My Fiver on WVU's victory over Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon>>>
1. The game hinged on three plays: (1) Brendan Sorsby's Will Levis impersonation pick-6 with UC leading 7-0; (2) Nicco Marchiol's INT on the ill-fated fade pass to Rodney Gallagher on 3rd & 3 at the UC 22 yard line; and (3) Sorsby's merciful backwards lob while under pressure returned by Tyrin Bradley for the game-clinching touchdown.
2. Such a strange game. UC beat WVU in first downs, 24-9. UC ran 79 plays to WVU's 43 plays. UC beat WVU in total yards, 436-248. WVU only had 92 rushing yards on 28 carries (3.3 ypc). However, WVU snagged 3 turnovers from UC and won the TO battle, +2...directly leading to 17 points. Game, set, match. If we keep winning the TO battle, we'll continue to win.
3. Running game under Neal Brown. I don't have the time nor inclination to do it, but it would be interesting to see WVU's rushing stats under Neal Brown with Garrett Greene at QB vs. any other QB. I don't think the results would be pretty. I mean, we ran for 424 yards vs. Cincinnati last year with GG at QB, and this year we couldn't crack 100? Unfortunately, it appears that GG's ability to break big plays with his feet, often when the called play breaks down, was an integral part of our offense. Without it, we appear very limited. I give Nicco Marchiol credit, the dude finds a way to win. But, statistically speaking, you look at his wins vs. Pitt and Texas Tech last year, Arizona and UC this year, we're not exactly setting the world on fire offensively.
4. Dovetailing off of #3...I'm just coming to the conclusion that Neal Brown simply does not have any sort of good "feel" for the game when it comes to play calling. That aforementioned ill-fated pass to Rodney Gallagher on 3rd and 3 from the UC 22 is a great example. I mean...that's your play call there? A left-handed QB throwing all of the way across the field to a rarely used WR on a touch pass to the end zone? If you are going to call that play, at least use Justin Robinson, who has shown the ability to snag 50/50 balls in traffic. Another example was our attempt at a 2-minute drive before the half, when we predictably ran a jet sweep on 1st down to Rodney Gallagher for a loss of a yard. On the previous drive Jahiem White had two carries for 31 yards. And we go jet sweep there? With 3 TOs? Our play calling and our offense as a whole is just...vanilla wafers. You get the sense that Neal just calls plays and thinks "Hope this works" without taking anything into consideration.
5. 5-4, 4-2. Well, here we are, still mathematically alive for a Big 12 title game berth in November, so that much is good. And we have three teams in front of us who we beat last season. However, we now have to find a way to go on that rare commodity in the Neal Brown Era: A Win Streak. For the man who expressly does not believe in "momentum" the lack of a significant win streak kinda tracks. Baylor is going to present our defense with a lot of problems. Baylor took Colorado to OT and went to Lubbock and just kicked Texas Tech's ass up and down the field. They are not a bad team at all. I will admit that I will be duly impressed if we find a way to win this game at home, get to 5-2 in the league and set things up for a nice run to end the season.
1. The game hinged on three plays: (1) Brendan Sorsby's Will Levis impersonation pick-6 with UC leading 7-0; (2) Nicco Marchiol's INT on the ill-fated fade pass to Rodney Gallagher on 3rd & 3 at the UC 22 yard line; and (3) Sorsby's merciful backwards lob while under pressure returned by Tyrin Bradley for the game-clinching touchdown.
2. Such a strange game. UC beat WVU in first downs, 24-9. UC ran 79 plays to WVU's 43 plays. UC beat WVU in total yards, 436-248. WVU only had 92 rushing yards on 28 carries (3.3 ypc). However, WVU snagged 3 turnovers from UC and won the TO battle, +2...directly leading to 17 points. Game, set, match. If we keep winning the TO battle, we'll continue to win.
3. Running game under Neal Brown. I don't have the time nor inclination to do it, but it would be interesting to see WVU's rushing stats under Neal Brown with Garrett Greene at QB vs. any other QB. I don't think the results would be pretty. I mean, we ran for 424 yards vs. Cincinnati last year with GG at QB, and this year we couldn't crack 100? Unfortunately, it appears that GG's ability to break big plays with his feet, often when the called play breaks down, was an integral part of our offense. Without it, we appear very limited. I give Nicco Marchiol credit, the dude finds a way to win. But, statistically speaking, you look at his wins vs. Pitt and Texas Tech last year, Arizona and UC this year, we're not exactly setting the world on fire offensively.
4. Dovetailing off of #3...I'm just coming to the conclusion that Neal Brown simply does not have any sort of good "feel" for the game when it comes to play calling. That aforementioned ill-fated pass to Rodney Gallagher on 3rd and 3 from the UC 22 is a great example. I mean...that's your play call there? A left-handed QB throwing all of the way across the field to a rarely used WR on a touch pass to the end zone? If you are going to call that play, at least use Justin Robinson, who has shown the ability to snag 50/50 balls in traffic. Another example was our attempt at a 2-minute drive before the half, when we predictably ran a jet sweep on 1st down to Rodney Gallagher for a loss of a yard. On the previous drive Jahiem White had two carries for 31 yards. And we go jet sweep there? With 3 TOs? Our play calling and our offense as a whole is just...vanilla wafers. You get the sense that Neal just calls plays and thinks "Hope this works" without taking anything into consideration.
5. 5-4, 4-2. Well, here we are, still mathematically alive for a Big 12 title game berth in November, so that much is good. And we have three teams in front of us who we beat last season. However, we now have to find a way to go on that rare commodity in the Neal Brown Era: A Win Streak. For the man who expressly does not believe in "momentum" the lack of a significant win streak kinda tracks. Baylor is going to present our defense with a lot of problems. Baylor took Colorado to OT and went to Lubbock and just kicked Texas Tech's ass up and down the field. They are not a bad team at all. I will admit that I will be duly impressed if we find a way to win this game at home, get to 5-2 in the league and set things up for a nice run to end the season.
