For Brown's tenure here, WVU seems to find ways to lose games they shouldn't.
One can go back and cite several examples over the years - Sam Brown's fumble, QB fumbles for scoop and scores, Zach Frazier's bad snap vs. Oklahoma, bad use of timeouts. The list seems to go on and on.
This year, Brown is coaching for his job. Everyone knows that.
We also know that WVU isn't the most talented team in the conference. Hence, why we were picked last preseason.
Truth is, just about everyone in the conference is just mediocre and in the same boat. So, for us to win, we have to play as close to flawless as possible because the margin for victory is razor thin.
For the first few games, that scenario has played out. For the last two, we've seen the lack of discipline, football knowledge, and history rise up to bite Neal (and us) again and again.
That said, let's focus on 3 plays that changed the dynamic of this game. 2 of them were on the players, the other was on the coaches.
Before I get into them, let me preface it by saying that if somehow Brown is back next year, he needs to create a mandatory "football class" for every player. There really is no better way to say it, and the word I'm going to use may offend some people (and if it does I really don't care), but we have, and have had, some football retards on the field. These kids make the crucial mistake at the absolute wrong time but, worst of all, the mistake was totally unnecessary and boneheaded. These aren't "effort" penalties, for example. Those happen to everyone. These are egregious and worst of all costly.
The first play was the punt muff. At the time, we're up 4 with a chance to make it a two possession game; at worst maybe a touchdown game. We're getting the ball with decent field position. Don't need a return here. So, first, why is anyone blocking all the way down the field? Second, why isn't there someone on the sideline giving a "Peter" yell telling him to peel off? This is just basic common sense...every player needs to know the down, distance, but most of all, the situation. That's why this play was so egregious - it was made not by "effort" but by football ignorance. The result, WVU finds itself in the hole and the momentum has completely changed. The absolute worst of all? These punt team errors have happened seemingly every year in the exact same way.
The second play was the TD catch on the screen pass. WVU's defense has held for two downs. It's third and long, and Okie State runs a flare out to the field. The receiver catches the ball still heading toward the sideline when two defenders come up and try to make a "knockout" blow. They whiff, he turns it upfield and scores and the game is for all intents and purposes over. Again, it's knowing the situation... if they break down, he's tackled behind the line of scrimmage for a loss. It's 4th and long and at worst a long field goal to tie.
The third was on the coaches. That was the 4th down play at midfield. That play was doomed to fail from the start just from a scheme standpoint. For one, we subbed in Donaldson who was no threat to get the first - he can't stretch it outside (up to that point he had something like 39 yards on 13 carries) and WVU's alignment meant all 22 were within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. With no lead, Donaldson's not running it between the tackles. Johnson or White needed to be in to at least make them play it honest. Second, there was no pass threat out of that formation from the snap, thus all 11 Cowboy's knew within about half a second Greene was going to carry - if they didn't already know before the snap. When the coaches saw that, they should have called a timeout to make an adjustment or two. They didn't - and the rest is history.
One can go back and cite several examples over the years - Sam Brown's fumble, QB fumbles for scoop and scores, Zach Frazier's bad snap vs. Oklahoma, bad use of timeouts. The list seems to go on and on.
This year, Brown is coaching for his job. Everyone knows that.
We also know that WVU isn't the most talented team in the conference. Hence, why we were picked last preseason.
Truth is, just about everyone in the conference is just mediocre and in the same boat. So, for us to win, we have to play as close to flawless as possible because the margin for victory is razor thin.
For the first few games, that scenario has played out. For the last two, we've seen the lack of discipline, football knowledge, and history rise up to bite Neal (and us) again and again.
That said, let's focus on 3 plays that changed the dynamic of this game. 2 of them were on the players, the other was on the coaches.
Before I get into them, let me preface it by saying that if somehow Brown is back next year, he needs to create a mandatory "football class" for every player. There really is no better way to say it, and the word I'm going to use may offend some people (and if it does I really don't care), but we have, and have had, some football retards on the field. These kids make the crucial mistake at the absolute wrong time but, worst of all, the mistake was totally unnecessary and boneheaded. These aren't "effort" penalties, for example. Those happen to everyone. These are egregious and worst of all costly.
The first play was the punt muff. At the time, we're up 4 with a chance to make it a two possession game; at worst maybe a touchdown game. We're getting the ball with decent field position. Don't need a return here. So, first, why is anyone blocking all the way down the field? Second, why isn't there someone on the sideline giving a "Peter" yell telling him to peel off? This is just basic common sense...every player needs to know the down, distance, but most of all, the situation. That's why this play was so egregious - it was made not by "effort" but by football ignorance. The result, WVU finds itself in the hole and the momentum has completely changed. The absolute worst of all? These punt team errors have happened seemingly every year in the exact same way.
The second play was the TD catch on the screen pass. WVU's defense has held for two downs. It's third and long, and Okie State runs a flare out to the field. The receiver catches the ball still heading toward the sideline when two defenders come up and try to make a "knockout" blow. They whiff, he turns it upfield and scores and the game is for all intents and purposes over. Again, it's knowing the situation... if they break down, he's tackled behind the line of scrimmage for a loss. It's 4th and long and at worst a long field goal to tie.
The third was on the coaches. That was the 4th down play at midfield. That play was doomed to fail from the start just from a scheme standpoint. For one, we subbed in Donaldson who was no threat to get the first - he can't stretch it outside (up to that point he had something like 39 yards on 13 carries) and WVU's alignment meant all 22 were within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. With no lead, Donaldson's not running it between the tackles. Johnson or White needed to be in to at least make them play it honest. Second, there was no pass threat out of that formation from the snap, thus all 11 Cowboy's knew within about half a second Greene was going to carry - if they didn't already know before the snap. When the coaches saw that, they should have called a timeout to make an adjustment or two. They didn't - and the rest is history.
