My Fiver on WVU's loss to the Pokes Saturday in Morgantown...
1. -26. It hard to lose ten yards on a play. I mean, you really, really need to F up to lose ten yards on a single down. Yet, vs. Oklahoma, driving for a touchdown to take the lead late, we managed to lose 21 yards on a single play. Well, Saturday, Garrett Greene said "Hold my beer". WVU leads 3-0. Oklahoma State couldn't move the ball at all. With 4 minutes to go in the first, Jaylen Warren of OSU had 3 carries for -1 yard. Dante Stills makes a hell of a play, giving us the ball, with the lead in plus territory. All was well with the world. In trots Garrett Greene after Jarrett Doege led an 11 play, 64 yard drive for a FG on our first drive. OK, I'm still game. Leddie picks up 3. Alright, what else we got? Negative 26. We went 26 yards backwards, and we were damn lucky it wasn't the second straight year that the Pokes housed a strip sack. That play just shot a dart into our balloon, permanently flipped field position for the remainder of the half, and set the tone for the rest of the game. It's been a consistent theme now, not just this year, but throughout Neal Brown's tenure as our HC. We can go backwards like nobody's business. When we do not, we tend to win, like the past two weeks. Most of that shit had been cut out. But, we went backwards with a vengeance this week. And, I'm not just talking about negative-26. Pretty much each drive had a negative play. My new mantra for this team is, just go forward.
2. Related - Oklahoma State's DL has owned our OL for the Neal Brown tenure. Last year, we had 42 carries for 68 yards and gave up 6 sacks. This year, we had 33 carries for 17 yards, and gave up 8 sacks. We also had negative-26. 2019? 22 caries for 26 yards, 3 sacks. Bottom line is that Mike Gundy and his DC Jim Knowles outright punish our OL and offense. There is no other team in our league, not Oklahoma, not Texas, not even Matt Wells and Texas Tech, who make us look worse. Someone needs to be in charge of this issue in the offseason. I can recall Don Nehlen talking about our issues with both Pitt's and Penn State's defenses years ago. We just could not beat them and almost always were behind the chains. In the offseason, each year his first several seasons, he would break down the game film with both his staff, and with other coaches who played against PSU. Starting in 1983, we began to handle Pitt, using quick screens, draw plays, and taking advantage of their aggression. With Penn State, we got "FINALLY" in 1984, and 51-30 in '88. Back to present, OSU's defense is a rubix cube and we are a three-year old. This needs fixed. It's dysfunctional.
3. The muffed punt. Hard to believe now, but halfway through the third quarter, we were only down 10-3, held OSU to a three & out, and then held them again on their second possession. We still had a ballgame. They booted a punt away and....muff. (holding my head in my hands, rubbing my eyes, cursing). Game, set, match. So, that's two muffed punt turnovers this year, both in situations where we were in close games. Really don't have much more to add other than I'm so sick of it. It's stressful watching us try to field punts in big games. I would much rather we do what Dana did in 2014 vs. Baylor, and simply put no one back there. I'm absolutely, positively fine with that.
4. Brandon Yates played about as bad a game at OT as I can recall a Mountaineer having since Junior Ezebu last year in Stillwater. Wyatt Milum wasn't great either. Heck, none of the OL were. But, Yates - on replays he wasn't even on roller skates - which I claimed about Ezebu last year. He was a turnstile. There were two replays of Doege sacks shown on ESPN where Yates didn't block anybody. No one. He was just kinda there. Yes, Doege played terrible and missed throws. Doege looked shaken after our second drive where he was sacked for the first time. But, our OL was the cause and Doege was the symptom. We could've put Tom Brady back there, put Devonte Adams at one wideout, and Cooper Kupp at the other, Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield, and I'm not sure we would've scored more than 3. Lots of rumbling about Matt Moore and his future with this program. I can't say that I necessarily disagree. I'm not typically part of the pitchfork wielding mob, but I don't see anything in our body of work in the past three years that would lead me to believe that our run game, and OL play in particular, are on the upswing. By the way, we have talent there. Four-star kids, Zach Frazier, Gmiter can be damn good, and really good TEs. They are not even close to reaching their potential. A change probably should be made.
5. Inconsistency. The team will talk about being upset, being motivated to do better, and will win at Manhattan this week. Mark my words. We have plenty of talent, and we have shown that we can play very well when pissed off. When I saw that lockerroom celebration after the Iowa State win, it brought a smile to my face. Good for them. However, after, I kinda winced because I knew there was a lot of football left to be played and we just celebrated like we won the Big 12. I think you saw a team Saturday who was a little complacent get punched in the face by a team who was motivated. Oklahoma State has a lot to play for. They were only 3 point favorites, and we had their attention after defeating a ranked Iowa State. After our game, the Pokes have TCU and Texas Tech before a monumental game with Oklahoma. This game was HUGE for them. We just weren't up for the challenge. And, yes, that's on our coaches, although...I'm sure our coaches tried. But, a lot was put into that Iowa State game, and we went out there and won. We celebrated. And, we lost all of our fire. Well, we just got pantsed on national television. They'll be embarrassed, they should be, and they'll be motivated next weekend. However, it won't mean much if we then go out and no-show against Texas the following week. This team has been inconsistent for a while now under Neal Brown. This is another facet surrounding this program he must change.
1. -26. It hard to lose ten yards on a play. I mean, you really, really need to F up to lose ten yards on a single down. Yet, vs. Oklahoma, driving for a touchdown to take the lead late, we managed to lose 21 yards on a single play. Well, Saturday, Garrett Greene said "Hold my beer". WVU leads 3-0. Oklahoma State couldn't move the ball at all. With 4 minutes to go in the first, Jaylen Warren of OSU had 3 carries for -1 yard. Dante Stills makes a hell of a play, giving us the ball, with the lead in plus territory. All was well with the world. In trots Garrett Greene after Jarrett Doege led an 11 play, 64 yard drive for a FG on our first drive. OK, I'm still game. Leddie picks up 3. Alright, what else we got? Negative 26. We went 26 yards backwards, and we were damn lucky it wasn't the second straight year that the Pokes housed a strip sack. That play just shot a dart into our balloon, permanently flipped field position for the remainder of the half, and set the tone for the rest of the game. It's been a consistent theme now, not just this year, but throughout Neal Brown's tenure as our HC. We can go backwards like nobody's business. When we do not, we tend to win, like the past two weeks. Most of that shit had been cut out. But, we went backwards with a vengeance this week. And, I'm not just talking about negative-26. Pretty much each drive had a negative play. My new mantra for this team is, just go forward.
2. Related - Oklahoma State's DL has owned our OL for the Neal Brown tenure. Last year, we had 42 carries for 68 yards and gave up 6 sacks. This year, we had 33 carries for 17 yards, and gave up 8 sacks. We also had negative-26. 2019? 22 caries for 26 yards, 3 sacks. Bottom line is that Mike Gundy and his DC Jim Knowles outright punish our OL and offense. There is no other team in our league, not Oklahoma, not Texas, not even Matt Wells and Texas Tech, who make us look worse. Someone needs to be in charge of this issue in the offseason. I can recall Don Nehlen talking about our issues with both Pitt's and Penn State's defenses years ago. We just could not beat them and almost always were behind the chains. In the offseason, each year his first several seasons, he would break down the game film with both his staff, and with other coaches who played against PSU. Starting in 1983, we began to handle Pitt, using quick screens, draw plays, and taking advantage of their aggression. With Penn State, we got "FINALLY" in 1984, and 51-30 in '88. Back to present, OSU's defense is a rubix cube and we are a three-year old. This needs fixed. It's dysfunctional.
3. The muffed punt. Hard to believe now, but halfway through the third quarter, we were only down 10-3, held OSU to a three & out, and then held them again on their second possession. We still had a ballgame. They booted a punt away and....muff. (holding my head in my hands, rubbing my eyes, cursing). Game, set, match. So, that's two muffed punt turnovers this year, both in situations where we were in close games. Really don't have much more to add other than I'm so sick of it. It's stressful watching us try to field punts in big games. I would much rather we do what Dana did in 2014 vs. Baylor, and simply put no one back there. I'm absolutely, positively fine with that.
4. Brandon Yates played about as bad a game at OT as I can recall a Mountaineer having since Junior Ezebu last year in Stillwater. Wyatt Milum wasn't great either. Heck, none of the OL were. But, Yates - on replays he wasn't even on roller skates - which I claimed about Ezebu last year. He was a turnstile. There were two replays of Doege sacks shown on ESPN where Yates didn't block anybody. No one. He was just kinda there. Yes, Doege played terrible and missed throws. Doege looked shaken after our second drive where he was sacked for the first time. But, our OL was the cause and Doege was the symptom. We could've put Tom Brady back there, put Devonte Adams at one wideout, and Cooper Kupp at the other, Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield, and I'm not sure we would've scored more than 3. Lots of rumbling about Matt Moore and his future with this program. I can't say that I necessarily disagree. I'm not typically part of the pitchfork wielding mob, but I don't see anything in our body of work in the past three years that would lead me to believe that our run game, and OL play in particular, are on the upswing. By the way, we have talent there. Four-star kids, Zach Frazier, Gmiter can be damn good, and really good TEs. They are not even close to reaching their potential. A change probably should be made.
5. Inconsistency. The team will talk about being upset, being motivated to do better, and will win at Manhattan this week. Mark my words. We have plenty of talent, and we have shown that we can play very well when pissed off. When I saw that lockerroom celebration after the Iowa State win, it brought a smile to my face. Good for them. However, after, I kinda winced because I knew there was a lot of football left to be played and we just celebrated like we won the Big 12. I think you saw a team Saturday who was a little complacent get punched in the face by a team who was motivated. Oklahoma State has a lot to play for. They were only 3 point favorites, and we had their attention after defeating a ranked Iowa State. After our game, the Pokes have TCU and Texas Tech before a monumental game with Oklahoma. This game was HUGE for them. We just weren't up for the challenge. And, yes, that's on our coaches, although...I'm sure our coaches tried. But, a lot was put into that Iowa State game, and we went out there and won. We celebrated. And, we lost all of our fire. Well, we just got pantsed on national television. They'll be embarrassed, they should be, and they'll be motivated next weekend. However, it won't mean much if we then go out and no-show against Texas the following week. This team has been inconsistent for a while now under Neal Brown. This is another facet surrounding this program he must change.
