Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Brown: Mountaineer Run Game Has to Improve
September 02, 2019 01:10 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia coach Neal Brown was pretty frank when asked about his team's running game during his weekly Big 12 coaches' teleconference on Monday morning.
"It's got to get better," he said.
Indeed, it does.
West Virginia ran the football 24 times against James Madison this past Saturday, netting just 34 yards on those 24 attempts in a 20-13 victory. That averages out to just 1.4 yards per rush.
The Mountaineers' longest run from scrimmage was only 5 yards, accomplished once by Kennedy McKoy and duplicated by Martell Pettaway.
Consequently, WVU had to rely on the passing of junior quarterback Austin Kendall, who completed 27 of his 42 attempts for 260 yards and two touchdowns.
Considering all of the difficulties going on around Kendall on Saturday, and the fact that he was playing a full football game for the first time since high school, he performed quite admirably.
"We've got to do a better job around him," Brown explained. "We had three blown pass protections where we gave up big hits, and we had six drops in the game. I thought he did a commendable job. I thought he saw the game well. I thought he stood in the pocket and had some courage. I thought his decision making was good, but we've got to play better around him."
That means getting more out of the run game, and having a successful running game requires more than just having good running backs and a good offensive line.
All of the pieces have to work in unison, much like motion offense in basketball, for instance. If one part is not functioning well then everything bogs down.
And against the Dukes, nothing was functioning well.
"We've got to strain harder up front," Brown explained. "I think our offensive line was getting on people but was not creating any movement, so we've got to strain. I think we've got to get more out of our tight ends. I don't think our tight ends were a factor in the game and our running backs, I don't think read the run game very well. We didn't set up our blocks and our quarterback has got to do a better job with his run fakes."
Yet another aspect of the run game Brown said needs improving is the wide receiver blocking, especially those guys lined up in the slot .
"I thought blocking at every position was severely below average," he said. "I thought our perimeter blocking at receiver was probably as bad as I've been around in a long time. Offensive line, we probably did a good job of communicating – we were on people – we just didn't get any movement. I think some of that was guys playing for the first time and they weren't coming off the ball and we've got to come off the ball and get movement.
"We didn't block at any position very well, and I thought our slot receivers were as big a part of our run game not going well as our offensive line," he added.
In many respects it looked like a bunch of 21- and 22-year-olds (James Madison) playing against a bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds (West Virginia), which was basically the case on Saturday.
Brown also thought the plan his team had going into the game to run the football against the Dukes was probably a little too vanilla.
"We've got to game plan better," he said. "We went into the game thinking we could win those one-on-ones where we didn't have to necessarily try and trick them in the run game and that wasn't the case, so we've got to do a better job in the game-plan mode."
In the same vein, Brown said he was pleased his guys were able to figure out a way to win a difficult football game when things were not functioning smoothly.
Bear in mind, nine years ago 13th-ranked Virginia Tech wasn't able to do that against these guys.
"We did find a way to win, and I think that's important," Brown pointed out. "I think that says something about our kids. I think what happens a lot of times in those situations is guys get tight and they try and do too much, and I didn't think our guys did that, and I think that's commendable."
Looking ahead to this Saturday facing a cornered and angry Missouri team, Brown knows his guys are going to have to play much better across the board in order to be successful.
"We've got to do a better job of coaching them and teaching them, and we've got to learn from the mistakes we made because we will get exposed against the rest of our schedule if we do some of the same things," he said.
Briefly:
* Brown indicated sophomore running back Leddie Brown, who missed last Saturday's opener against James Madison because of an undisclosed injury, is questionable for this weekend's game against Missouri.
"He has made considerable improvement," Brown noted.
* The Mountaineers will be making their first visit to Columbia, Missouri, since Oct. 1, 1994 when they knocked off the Tigers 34-10.
That victory turned around a dismal 1-4 start to the season and propelled West Virginia to a Carquest Bowl game appearance against South Carolina.
Neal Brown will have his regular weekly meeting with West Virginia media on Tuesday at noon.
"It's got to get better," he said.
Indeed, it does.
West Virginia ran the football 24 times against James Madison this past Saturday, netting just 34 yards on those 24 attempts in a 20-13 victory. That averages out to just 1.4 yards per rush.
The Mountaineers' longest run from scrimmage was only 5 yards, accomplished once by Kennedy McKoy and duplicated by Martell Pettaway.
Consequently, WVU had to rely on the passing of junior quarterback Austin Kendall, who completed 27 of his 42 attempts for 260 yards and two touchdowns.
Considering all of the difficulties going on around Kendall on Saturday, and the fact that he was playing a full football game for the first time since high school, he performed quite admirably.
"We've got to do a better job around him," Brown explained. "We had three blown pass protections where we gave up big hits, and we had six drops in the game. I thought he did a commendable job. I thought he saw the game well. I thought he stood in the pocket and had some courage. I thought his decision making was good, but we've got to play better around him."
That means getting more out of the run game, and having a successful running game requires more than just having good running backs and a good offensive line.
All of the pieces have to work in unison, much like motion offense in basketball, for instance. If one part is not functioning well then everything bogs down.
And against the Dukes, nothing was functioning well.
"We've got to strain harder up front," Brown explained. "I think our offensive line was getting on people but was not creating any movement, so we've got to strain. I think we've got to get more out of our tight ends. I don't think our tight ends were a factor in the game and our running backs, I don't think read the run game very well. We didn't set up our blocks and our quarterback has got to do a better job with his run fakes."
Yet another aspect of the run game Brown said needs improving is the wide receiver blocking, especially those guys lined up in the slot .
"I thought blocking at every position was severely below average," he said. "I thought our perimeter blocking at receiver was probably as bad as I've been around in a long time. Offensive line, we probably did a good job of communicating – we were on people – we just didn't get any movement. I think some of that was guys playing for the first time and they weren't coming off the ball and we've got to come off the ball and get movement.
"We didn't block at any position very well, and I thought our slot receivers were as big a part of our run game not going well as our offensive line," he added.
In many respects it looked like a bunch of 21- and 22-year-olds (James Madison) playing against a bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds (West Virginia), which was basically the case on Saturday.
Brown also thought the plan his team had going into the game to run the football against the Dukes was probably a little too vanilla.
"We've got to game plan better," he said. "We went into the game thinking we could win those one-on-ones where we didn't have to necessarily try and trick them in the run game and that wasn't the case, so we've got to do a better job in the game-plan mode."
In the same vein, Brown said he was pleased his guys were able to figure out a way to win a difficult football game when things were not functioning smoothly.
Bear in mind, nine years ago 13th-ranked Virginia Tech wasn't able to do that against these guys.
"We did find a way to win, and I think that's important," Brown pointed out. "I think that says something about our kids. I think what happens a lot of times in those situations is guys get tight and they try and do too much, and I didn't think our guys did that, and I think that's commendable."
Looking ahead to this Saturday facing a cornered and angry Missouri team, Brown knows his guys are going to have to play much better across the board in order to be successful.
"We've got to do a better job of coaching them and teaching them, and we've got to learn from the mistakes we made because we will get exposed against the rest of our schedule if we do some of the same things," he said.
Briefly:
* Brown indicated sophomore running back Leddie Brown, who missed last Saturday's opener against James Madison because of an undisclosed injury, is questionable for this weekend's game against Missouri.
"He has made considerable improvement," Brown noted.
* The Mountaineers will be making their first visit to Columbia, Missouri, since Oct. 1, 1994 when they knocked off the Tigers 34-10.
That victory turned around a dismal 1-4 start to the season and propelled West Virginia to a Carquest Bowl game appearance against South Carolina.
Neal Brown will have his regular weekly meeting with West Virginia media on Tuesday at noon.
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