Neal Brown remained steadfast.
West Virginia, who was picked dead last in the Big 12 Conference in the pre-season media poll, wouldn’t finish there as the fifth-year head coach was confident in his football team.
"Pre-season poll we were last I can guarantee you we won’t finish last. We have a much better football team than that and we’re anxious to show it," Brown said.
And this team wasn’t just picked last. They were at just 129 points, behind all four of the newcomers. That total was almost 100 points lower than the 13th place team in newcomer Cincinnati with 202.
The Mountaineers over/under win projection was set at 4.5 for the season and they surpassed that Oct. 28 with a 41-28 road win over UCF on the way to an 8-4 finish in the regular season. That included a 6-3 mark in the Big 12 Conference, good for a tie for fourth overall.
It was only the fourth time since joining the Big 12 that West Virginia had hit the eight-win mark and only the third that the Mountaineers checked off six conference wins.
Offensively, the Mountaineers took a massive leap after the bye week before the Houston game increasing their point total from 26.4 points to 35.2 while the yardage rose from 347.7 to 503.
Related: The added effect of All-American corner Beanie Bishop on WVU
Over that seven-game stretch, West Virginia averaged 7.1 yards per play which if you look at entire seasons only 2018 (7.1) and 2006 (7.3) matched or exceeded that total since the turn of the century. Brown took control of the offense and promised the direction would be positive. At least for seven games, the head coach certainly delivered on that front.
On defense, West Virginia trimmed their points allowed down to 27.5 from their 33 allowed during the 2022 campaign and while it wasn’t a massive leap – it was indeed a leap forward.
West Virginia also displayed the ability to win close games, which had escaped this team in the past. This edition of the Mountaineers were 3-1 in one-score contests with the lone loss coming on a walk-off Hail Mary against Houston in a 41-39 defeat after the offense rallied to take a lead with 12 seconds left.
“We’ve got to get better and give ourselves an opportunity to win and we’ve got to finish these close games. That’s something that we’ve got to get over the hump and do that because in this league you’re going to play close games,” Brown said prior to the season.
West Virginia understood where they needed to improve in each phase with a focus on the offensive side in being better in the efficiency department especially on first down and in the red zone, while also creating more explosive plays and eliminating errors. On defense, the Mountaineers had to do a better job in limiting explosive plays and creating takeaways to help improve the product.
West Virginia averaged just 44.3 yards in penalties per game down from 54 the year before, while converting on 40-percent of their third down attempts. The defense held opponents to just 38-percent in third down situations after allowing 41-percent the year prior.
It wasn’t a complete turnaround, but it certainly was a massive sign of improvement almost across the board. And now with a bowl game on tap, West Virginia has an opportunity to win nine games for the first time since 2016 and prepare themselves for a different type of expectations next season.
The Mountaineers have a chance to return a significant number of snaps heading into 2024 and in the new look Big 12 that could mean that the program is perched more toward the top than the bottom.
Quite the turnaround for a team that many counted out before the season began.
"Our outlook is much more positive both inhouse and outside here. There’s no doubt, it’s significantly different," Brown said.
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