Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Monday Mountaineer Football Notebook
November 30, 2020 04:26 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Neal Brown said Monday on his weekly teleconference with Big 12 media his team is as healthy as it has been since the season began back on Sept. 12.
Oklahoma's COVID issues within its program last week caused last Saturday's game against the Sooners to be postponed until Saturday, Dec. 12.
"I understand," Brown said. "We're in unique times, and we've done relatively well managing it here, but that can change at any moment. I'm not naïve. I understand where Oklahoma was coming from, I understand their position, and my hope is and our plan is to play that game on the 12th."
West Virginia's five-games-in-five-week stretch was beginning to take its toll on some of the players, most notably running back Leddie Brown.
His weekly work load leading into the TCU game on Nov. 14 was significantly reduced and Brown said the open weekend two weeks ago really helped him heal.
Now, Brown has had another week to get his body right.
"We'd probably rather not have that extra week, honestly," Brown said. "I think for this time of year we're in a good position. I think we'll be pretty close to full strength, as long as everything goes well this week going into the game."
Brown has had to shelve his plans for Oklahoma and move on to Iowa State, one of the hottest teams in college football right now. The Cyclones and the Sooners, WVU's two remaining opponents, are in the driver's seat to reach the Big 12 Championship game to be played in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 19.
If Iowa State wins, it is guaranteed a spot, and even with a loss to West Virginia, it is still mostly assured a spot in the championship game. Oklahoma can return to defend its Big 12 title with wins over Baylor and West Virginia to conclude the regular season.
Kansas State's loss to Baylor last Saturday cleared up a lot of the uncertainty.
A third Oklahoma loss could bring Oklahoma State, and even Texas and West Virginia, into the title game picture, but the scenarios are complicated and Oklahoma still holds most of the tiebreakers, according to The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel.
Therefore, West Virginia is most likely playing the role of the spoiler with an opportunity to get some momentum heading into the offseason.
Neal Brown, on Monday, singled out the play of Iowa State running back Breece Hall, whom Brown says is "playing as good as any offensive player in our league right now," tight end Charlie Kolar and linebacker Mike Rose on the defensive side of the ball.
"He played well last year, and I thought he was really underappreciated (in terms of postseason accolades)," Brown said of Rose. "He was making plays all over the field – in the box and outside the box."
Brown said his young, 5-3 football team will be significantly tested in its final two games of the season.
"We already scouted pretty heavy our last opponent just like we scouted pretty heavy our next opponent," he said. "It's two teams playing as good as anybody in our league to finish up. The keys for us to win are we're going to have to take care of the football, we've got to establish a run game and stop the run. Down the stretch, those are going to be critical pieces for us."
On Sunday, the Big 12 announced that Saturday's game in Ames will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
The league also announced today networks will utilize a six-day window before determining a start time and television coverage for the regular season finale now being played on Dec. 12 at Milan Puskar Stadium against Oklahoma.
The Big 12 now has three games scheduled on that date: Texas at Kansas, Oklahoma State at Baylor and Oklahoma at West Virginia.
The OU-West Virginia game could still have title-game implications depending upon what happens this weekend.
The Big 12 is scheduled to have a full slate of games this weekend including Texas at Kansas State on FOX at noon, Oklahoma State at TCU on ESPN2 at noon, Kansas at Texas Tech at noon on FS2, West Virginia at Iowa State on ESPN at 3:30 p.m. and Baylor at Oklahoma at 8 p.m. on FOX.
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
