--West Virginia had a very quality win. The Mountaineers didn't play as well as they could have played but they won the game. They have four objectives but two of them they are setting a high standard and are a tough team. It was tough from a mental standpoint seeing two teammates go down and it didn't look good. West Virginia didn't have great discipline Saturday and they did some things that weren't very smart. They won the game because they strained and were tough but they have to make huge strides in being a smart team.
--Positives, they blocked two field goals. Field goal with Michael Hayes was a positive. The wind was swirling in there and he had the wind with both of those kicks, while their kicker kicked into it. That was the thought process on taking the ball first to avoid that. West Virginia didn't play very well on kickoff against Texas Tech but they responded and defeated blocks as well as having great hangtime on the kicks against TCU. Preston Fox on returns was a standout stealing first downs and Oliver Straw punted it well. You can't have the penalty to end the half and a really bad mistake at the end of the game. They talk about situational football and talked a week ago in depth and covered it five times about the ball getting blocked and going to their side of the line of scrimmage getting away from it.
--Defensively, they averaged just 3.7 per rush. The red zone defense has been good and the third and fourth down in the second half were standouts. West Virginia dropped five interceptions and it's not often that you can get away with those. They were fortunate to come out of that game with them dropping interceptions. And tackling was not very good in the first half. They had some missed assignments in coverage and gave up easy completions.
--Brown said it was as strange of a game plan week as he's had during his time there. Garrett Greene didn't look good on Tuesday and then Nicco Marchiol injures his ankle and has a hard time walking. They had to take a 180 on Thursday and change what they were doing with Greene in there. Credit the team for doing what they were supposed to do. West Virginia didn't turn the ball over and had 201 yards rushing while they controlled the clock. They gave up zero sacks and a couple of the young guys made some plays. EJ Horton made a really nice play across the middle and Hudson Clement. West Virginia is not breaking tackles or making people miss, they aren't separating in man coverage. The fourth down call was a bad play at the goal line but they should have scored on second and third down. They had to switch the game plan so he's more lenient because of that.
--West Virginia hasn't played their best but are taking advantage of the bye week and switching up what they're doing. The kids can't go home because they have to start game prep Friday. Players are off until Wednesday morning and they won't do anything formal until then. They've had four really physical football games and they want to hit the refresh.
--Linebacker and safety they are thin at already. Ben Cutter is a guy that needs to step up. Jairo Faverus and Caden Biser is going to step up. Those are the guys there. Cutter did some good things in the game especially on kickoff. He's ready to do it as a true freshman because he's physical and ready. At safety they'll do some thinking on that one and seeing what his availability is due to possible trauma of laying on the field.
--Milum got poked in the eye. He wanted to play but his eye was completely shut. It wasn't in his best interest to play but he is playing at an extremely high level. Tomas Rimac it would be a struggle if they played on Saturday but they'll see how it goes. It won't keep him out an extended period of time.
--Neal Brown voted them into the coaches poll and said that the league is underappreciated. He isn't saying it's not unfair but taken with who they've played there's one of the top 25 teams. The AP Poll he doesn't know enough.
--Garrett Greene needed this time to rest and relax. He moved around a lot better than he anticipated in the game. Greene told Brown he felt good and they expect him being 100-percent. Hershey McLaurin could have gone back in the game.
--Tirek Austin-Cave has been out with a lower body injury and he doesn't think it's season ending but he hasn't practiced.
--When you have depth you're able to go a little harder in practice. They've been up front with them what they have to be to be successful. Everyday he shows the teams slides with the four principles: discipline, strain, toughness and smart.
--Blaine Stewart is doing a good job. Kole Taylor didn't practice all last week but he ended up with huge catch.
--Jaylen Anderson was sick last week and didn't practice which led to him not playing but Jaheim White has earned some opportunities.
--CJ Donaldson is healthy as he can be but doesn't have the explosive runs.
--Analytics has completely changed baseball and basketball. Football the biggest change is from an analytic standpoint how you practice and the emphasis on recovery. In game, it's more when to go for it and when not is the data that they lean on. West Virginia probably would have gone for it early in the game if he could do it again. The other two they were fourth and six and the wind was blowing pretty good so he didn't want to kick the field goal. The other one you make those decisions going into the game. Brown knew if they stopped them they had 99-yards and they were playing well on defense. It's behind the other two major sports when it comes to using analytics. He doesn't use it 100-percent but he uses it with a gut feel included.
--A lot of it is you try to make as many decisions before the game when the emotion is not involved.
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