Photo by: Caleb Saunders
Monday Mountaineer Football Notebook
October 26, 2020 05:00 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The clearest view of any situation is obviously from above. Take this year's West Virginia University football season, for instance.
The ground-level view of what's happened so far is a 2-2 record in Big 12 play – two wins at home and two losses on the road, including this past Saturday's 34-27 setback at Texas Tech.
Above the ground, the picture reveals a very young Mountaineer team that has been involved in four very difficult, competitive football games, each decided in the second half.
At Oklahoma State on Sept. 26, West Virginia battled back from a 20-10 third quarter deficit to make it a touchdown game heading into the fourth quarter. It took a 15-play, 80-yard drive from the sixth-ranked Cowboys to finally put the Mountaineers away late.
One week later, WVU had last year's Big 12 runner-up Baylor on the ropes late in the fourth quarter before the Bears took advantage of a special teams miscue to tie the game with just 1:19 left.
West Virginia managed to battle back and win that one in the second overtime.
Two weeks later against Kansas, the Jayhawks were within a touchdown of West Virginia late in the third quarter until Leddie Brown got through a crack at the 13-yard line and raced 87 yards for a momentum-changing touchdown.
Brown's score finally gave WVU the breathing room it needed to pull away for a 38-17 victory.
And then against Tech, West Virginia overcame a slow start facing a Red Raider team with a two-week advantage in prep time playing in Lubbock to tie the game 27-all with six minutes left in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers had the football on the Red Raider 42-yard line with less than nine minutes left when a fumble resulted in a 56-yard, scoop-and-score touchdown for Texas Tech.
That TD ultimately decided the game.
"We didn't finish it on the road, and this team has got to get to a point where we finish those type of games," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said Monday morning. "In our league, most of these games come down to the fourth quarter. We won one versus Baylor and didn't win this one versus Texas Tech, and we didn't win versus Oklahoma State, so we're 1-2 in those type of contests and we've got to be better."
In reality, all four Big 12 games were competitive well into the second half, with West Virginia winning two and losing two.
And in all four, West Virginia's youthfulness has factored into the outcome one way or another.
Against Oklahoma State, a missed run fit resulted in L.D. Brown's 66-yard touchdown run and a missed block minutes later allowed Tyren Irby to recover a strip-sack fumble and return it 44 yards for a touchdown.
A bobbled punt late in the Baylor game gave the struggling Bears offense a short field to score a 34-yard touchdown with 1:19 left in the game, which West Virginia eventually managed to overcome in overtime.
Then two weeks later, Kansas scored a late special teams touchdown against mostly backups, although the outcome of the game was already decided by then.
Last Saturday, it was Zech McPhearson's scoop-and-score fumble return at crunch time that ultimately did West Virginia in.
That's the bird's-eye view of where things sit right now with Neal Brown's young football team – so close, in either direction.
"I think we're a better football team than we were a year ago. Are we where we need to be culturally, or where I'd hope we'd be midway through Year Two? Probably not," Brown said.
"We are like most programs," he added. "We'd like to have had the spring and the summer to kind of grow with our guys. We didn't, and that's just what it is. There is no reason to complain about it. We are a work in progress. We show signs and then sometimes it's two steps forward and one step back, but we're going to continue to get better."
Briefly:
* Brown was asked Monday morning during his weekly teleconference about his philosophy on replacing struggling players or changing tactics during games.
Brown said the play-calling piece is easy. Coaches basically start with a catalog of plays and then pare those down to the ones the players can execute best during game situations.
"You don't take your whole glossary into each game, you kind of pick and choose, that's what you do," Brown said. "If plays aren't working, or your quarterback doesn't like a pass play or your O-line is not good at blocking a run play then you get away from them. You don't ask them to execute stuff they can't do."
The tricky part, of course, is replacing struggling players.
"I think you try and get the most out of your best players. When players are struggling you try and motivate them. You try different techniques and if you have people that are equal you play them," he explained. "If you don't, you try and ride through some downs and that's kind of what it is, especially a young player. I think a lot of people give up on young players too soon. I think you've got to be really careful on that."
He makes a great point.
Years ago, in 1991, I recall young wide receiver Eddie Hill dropping a game-winning touchdown in the back of the end zone against Syracuse during a game West Virginia lost to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
Hill, then just a sophomore, was being used primarily on running plays and replaced in passing situations because he was a much better run blocker than pass receiver at the time.
But Hill kept pestering Nehlen to keep him in the game during passing situations and when Nehlen finally relented, Hill botched his big opportunity by dropping a perfect pass from quarterback Darren Studstill that would have put West Virginia ahead 17-16 in a game it lost 16-10.
Well, hit the fast-forward button two years to Hill's senior season in 1993.
It was Eddie Hill who came up with one of the most memorable catches in school history at 11th-ranked Boston College when he outfought BC's Eric Shorter for a 24-yard touchdown grab with less than two minutes to play in West Virginia's great 17-14 victory.
Hill's unforgettable reception completed West Virginia's second undefeated, untied regular season in school history and propelled the third-ranked Mountaineers to the Sugar Bowl.
Here is the moral of the story: if Don Nehlen would have given up on Eddie Hill early in his career, that Boston College catch (and the Sugar Bowl appearance) would have never happened!
The ground-level view of what's happened so far is a 2-2 record in Big 12 play – two wins at home and two losses on the road, including this past Saturday's 34-27 setback at Texas Tech.
Above the ground, the picture reveals a very young Mountaineer team that has been involved in four very difficult, competitive football games, each decided in the second half.
At Oklahoma State on Sept. 26, West Virginia battled back from a 20-10 third quarter deficit to make it a touchdown game heading into the fourth quarter. It took a 15-play, 80-yard drive from the sixth-ranked Cowboys to finally put the Mountaineers away late.
One week later, WVU had last year's Big 12 runner-up Baylor on the ropes late in the fourth quarter before the Bears took advantage of a special teams miscue to tie the game with just 1:19 left.
West Virginia managed to battle back and win that one in the second overtime.
Two weeks later against Kansas, the Jayhawks were within a touchdown of West Virginia late in the third quarter until Leddie Brown got through a crack at the 13-yard line and raced 87 yards for a momentum-changing touchdown.
Brown's score finally gave WVU the breathing room it needed to pull away for a 38-17 victory.
And then against Tech, West Virginia overcame a slow start facing a Red Raider team with a two-week advantage in prep time playing in Lubbock to tie the game 27-all with six minutes left in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers had the football on the Red Raider 42-yard line with less than nine minutes left when a fumble resulted in a 56-yard, scoop-and-score touchdown for Texas Tech.
That TD ultimately decided the game.
"We didn't finish it on the road, and this team has got to get to a point where we finish those type of games," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said Monday morning. "In our league, most of these games come down to the fourth quarter. We won one versus Baylor and didn't win this one versus Texas Tech, and we didn't win versus Oklahoma State, so we're 1-2 in those type of contests and we've got to be better."
In reality, all four Big 12 games were competitive well into the second half, with West Virginia winning two and losing two.
And in all four, West Virginia's youthfulness has factored into the outcome one way or another.
Against Oklahoma State, a missed run fit resulted in L.D. Brown's 66-yard touchdown run and a missed block minutes later allowed Tyren Irby to recover a strip-sack fumble and return it 44 yards for a touchdown.
A bobbled punt late in the Baylor game gave the struggling Bears offense a short field to score a 34-yard touchdown with 1:19 left in the game, which West Virginia eventually managed to overcome in overtime.
Then two weeks later, Kansas scored a late special teams touchdown against mostly backups, although the outcome of the game was already decided by then.
Last Saturday, it was Zech McPhearson's scoop-and-score fumble return at crunch time that ultimately did West Virginia in.
That's the bird's-eye view of where things sit right now with Neal Brown's young football team – so close, in either direction.
"I think we're a better football team than we were a year ago. Are we where we need to be culturally, or where I'd hope we'd be midway through Year Two? Probably not," Brown said.
"We are like most programs," he added. "We'd like to have had the spring and the summer to kind of grow with our guys. We didn't, and that's just what it is. There is no reason to complain about it. We are a work in progress. We show signs and then sometimes it's two steps forward and one step back, but we're going to continue to get better."
Briefly:
* Brown was asked Monday morning during his weekly teleconference about his philosophy on replacing struggling players or changing tactics during games.
Brown said the play-calling piece is easy. Coaches basically start with a catalog of plays and then pare those down to the ones the players can execute best during game situations.
"You don't take your whole glossary into each game, you kind of pick and choose, that's what you do," Brown said. "If plays aren't working, or your quarterback doesn't like a pass play or your O-line is not good at blocking a run play then you get away from them. You don't ask them to execute stuff they can't do."
The tricky part, of course, is replacing struggling players.
"I think you try and get the most out of your best players. When players are struggling you try and motivate them. You try different techniques and if you have people that are equal you play them," he explained. "If you don't, you try and ride through some downs and that's kind of what it is, especially a young player. I think a lot of people give up on young players too soon. I think you've got to be really careful on that."
He makes a great point.
Years ago, in 1991, I recall young wide receiver Eddie Hill dropping a game-winning touchdown in the back of the end zone against Syracuse during a game West Virginia lost to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.Hill, then just a sophomore, was being used primarily on running plays and replaced in passing situations because he was a much better run blocker than pass receiver at the time.
But Hill kept pestering Nehlen to keep him in the game during passing situations and when Nehlen finally relented, Hill botched his big opportunity by dropping a perfect pass from quarterback Darren Studstill that would have put West Virginia ahead 17-16 in a game it lost 16-10.
Well, hit the fast-forward button two years to Hill's senior season in 1993.
It was Eddie Hill who came up with one of the most memorable catches in school history at 11th-ranked Boston College when he outfought BC's Eric Shorter for a 24-yard touchdown grab with less than two minutes to play in West Virginia's great 17-14 victory.
Hill's unforgettable reception completed West Virginia's second undefeated, untied regular season in school history and propelled the third-ranked Mountaineers to the Sugar Bowl.
Here is the moral of the story: if Don Nehlen would have given up on Eddie Hill early in his career, that Boston College catch (and the Sugar Bowl appearance) would have never happened!
Players Mentioned
RB
/ FootballRich Rodriguez | Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 03
Reid Carrico | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Jeff Weimer | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
