What I Think About The Coal Rush Game

Welcome back to your weekly column where we can rationally and irrationally discuss the state of affairs of the West Virginia Mountaineers football program. Last night was one of the bigger games in a season where big games are going to happen and the program needs to take three or four steps forward. It is Neal Brown’s best team in his six years at the helm of this program and he is blessed with a dual-threat quarterback who is fast and slippery enough to make plays appear out of thin air; he has a senior, capable offensive line that grades out as one of the best units in the country; two very capable and very different running backs and supposedly had a very good transfer portal class. All in all, we aren’t judging this game and this tenure on one outcome or one play, we are judging it on the culmination of six years and the words spoken by the head coach

We’re coming off a 9-4 (season), I look at most of the preseason Top 25 (lists), we’re not in it,” Brown said. “With a team that finished strong last year, that returns a lot of production, that has one of the most-dynamic players in all of college football in (quarterback) Garrett Greene … and we’re picked seventh in the league. And we’re not in most of these preseason Top 25s.

Let’s talk about it.

Iowa State

This was a good game and Iowa State is a good team. They are a smart, talented, well-coached team that does everything you want in your program. They have smart quarterbacks who can make throws and pick up yards when needed. They have tough running backs. Matt Campbell has concocted a defensive scheme that forces you to use the entire field and earn your points.

Losing to Iowa State is not losing to Iowa State from 2012-2017. Iowa State is a good team. Matt Campbell is a good coach. This year Iowa State was 5-0 entering Morgantown and there were questions about just how good they were, “who have they played?” were the questions asked. Maybe those questions are still asked because who have they played and beaten but this game was different. Morgantown. At Night. COAL RUSH. IT was supposed to be harder and in some rights, it was a hard game for the Cyclones. West Virginia got the ball and the lead early. Iowa State misses a field goal and that fickle mistress of momentum was all with the Mountaineers.

Then came the passes. Then came the miscues. Then came the playing right into Iowa State’s hand. Bad snaps. Bad reads. Bad throws. Miscues on the defensive side. All the things that happen all the time to teams that are coached by Brown. It came unraveled in a way that is familiar and haunting and tiresome. So tiresome.

Losing to Iowa State wasn’t on any one person and in reality losing as an unranked team to a highly ranked visitor shouldn’t cause fans to be angry in droves, because the game was good, we were in the ball game competitively for 50 minutes before we made too many mistakes, but those mistakes are always happening and always a reason why WVU can’t overcome itself. The rakes returned.

Brandon Yates

According to Brown, Yates had a hand issue that contributed to the bad snaps and while Brown contemplated changing centers but Yates is their starting center and in their opinion their best guy so no change was made. Probably should have been.

Whether we should have or shouldn’t have, that’s probably up for discussion. Brandon had played so well. He’s our starting center…. he’s clearly our best option….

Garrett Greene

I feel for Greene. At this point, he is who he is, which is a one-two read guy and then scramble and teams know this and have a certain type of defense they play. They have to carry a single or double spy to contain Greene and they have to stop the run. This should, in theory, open up the pass but Greene does struggle with the intermediary passing game, specifically the crossing routes and timing routes of the position. He is generally good on the deeper routes so teams play a deeep safety and double or triple the deep receiver and take their chances on the inter-middle throws. It worked well for this game as Iowa State as the Cyclones held Greene to 18/32 for 200 yards and picked him off twice.

What Iowa State did well was get ahead and force Greene to have to play a game he isn’t comfortable playing, threading the needle against 7-8 coverage and having no real room to run. Greene is capable of making those plays in those situations and when West Virginia gets in that situation they can’t overcome themselves.

The Neal Brown Tenure

I wanted to talk about this but felt that I needed to talk about the game first and to be honest, I felt nothing. It was what it was. I thought we’d lose, I thought we would do some dumb stuff that cost us and in general I didn’t really expect us to win or be competitive or do anything worth noting.

Neal Brown is now 3-16 versus Top 25 teams but where is Brown in relation to the past coaches. Let’s look. Just to remind you I did all of this research years ago. Those who are doing it now can just quote me since I did it SEVEN YEARS AGO. (Still ahead of the curve on this stuff!)

Since I wrote that, Dana would go 4-4 and finish with a 10-21 record against Top 25 teams.

Nehlen – 27%

Rodriguez – 46%

Stewart – 50%

Holgorsen – 32%

Brown – 15%

To match Nehlen, Brown would have to win 3 straight Top 25 matchups. To match Dana, he would need to win 5 straight. To match Rodriguez he would need to win 10 straight. To match Stewart he would have to win 14 straight.

At this point we know that big games and Neal Brown don’t mix. He has never beaten a team that finished ranked. He has been ranked one week in his entire tenure and that was in the coaches poll at 25. Not in the AP. In the coaches poll where GAs fill out the ballot and coaches game the system to make their team better week to week.

Next week will be much of the same and as the seat warmer overheats and gets hot, West Virginia will go to Arizona and make a statement and get back to 4-4. Then a loss to Cincy, but a bounce-back against Baylor and UCF, sitting at 6-5 and a loss to Texas Tech to finish the year.

Nothing changes. Nothing gets better. Nothing moves. Dear West Virginia administration do the merciful thing. Do the right thing. Make the call that needs to be made. Right now fans are not apathetic, they are not mad, they are DONE. Fans are choosing to go pick pumpkins with their wives, paint the boat, mow the yard, help their in-laws, do homework, they are actively choosing NOT to watch your product. They don’t want to be a part of this anymore because they worry that you are going to tell us at 7-5 this was fine. The team sold out multiple games. Season tickets were sold and lots of people came to games so everything is ok. Its not ok. We’re tired. There is no joy with this team. There is no fun with this team. There is nothing to tell me that next week will be better. There is nothing to tell me that I should believe. My money isn’t going to the football team anymore. Why should the fans of this team spend money when every time they do they get reminded of why they shouldn’t? You have to do better. WE have this conversation every week. If we were dating, my friends would tell me to just break up with you by now. Your friends would be asking “why are you with him if you fight all the time”? You know how that relationship goes, you stay, you try, you promise and then finally one of you acts like an adult and does the mercy killing and you both realize how much better you are now that you aren’t shackled to the dead weight you had. Dear Wren, Dear Gee, Dear Athletic Department, end this madness and let’s start over. This isn’t working and we need to be single for a while.