My Fiver on the State of WVU football and where we go from here...

1. After the 2018 year end meltdown, WVU Nation had had enough of the Dana Holgorsen football era, primarily because WVU football is not WVU football without a Defense. While WVU Nation was already "over" the Neal Brown football era before this past Saturday, the absolutely pathetic showing by WVU's Defense, on top of other embarrassing defensive performances in 2024, has dialed the meter up from "over it" to "furious borderline livid" with regard to our fans. 127th in passing yards allowed (out of 133), 101st in TO Margin, 115th in Turnovers gained, 117th in INTs, 128th in passing efficiency defense, 99th in total defense. Would things have been better with Vic Koennig? Probably so. But, the buck stops at the top and we have a Vanilla wafer offense with no defense. It's not a good combination.

2. As for the remainder of 2024...what are we playing to accomplish? Our stated goals of making the Playoff - gone. Winning the Big 12 - gone. Making the Big 12 Championship - gone. So, I guess we are playing for bowl eligibility, for whatever that is worth. For me, it's about cheering for the laundry and not the man, as our text group hears from me a lot. I want WVU to beat UCF, and I really can't stand losing to Texas Tech. We only get 12 of these football games a year, and a WVU win, no matter the circumstances, always puts a smile on my face (although Neal Brown's ability to make even the wins excruciating at times challenges that notion) I'm driving in to Motown for the game Saturday in what looks to be glorious ideal autumn weather (🥶).

3. For the Rich Rod crowd, I will say this...he was a hell of a coach during his time at WVU. It was a fantastic hire. He lit things up at Glenville, and it was novel. He proved himself at Tulane and Clemson as OC, and we had a firebrand. Now? His offense and system are no longer novel. And that is why he did not replicate his success at WVU at Michigan nor at Arizona. I understand he is having modest success at Jax State. That said...why is he not mentioned for any coaching openings...except ours? Personally, I hope we hire another up and coming OC from another school, who is eager to prove himself and set the world on fire, just like Rich did in 2002-2007. However, if we do hire Rich, then I'll don my "Spot the Ball" T-shirt and cheer my ass off for the guy. He will split the fanbase if hired, so I'll say this...if he is hired, he better win and win fast. If he comes here and replicates Neal's 7-5, 6-6, 5-7 deals...then it will be ugly (and frankly, embarrassing).

4. The Decision. NB's Contract and Buyout have put WVU in a horrible position. Yes, the right thing to do is fire Neal Brown...but then you bring the notion of paying the man $16M of our hard-earned dollars to not work....and a rational individual will understand the notion of keeping him for another year to try to work out the kinks, fund NIL, and buy time to reduce the buy out. It's times like these that people in lofty positions need to earn their keep, and here's looking at you, Wren Baker. It's a pickle. On one hand, he fires Neal Brown, and becomes a hero to a majority of the fanbase. If he goes this route, I certainly hope that the replacement has already been contacted, vetted, and is ready to jump quickly. However, with this option, it's costly as hell at a time when money is critically important. We will suffer losses of personnel in NIL, and perhaps won't be able to staff the new HC with the assistants he wants and needs. On the other hand, he keeps Neal Brown, and becomes Enemy #1 of the fanbase (OK, maybe Enemy #2). Perhaps the stadium is half empty for Ohio U to start the year (it will still be full for the Brawl). Our record will surely once again be 6-6 or so, and it'll be another "blah" year. However, we'll be able to be financially sound, and perhaps in a better position to make a move in 2025 - with more time to vet candidates. It's going to be interesting to watch this play out.

5. The Future. WVU has been up and down since winning that huge game in Austin, TX in 2012, and has seemingly been floundering in football since the 2nd half meltdown in Stillwater in 2018. However, this is a winning football program with a rich football history, flirtations with national championships, Heisman trophy candidates, and football legends like Talley, Hoss, Major, Amos, Pac Man, Pat, Steve, Noel, Tavon, Geno to just name a few. We shouldn't accept this mediocrity. The standard should be a team which is in the upper echelon of this new Big 12 and contends for the title each year, much like WVU did in the Big East. (The Big East was a much better conference than this new watered down Big 12) Watching teams like Iowa State, Kansas State and Colorado zip by WVU in the conference standings, including coming to Morgantown to win football games without breaking much of a sweat, is unacceptable.

We're better than this. It's beyond time to show it.

10-4
9-4
12-2
14-0
13-1
10-3
10-3
5-6

9-4
8-5
9-1
8-4
5-7
6-4

What would be so bad about this?

Did 2023 WVU hoops have a better roster than the 2024 version?

I think maybe, but the 2024 version is playing as a team. The season will tell the tale, but the current version seems to be getting better but lacks the length in the middle to be a true threat.

Surely there is someone here that is a former player over the last 6 years.

Not asking you to reveal your identity, position or even year.

Just identify yourself a former player and tell us what the heck is wrong with Neal Brown from a players prospective and why he struggles to have the team ready to play against teams with comparable or less talent to us.

Many of us talk to people and think we know the issues but the perspective of someone that has been in the locker room, players meetings and practices would be appreciated.

And guys let’s keep the rebuttals minimal if someone steps up to answer. Embrace the info and don’t make them feel like you are attacking them with with your replies and questions.

Game will kick-off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and be televised by ESPNU.

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Neal brown has been a disaster for WVU’s football program. Neal going to UMASS would be the best for all sides. Unfortunately it's rumor and false story.

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Of potential head coaches or DCs/DBs coach.

--Head coach Darian DeVries said he was happy with the ball movement and felt that they were connected.

--Connectivity is more of a team thing but at both ends of the floor Javon Small guards the ball on defense and gets the offense going.

--It looked a lot better than practice. Iona was really good with the full court press and the free throw box out they are one of the best and the guys did a good job.

--Powell was great and he gives them such a spark off the bench. He understands what he is good at and he isn't afraid to let it go.

--Overall, the guys were pretty good. Holding them to 23-percent is the lowest in 20-years they did a good job taking away their paint touches and put stress onto them. it takes a lot of communication and their versatility of being able to switch and fight. They had some good double teams and switches and also the rotations on the backside.

--They're don't look for a percentage on how many baskets are assisted it all just depends on what's given to you. The assist to turnover ratio needs to be better though.

--DeVries said it's a mixture and they would like to have good balance between paint touches, getting to the rim and free throw line and three-pointers. Sometimes they settled for threes too much but they have to get more balanced and drive it more and create advantages in the interior.

--DeVries said he loves the second chance points and Toby Okani gave them five offensive rebounds.

--Javon Small is a terrific cutter. They need him to do that a little more and sometimes he will bounce out. They challenged him the past few days that they need him and Tucker DeVries to be more aggressive not just as scorers but facilitators.

--DeVries believes that the stat line that Small put up is what he can do consistently. He is a big strong guard and can get in the paint and plays with a good pace and knows how to score.

--Next week is a great opportunity but they need to get better at some things and fix some things. They need to be ready to play. DeVries loves MTE's for the ability to play three games in three days and get a feel for what the tournament could be like. They're going to have an idea of whether they need to sub more. He loves the challenge of the tournament and the field is loaded. It's going to be three really good games to prepare for and try to get some wins.

--They're going to go play those games and they're excited about it. They need to have a great week of practice.

Let’s go

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“The Collective”.

Barry Odom.

Thoughts anyone?

Game will tip-off at 7 p.m. Wednesday and be televised by ESPN+

--Head coach Darian DeVries said he was happy with the ball movement and felt that they were connected.

--Connectivity is more of a team thing but at both ends of the floor Javon Small guards the ball on defense and gets the offense going.

--It looked a lot better than practice. Iona was really good with the full court press and the free throw box out they are one of the best and the guys did a good job.

--Powell was great and he gives them such a spark off the bench. He understands what he is good at and he isn't afraid to let it go.

--Overall, the guys were pretty good. Holding them to 23-percent is the lowest in 20-years they did a good job taking away their paint touches and put stress onto them. it takes a lot of communication and their versatility of being able to switch and fight. They had some good double teams and switches and also the rotations on the backside.

--They're don't look for a percentage on how many baskets are assisted it all just depends on what's given to you. The assist to turnover ratio needs to be better though.

--DeVries said it's a mixture and they would like to have good balance between paint touches, getting to the rim and free throw line and three-pointers. Sometimes they settled for threes too much but they have to get more balanced and drive it more and create advantages in the interior.
--DeVries said he loves the second chance points and Toby Okani gave them five offensive rebounds.

--Javon Small is a terrific cutter. They need him to do that a little more and sometimes he will bounce out. They challenged him the past few days that they need him and Tucker DeVries to be more aggressive not just as scorers but facilitators.

--DeVries believes that the stat line that Small put up is what he can do consistently. He is a big strong guard and can get in the paint and plays with a good pace and knows how to score.

--Next week is a great opportunity but they need to get better at some things and fix some things. They need to be ready to play. DeVries loves MTE's for the ability to play three games in three days and get a feel for what the tournament could be like. They're going to have an idea of whether they need to sub more. He loves the challenge of the tournament and the field is loaded. It's going to be three really good games to prepare for and try to get some wins.

--They're going to go play those games and they're excited about it. They need to have a great week of practice.

Game will tip-off at 7 p.m. Wednesday and be televised by ESPN+

–Different level of competition, clearly, but West Virginia bounced back exactly the way that they needed to in this one and raced out to a 45-22 halftime lead and never really looked back. This team got hit in the mouth on the road at Pittsburgh, so it was good to see them put that behind them and do what they needed to do at home against an opponent that they should control. The Mountaineers led the entire game and it was really never in doubt.

–West Virginia was at 1.295 points per possession before the starters were pulled late in the second half and were at 50-percent from the floor and 45-percent from three. That’ll do. West Virginia actually finished at 1.303 for the game, 51.8-percent from the field and 48-percent from three. The ball movement was much better.

–West Virginia held Iona to 24-percent shooting and 21 turnovers. They cashed those turnovers into 26 points but did have 10 steals and 11 blocks. The last time the Mountaineers hit double digits in that category was in 2021 against Pitt. It was a solid effort on that end and the Mountaineers were active at times although the score took the intensity level down. But again, this isn’t Pitt.

–West Virginia didn’t need as much from Tucker DeVries tonight as he only finished with 13 points, but he had 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. He just finds a way to make plays and I’m going to take that Pitt game as an off night for him and the rest of the team.

–Javon Small was good in this one but it almost surprised me to see he only had one turnover. At times it seems that he’s loose with the ball, but I’m nitpicking here because he scored 23 points, had 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 turnover. That’s a fantasy basketball full stat line. He is really good when he's aggressive and it showed tonight. This team is so much better when he’s rolling and it gives them another quite capable option.

–Jonathan Powell had 11 points in 4 minutes when he came into the game and was an instant spark plug. He continues to not look like a freshman and plays with a ton of confidence. He doesn’t carry himself like this was only his fourth college basketball game and the future is bright here. He has a really nice looking shot and isn’t bashful when it comes to pulling the trigger.

–It was good to see Amani Hansberry get back in the mix with 10 points and 9 rebounds, including two of those pick and pop threes. But he’s got to be better with the ball with 5 turnovers. He did have two steals though and really like his overall skill set.

–I just love the confidence that KJ Tenner plays with, too. He is just fearless and while he’s still figuring some things out and needs to get bigger, he’s going to help this team this year.

–Toby Okani chipped in with 7 points, 6 rebounds a block and a steal. He was +36 and while out of control at times on offense, really makes a difference on defense. He also was 3-6 from the line which sure beats the results of the last game. He really made his impact felt on the offensive glass.

–Eduardo Andre is limited offensively but plays his role well. He had 7 rebounds and 4 blocks in this one. He is the best rim protector on this roster by quite a wide margin – now what does that mean? We’ll find out if that matters against tougher competition.

–The Mountaineers won the rebounding edge 39-36. But on the downside, Iona had 18 offensive rebounds which continues to be an issue. Also shared the ball well and got a lot of open looks which they were able to hit. A total of 15 assists on 28 made baskets.

–Downside was 16 turnovers. That isn’t going to cut it.

–This was fun, but up next is going to be a massive challenge against Gonzaga. They look fantastic so far this year so the Mountaineers are going to need to play their best and then some. But it is definitely a good experience heading up with the Battle 4 Atlantis and we’ll get a better idea if that Pitt game is a sign of things to come or simply just a really bad basketball game over those three contests. Right now this team has shown the ability to beat up on bad teams but things are about to get real in a hurry.

West Virginia commit Jackson Accuardi has been named All-State.

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