Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
WVU’s Brown Provides a Team Update as it Enters Mock-Week Mode
August 22, 2022 04:34 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Neal Brown said his football team is working off a Thursday schedule to line up with the Thursday night kickoff in Pittsburgh on Sept. 1.
So, that means today is really Wednesday, if that makes any sense.
"We had our last scrimmage on Thursday night and then we met on Friday," he said earlier today. "We didn't do anything on Saturday and then started to work on a mock game week on Sunday, and we will get into some Pitt as we go. It's kind of a way to train our guys for what the actual game week will be."
This Thursday evening will serve the as team's mock game, which is basically a dry run for the opener.
"We are going to work some Pitt this week, don't get me wrong, but our real in-depth preparation will start on Friday," he said.
As far as last Thursday night's scrimmage, Brown said the team got in a lot of special teams work and will do some more special teams work inside the stadium this afternoon.
Overall, he believes this aspect of play is a little bit ahead of where it was at the same time last year.
"I think a lot of that has to do with our roster being in better shape with more guys that can run," he explained. "I don't think we'll be as dependent on our starters who are playing a high percentage of our snaps. "I think that's going to help us as we go through a long, difficult schedule."
Brown mentioned the effort put forth by long-snapper Austin Brinkman, and he said he also likes the players he has back returning kickoffs and punts.
"We run better on our coverage units and (Florida State transfer) Parker (Grothaus) has been a huge addition on our kickoff team," he said.
Offensively, sophomore running back Justin Johnson Jr. began last Thursday's scrimmage with a long touchdown run, and he broke off another long gainer later in the scrimmage. Brown thought Johnson, sophomore Tony Mathis Jr. and true freshman C.J. Donaldson all ran the ball effectively.
Brown indicated tight end Mike O'Laughlin was held out of scrimmage work, but he's getting closer to being game ready.
"We feel confident that he will be ready for week one," Brown said.
In terms of his offensive line, Brown said he is comfortable with seven guys right now. Among the seven are redshirt freshman guard Jordan White and former Virginia transfer Ja'Quay Hubbard at tackle. He's currently in a battle with Brandon Yates for the starting right tackle job.
"We continue to move guys around to make sure we have enough snaps during fall camp to make sure if we need to play guys at different positions we've done that, and I feel good about that there," Brown pointed out.
The two wide receivers Brown specifically mentioned were sophomore Reese Smith and junior college transfer Cortez Braham. He said Smith has made a move among the receivers, while Braham is another player who is emerging.
Defensively, Brown indicated a lot of different players took snaps last Thursday to get live looks. He cited the play of outside linebacker Exree Loe, who is back to full speed following offseason knee surgery.
Others Brown mentioned on that side of the ball were defensive tackles Sean Martin and Georgia Tech transfer Mike Lockhart, the latter coming off his best performance of camp in the scrimmage.
"We've been trying to get (Lockhart) into shape, and we think he's on track to be ready. He's going to be a help for us," Brown noted.
All three secondary transfers - Jasir Cox, Rashad Ajayi and Wesley McCormick - performed well in the scrimmage, as did Marcis Floyd. The coach also continued to heap praise on former Penn State transfer Lance Dixon, who might be the team's most improved player since last season.
Overall, Brown said he likes the way his team is running on defense.
The coach said no decision has been made on a starting punter and that could play out for another week with Oliver Straw and Kolton McGee battling it out.
He also did not announce a starting quarterback but did say, "I feel really good about our present and future and we're working through that. I'm not trying to be coy about it. We will announce a starter before the game, it's not about that, but we're just not to that point yet."
West Virginia meets Pitt after an 11-year absence in the 105th renewal of the Backyard Brawl on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
The game has previously been announced a sellout.
So, that means today is really Wednesday, if that makes any sense.
"We had our last scrimmage on Thursday night and then we met on Friday," he said earlier today. "We didn't do anything on Saturday and then started to work on a mock game week on Sunday, and we will get into some Pitt as we go. It's kind of a way to train our guys for what the actual game week will be."
This Thursday evening will serve the as team's mock game, which is basically a dry run for the opener.
"We are going to work some Pitt this week, don't get me wrong, but our real in-depth preparation will start on Friday," he said.
As far as last Thursday night's scrimmage, Brown said the team got in a lot of special teams work and will do some more special teams work inside the stadium this afternoon.
Overall, he believes this aspect of play is a little bit ahead of where it was at the same time last year.
"I think a lot of that has to do with our roster being in better shape with more guys that can run," he explained. "I don't think we'll be as dependent on our starters who are playing a high percentage of our snaps. "I think that's going to help us as we go through a long, difficult schedule."
Brown mentioned the effort put forth by long-snapper Austin Brinkman, and he said he also likes the players he has back returning kickoffs and punts.
"We run better on our coverage units and (Florida State transfer) Parker (Grothaus) has been a huge addition on our kickoff team," he said.
Offensively, sophomore running back Justin Johnson Jr. began last Thursday's scrimmage with a long touchdown run, and he broke off another long gainer later in the scrimmage. Brown thought Johnson, sophomore Tony Mathis Jr. and true freshman C.J. Donaldson all ran the ball effectively.
Brown indicated tight end Mike O'Laughlin was held out of scrimmage work, but he's getting closer to being game ready.
"We feel confident that he will be ready for week one," Brown said.
In terms of his offensive line, Brown said he is comfortable with seven guys right now. Among the seven are redshirt freshman guard Jordan White and former Virginia transfer Ja'Quay Hubbard at tackle. He's currently in a battle with Brandon Yates for the starting right tackle job.
"We continue to move guys around to make sure we have enough snaps during fall camp to make sure if we need to play guys at different positions we've done that, and I feel good about that there," Brown pointed out.
The two wide receivers Brown specifically mentioned were sophomore Reese Smith and junior college transfer Cortez Braham. He said Smith has made a move among the receivers, while Braham is another player who is emerging.
Defensively, Brown indicated a lot of different players took snaps last Thursday to get live looks. He cited the play of outside linebacker Exree Loe, who is back to full speed following offseason knee surgery.
Others Brown mentioned on that side of the ball were defensive tackles Sean Martin and Georgia Tech transfer Mike Lockhart, the latter coming off his best performance of camp in the scrimmage.
"We've been trying to get (Lockhart) into shape, and we think he's on track to be ready. He's going to be a help for us," Brown noted.
All three secondary transfers - Jasir Cox, Rashad Ajayi and Wesley McCormick - performed well in the scrimmage, as did Marcis Floyd. The coach also continued to heap praise on former Penn State transfer Lance Dixon, who might be the team's most improved player since last season.
Overall, Brown said he likes the way his team is running on defense.
The coach said no decision has been made on a starting punter and that could play out for another week with Oliver Straw and Kolton McGee battling it out.
He also did not announce a starting quarterback but did say, "I feel really good about our present and future and we're working through that. I'm not trying to be coy about it. We will announce a starter before the game, it's not about that, but we're just not to that point yet."
West Virginia meets Pitt after an 11-year absence in the 105th renewal of the Backyard Brawl on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
The game has previously been announced a sellout.
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/ FootballTV Highlights: WVU 74, UCF 67
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