My Fiver on WVU's loss to Penn State Saturday night in Happy Valley...
1. 4th & 2 & that's our call? I saw Keno post after the game that we averaged 5.2 ypc on rushing attempts (not factoring in sack yardage). If it is 4th and 2, and you are in a must-convert situation early in the 4th quarter, it's not time for dipsy-doo dunkaroo circus clown tricks. A trick is what a whore does for money. For God's sake, give our best guys a chance - CJ up the gut would've been just fine by me, or perhaps a zone read look with an RPO. But, this is becoming a "thing" with Neal Brown - you know he had this scripted. If we are in a critical 4th down, we're running this play that worked in the Spring Game for a touchdown pass to Garrett Greene. You have to be able to feel how a game is going, get away from the script and create. When #8 in white ran onto the field, a row of us in gold recognized it, and I noticed that Penn State's entire defense began spazzing out, waving their arms - they saw it. They had our Spring game tape. They absolutely knew what was coming. It is probably one of the worst play calls I've ever seen by a WVU coach.
2. Hats off to Lee Kpogba and our run "D". Neither Singleton nor Allen had longer runs than Garrett Greene or CJ Donaldson. I would venture to say that we are not going to face a better OL or RBs this season - we'll see. And, we did not give up any back breaker like we did vs. TCU or K-State last season, and we didn't give up a ton of yards like we did to Eric Gray from Oklahoma in '22 (210 yards). While the two PSU RBs did combine for 121 yards on 23 carries at 5.26 ypc, we made them earn it. Tray Lathan looks like a solid option at LB, and Anthony Wilson showed that he is not afraid to come downhill and hit RBs near the line of scrimmage. If we give a similar effort vs. Pitt and force them to try to beat us through the air, I'm not sure Pitt has the firepower, but...
3. My goodness our secondary just looked lost out there. Open WRs running free way too often, and we just let Drew Allar play pitch & catch like it was warmups. Allar goes 21/29 for 325 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT. I thought we did a decent job bringing pressure, but it resulted in only the one sack by Tomiwa Durojaye. This problem scares me because it looks fundamental. Meaning>> I don't know if you can fix this in one or two weeks. It looks like we're just sagging off players by design, and that at times, our safeties and corners are confused. It was bad - 2018 bad. 2006 bad. Maybe even 2012 bad, but again, it's one game, so we'll see.
4. Garrett Greene. On the positive side, Greene had PSU defenders frustrated at times, as they had perfect coverage, perfect contain, and he would break free and outrun their pursuit for a nice gain. However, Greene has to be able to move the ball and move the chains by throwing over a stacked box, and he did not prove he could do that. Early on, at 7-7 in the second quarter, Devin Carter had broken free and was at least 3 steps in front of the PSU corner for a touchdown on a 3rd down, and Greene's throw was nowhere near him. It was like airballing a free throw. Later, on a 3rd & 6, Traylon Ray had at least a step on a PSU defender on a crossing pattern about 10 yards down field, and Greene threw the ball 4 yards behind him. Ray was visibly frustrated. They're going to see these plays on tape -- they were there. Say what you will about Neal Brown's play-calling, but these plays were there and Will Grier, Geno Smith or Marc Bulger would've torched Penn State on them. Greene simply didn't make the plays. He can't just be a skittering waterbug for WVU to win 7+ games this season. He is going to need to make defenses pay down the field, much like Skyler Howard did to Shelton Gibson and Ka'Raun White during the 10-3 2016 season.
5. 0-1. For a while Saturday, the game was breaking the way we had hoped - we were hanging in there, and after forcing a three & out to start the 2nd half, we had the ball and the chance to tie it up at 14 a piece, before a huge illegal procedure penalty wiped out a 26-yard run by Justin Johnson. So, after James Franklin ensures that the Nittany Lions cover the spread by the TD with 6 seconds left, we fall 38-15. However, we have 11 games in front of us. We're going to beat Duquesne Saturday, and my feeling is that we're going to beat them handily. Then, we have the Backyard Brawl and Texas Tech. If we go 0-2 in those two games, I don't see how Neal Brown survives this. If we go 1-1 in those two games, then we're 2-2 on the season, and we'll see where it goes from there. If we go 2-0 in those two games, then we're 3-1 on the year heading to TCU with a win over Pitt, a win finally over Texas Tech and our only loss a road defeat at a top 10 Penn State squad. At that point, we would have some momentum and we'll see where this thing goes.
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