MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The mission for Neal Brown's young West Virginia football team this Saturday is no different than it was nine weeks ago when the season began – just get better.
 
That was his approach in week one against James Madison. That was his approach a week later when Missouri jumped all over his team in the first half before putting things into cruise control during its 38-7 victory.
 
That was his approach following his team's second-half collapse at Oklahoma, and that was his approach during last Thursday night's near miss at 11^th-ranked Baylor.
 
In two of three phases of play, we saw dramatic improvement from his football team. Special teams generated a big turnover and true freshman Winston Wright Jr. took a third-quarter kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown – the first time that's happened for the Mountaineers in four years.
 
The defense sacked Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer eight times and produced an impressive goal-line stand in the second quarter.
 
The Stills brothers, Reese Donahue and Jeffrey Pooler Jr. had their way with Baylor's offensive line, and second-level players Dylan Tonkery and Noah Guzman were outstanding behind them.
 
It was one small step for them, and, hopefully, one giant leap for Mountaineer football.
 
Now, Mountaineer fans from Weirton to Welch, Martinsburg to Matewan and all points in between want to see some growth from a young and inexperienced offense that has struggled all season long to get into any type of rhythm.
 
With the exception of the NC State game and a portion of the Kansas victory in Lawrence, the offense has been basically stuck in the mud.
 
West Virginia's lone offensive touchdown last Thursday night against Baylor was the result of senior George Campbell making a one-on-one play to turn a first-down reception into an 83-yard touchdown.
 
He was the only offensive player Brown mentioned by name when he recapped the Baylor game during his weekly news conference earlier this week.
 
"He will be more involved as we move forward," Brown noted.
 
In two instances, WVU had the ball in Baylor territory, once at the Bear 9, and both times high snaps sent the football back to midfield. One was recovered by the Mountaineers and the other wasn't, although it could have been.
 
The run game generated only 39 yards on 20 attempts without a quarterback sack. 
All West Virginia had to show for its 39 pass attempts were 20 completions for 205 yards with one interception. A half-dozen drops, some in critical situations on third down, compounded matters.
 
"We didn't play well enough to win at any position, offensively," Brown said. "Our margin for error is very small and we just continue to beat ourselves there."
 
The time of possession differential favored Baylor by more than 13 minutes and opponents are holding onto the football nearly three minutes per game longer than the Mountaineers this year.
 
And, of course, the blocking up front has been a struggle all year as West Virginia continues to see one experienced nose guard after another in a Big 12 Conference full of good noses.
 
"It's one of those things where you put on film that you are having a difficult time with a head-up nose, guess what you are going to see?" Brown said. "You're going to see a head-up nose."
 
An injury list longer than the drive from Morgantown to Lubbock, Texas, doesn't help matters, but that's been a part of the game ever since Walter Camp started putting air in footballs.
 
"The next guy up has got to step up and make plays," Brown said. "This is big-time college football and the expectation is whoever is next has got to step up and make plays, and that's the belief we've got to have as coaches as well."
 
Improvement in any or all of those areas is Brown's objective this Saturday when 3-5 Texas Tech comes to town.
 
The Red Raiders have experienced their own struggles, winning a pair of early games against overmatched Montana State and UTEP before losing by two touchdowns to Arizona. Against the Wildcats, Texas Tech lost promising sophomore quarterback Alan Bowman to a shoulder injury.
 
Reports out of Lubbock this week have Bowman now throwing, but there is no word on if he will be cleared to play this Saturday. Bowman can appear in one more game this season and still retain his redshirt.
 
In the meantime, Jett Duffey has taken over the Red Raider offense in Bowman's absence and led Tech to an impressive 45-35 home victory over Oklahoma State early last month. Duffey threw for 424 yards in that game and the Red Raiders put 586 total yards on the stat sheet.
 
Tech also took Baylor to overtime in Waco before falling 33-30.
 
First-year coach Matt Wells has a promising ball carrier in freshman SaRondorick Thompson, who leads the team with 550 yards and eight touchdowns, and a big threat in the passing game in 6-foot-6, 210-pound outside receiver T.J. Vasher, a player who has experienced success against West Virginia in the past.
 
Vasher leads the Red Raiders with 37 catches for 473 yards and six touchdowns.
 
Defensively, the Red Raiders have three big-league players at three different levels – senior defensive lineman Broderick Washington Jr., who has played 45 career games, senior 245-pound inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who leads the team with 87 tackles and 15 ½ tackles for losses, and senior defensive back Douglas Coleman III, who leads the country with seven interceptions heading into Saturday.
 
All three have got Neal Brown's attention.
 
"Those three guys really stand out," Brown said. "The Coleman kid leads the country in interceptions and he's around the ball a lot. Their linebacker is as good as anybody in our league at that position, and then they've got a D-lineman who I think is really good. He plays the run exceptionally well and does a good job of getting off defenders."
 
Just as West Virginia did in recent losses to Texas, Iowa State and Baylor, Texas Tech has been in a number of games this year and had a great opportunity to win at Kansas before self-destructing in the fourth quarter.
 
The Red Raiders have had two full weeks to digest that defeat, and also put in some extra wrinkles for Saturday's game against the Mountaineers in Morgantown.
 
Brown will have his wrinkles, too, including the possibility of working in Bowling Green transfer Jarret Doege at quarterback if things continue to be stale offensively this Saturday. Brown said earlier this week that Doege will now compete with Trey Lowe III for the backup quarterback job with Jack Allison now entering the transfer portal.
 
"We're preparing to win every game, and our plan is to win every game," Brown said. "We haven't gone into a game thinking we didn't have a great opportunity to win it, but it's just as important that we get better.
 
"Many of our seniors are playing the best football of their careers. If we got hot in the month of November we have an opportunity to make postseason play, so even with what our record is there are a lot of reasons to have hope and be excited around here," Brown added.
 
It's a True Blue game with all fans encouraged to wear their blue to the stadium. West Virginia military personnel will also be recognized as part of Military Appreciation Day and former Mountaineer players Freddie "Boom Boom" Smalls, a U.S. Army major, and retired U.S. Army specialist Ted Daniels will serve as honorary team captains for the opening coin toss.
 
It is also the second straight week a former Mountaineer player is a part of the national broadcasting team. Last Thursday night it was Pat McAfee and this Saturday it will be Anthony Becht, who is on the ESPN2 broadcast team with Beth Mowins and Rocky Boiman.
 
"I know our players and staff are really looking forward to getting back here," Brown said. "It's True Blue. We're going to honor our military so there are a lot of festivities around the game. We really need our crowd to come out and not only show up for that noon kickoff, but be loud and get behind our guys because we're going to need them."
 
The Mountaineer Sports Network coverage will begin right and early at 8:30 a.m. with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show leading into regular network coverage at 11 a.m. with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning.
 
Saturday's contest will be Texas Tech's fourth appearance in Morgantown. In 2017, the Mountaineers came back to defeat the Red Raiders 46-35. Texas Tech's lone victory at Milan Puskar Stadium was a 37-27 win in 2013. There are tickets are still remaining and those can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.