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WVSPORTS.COM West Virginia head coach Neal Brown press conference summary

Keenan Cummings
--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said he is proud of how his guys competed. It was a weird game but they turned three turnovers into 17 points. Special teams when you look at it, they've played a solid special teams other than the play at Pitt. When you look on Saturday Oliver Straw had a great game. The operation is really good. Preston Fox had a great day. They blocked them well too especially on kickoff return with two explosive returns. Punt return, Preston Fox has a knack for it and has a lot of courage. He averaged over 15 yards per return which is hard to do with how the game is played with the spread punts. The kickoff coverage was good. Ben Cutter, Reid Carrico, Treylan Davis are all doing some nice things on those units. Defensively, the fourth and one should never happen and the three penalties they had were all procedure penalties. They didn't tackle as well as they have. They lost contain and it hasn't been an issue since Pitt. They had three takeaways and held them to 3.3 yards per rush. It was a really physical game and West Virginia met that challenge. They were 7-16 on end of possession downs and really good on the first play of drives. Offensively it wasn't good enough and too many errors and lack of discipline. They only played 42 snaps which is unique. End of possession they were 3-11 and it was a lot of fundamental stuff. Route fundamentals it just wasn't very good overall. But they did take care of the ball for the most part and the red zone they did a nice job there and the two go-balls were critical. They don't give you a whole lot of opportunities but on third down they do and they took advantage of that.

--Brandon Yates was offensive lineman of the week. Special teams was Preston Fox. Defensive player of the week was Fatorma Mulbah. Offensive player of the week was Jahiem White. Blue collar award was Sean Martin and Anthony Wilson. Preston Fox on offense. Developmental guys on offense Colin McBee and defense Keyshawn Robinson and special teams was Judah Price.

--On the injury front: WVU CB Ayden Garnes and S Aubrey Burks are out. WR Jaden Bray is out. QB Garrett Greene practiced today and they'll see how he does against 11-on-11. Brown won't comment on quarterbacks. WR Hudson Clement ran today.

--Baylor has a transfer kid that has done a nice job returning kicks. Their special teams coordinator last year was at Houston. That's the most improved aspect on their team but this will be their biggest test of the year. Punt return they've done a nice job. Baylor is running the ball well and they're playing as well as anybody in the league. They mix up coverages as much as anybody they've played on defense and Dave Aranda is one of the best defensive coaches in the league. He has a lot of respect for that group.

--Brown said there is a couple different ways they can call defense you can do it by formation or check with me. There are multiple ways of doing it and they have called it once the teams have lined up. The kids are playing more confident and faster. They are getting the calls in quicker.

--The test this weekend will be the tempo piece. They're going to line up fast.

--Burks and Garnes have played too many games at this point, but there's no potential for a medical redshirt. Highly questionable for any regular season game for the rest of the year.

--Brown felt his defense played really confidently and it helps when the ball bounces their way. They gave up some yards late that they typically wouldn't due to the situation. But they were physical. They used their hands well and struck with their hands and Josiah Trotter was physical in the run game and they set the edges and there were some collisions with Anthony Wilson.

--Brown felt that the corners played as well as they have all year. The coverage was tight. The corners did a nice job and Keke Tarnue and Zae Jennings played well at spear.

--The defense isn't built for your nose to get tackles. You have to win one on ones. Fatorma Mulbah won his one-on-ones and remained in his gap. If you prepare the right away and play fundamental football the ball will find you.

--Baylor has been able to get their run game going and their offensive line is playing better now than earlier in the year. They are more comfortable and they had a switch at quarterback. Jake Spavital has figured out what they're good at and the young running back is playing well. How their offensive line has played, settling in on a running back and running the football. Defensively they have some really good players up front and been able to create some takeaways.

--Justin Robinson is really, really talented from a size perspective he's 6-foot-4 plus and he runs well. It's about being consistent. He is good when the ball is thrown to him but he needs to be better when it isn't being thrown to him. He has Sunday ability but he just has to be consistent.

--Brown said that since the Kansas State game Greene hasn't done anything outside a little 7-on-7 work last week. Tomorrow will be the first 11-on-11 work and he needs to see Greene to determine if he is ready to go for this week.

--Brown said they have to do a good job eliminating the distractions. A lot of people coming into town and there are more things surrounding the game. They have to do a good job tuning those things out and making the main thing the main thing. Brown is glad they've got two games at home and the plan is to put a much better product out there.

--Brown said that Yates has played well he just hasn't snapped the ball well. Over the last two years, he's played at a high level but he just struggled with the snaps and struggled in practice. Yates has really worked at it since his struggles and he put in the work.

--Marchiol played really well against Arizona and not this past week. He just has to be consistent with his fundamentals. It's all correctable things and it's little things. If he got his eyes on the backside safety, they had an explosive play to Traylon Ray. Another time his drop was off. He did have some positive things but he wasn't consistent with his fundamentals.

--Formations they used in the game he got consistent looks. Things weren't going well and it's hard for a young player. What they do defensively isn't necessarily standard but he doesn't feel like Marchiol was confused.

--It's not easy to snap and Brown thinks Yates has really worked at it and you have to be careful of making it a bigger deal than what it is. He wasn't on him a lot about it but they put him in a situation to work it and he found a solution. He is a mature guy and credit to him and not being too proud to get some help.

--Brown wants Baylor to have to prepare for both quarterbacks. They're not drastically different but they're different.
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WVU Release WVU Rifle Jumps to No. 1 in CRCA Poll

Vernon
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Nov. 12, 2024) – The West Virginia University rifle team is ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) poll, the organization announced.

Georgia Southern sits at No. 2, TCU at No. 3, Kentucky at No. 4 and Alaska Fairbanks is No. 5.



The poll is determined based on each team’s most recent match score.

Joining West Virginia and Kentucky from the GARC in the poll are No. 10 Memphis, No. 12 Army, No. 13 Army, and No. 14 Akron.

The Mountaineers have won 20 straight regular season matches, dating back to the beginning of the 2023-24 season. West Virginia’s 4739.5 aggregate score is tied for the best in the nation with Alaska Fairbanks. The 2355 mark in smallbore is the best while the 2384.5 in air rifle sits second.



Senior Gavin Barnick is averaging a team-leading 1186.2 aggregate average which is the fifth best in the country. Barnick and sophomore Griffin Lake average a 589.8 in smallbore and is the seventh best in the nation. Camryn Camp’s air rifle mark of 596.6 is the ninth-best in the country.


The Mountaineers close out action on the fall schedule when they welcome defending NCAA National Champion TCU to the WVU Shell Building on Saturday. The match is scheduled to begin at Noon ET.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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