.

The offense mustered only a paltry 34 rushing yards, the lowest output in a win in six seasons, and missed plenty of opportunities in the passing game down the field. There was a total of only 13 first downs, the fewest in a win since 1982.

At times, it was downright ugly.

“I tried to give them a fair warning,” Brown said to the fan base after the game.