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WVSPORTS.COM Neal Brown Backyard Brawl postgame press conference summary

ZachAnderson1

Sophomore
Staff
Aug 14, 2023
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-- Brown wants to thank everyone for being here and give credit to the crowd. He said they made a difference and were there the entire way through. The players fed off the energy. They had bad things happen, lose your starting quarterback, your leader and energizer. Defensive players especially fed off of the crowd. It's a huge team win for Brown and they call it a Brawl for a reason, there was no beauty in this win for WVU. Brown has lots of respect for Narduzzi and their program and last year's game has stuck with them. The best players being on both fronts and being tough has allowed them to develop into this. The game was ugly, but Brown is proud of his players and staff. Brown says the University, state of West Virginia and athletic department needed this win. He thinks Country Roads after a win is the best tradition in college football. It wasn't pretty offensively, but they grinded out. Brown wants to credit Nicco Marchiol for his performance and the reduced play sheet that Brown used worked for him tonight, and it was important that Marchiol didn't "lose" the game for them. Pittsburgh struggled the entire game after the first drive and he's happy for the defensive group and secondary group to force three interceptions.

-- Brown didn't panic on the first drive because they held them to a field goal. Brown thinks two other stops were crucial.

-- BRown says Trey Lathan has gotten better and he's really athletic, exactly what they're looking for. He has a bright future and good story.

-- No update on Garrett Greene or CJ Donaldson, Greene couldn't put much weight on foot and was in a boot and wanted to go back in but they chose to leave him out. Donaldson was scared by his injury because of his recovery last season but Brown thinks he'll be fine.

-- Donaldson ran the ball as well as Brown has seen him run today.

-- Marchiol had two mistakes, not motioning a man in the wrong personeel and the fumble. Brown says he managed the game well and his run on third down was a huge play. Made some nice RPO throws and made some good passes without a lot of reps throughout the week. If he's the guy due to injury, he'll perform better next week with a full week of practice.

-- Once Brown got a feel of what the game was going to be, so he needed to adjust as a play caller and look at his notes. Brown says Pitt played 4-3 when they weren't expecting that and that's not who they are.

-- Cincinnati and WVU's defenses are similar, but WVU wanted to pressure and make it tough on the QB. People will blame it on him, but there's a lot of stuff going on. Stuff they worked on Duquesne week came out here and worked well.

-- Brown thinks WVU was energized early in the game and that caused them to overshoot some gaps. Once they settled into gap integrity, they were better at stopping the run and were disciplined with their eyes.

-- Having your defense being the one to close out a game creates confidence in a good football team.
 
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