--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said they are trying to erase the Iowa State game from his memory. They simply didn’t play or coach good enough and were physically dominated on both lines of scrimmages. They did some good things on special teams, but the opening punt hurt them and didn’t pin them back. They had a chance to make it 14-3 and they missed a makeable field goal and also had a penalty on the first kickoff which set them back. All of those happened early in the contest. The kickoff coverage was really good and so was the punt coverage. They finally had some punt return yardage and the kickoff return unit blocked very well in this game. Defensively, they just didn’t look like the same team with poor alignment and communication. They had poor technique and didn’t set the edge, which is something they haven’t had an issue with beforehand. They didn’t create many negative plays. Offensively, they just struggled to block them in the run and pass game and didn’t create enough room in the run or pass game. They didn’t make routine plays and Iowa State got after them good. It was a disappointing performance, but nobody is going to feel sorry for them and they need to bounce back.
--You’re going to have adversity, but they’ve lost some games that are close, but this was the first time that they’ve been thoroughly beaten. Now it’s up to them to respond. Oklahoma is talented and is playing at a very high level. The defensive line has been very good. They all have the ability to put pressure on the quarterback. In the secondary, they have a lot of guys that have played football. Offensively they have been really good for a while now. They have a bunch of wide outs that can run and catch, and their offensive line is long which creates problems.
--Brown said that at placekicker they will have competition. Brown has a lot of trust in Casey Legg, he just hasn’t kicked the ball as well lately. He hasn’t hit it well and they gave Tyler Sumpter a chance. Brown said they don’t have a ton of depth right now, but they’ve been fortunate that they’ve played the year with two safeties, two corners and Tykee Smith has played almost every snap at spear. Akheem Mesidor was the bright spot up front in the Iowa State game, but they rotated some other players at linebacker. What they have is sort of what they’ve got on defense. They’re getting young kids in on special teams and they’ve rotated through some guys on offense at right tackle.
--You have to have a pulse for what is going on. They are physically and mentally worn out after the Oklahoma cancelation. Those kids haven’t been home since mid-June and it’s been a long year given the challenges all around in college football. He is extremely appreciative of what the players and the staff have done. They’re competitive and have had a chance to win every game outside of Saturday. Now, it’s about trying to figure out what caused that because what they put on tape is not who they want to be.
--Taijh Alston has done a great job attacking his rehab after a patella injury. He was almost completely done with that and then had an Achilles injury. He wasn’t even sprinting, and it popped on him. He had to overcome that mentally and he stayed here through the quarantine and got treatment and attacked that. He played 12-15 snaps and was rusty, but he did a good job and kept a positive outlook.
--Garrett Greene is a guy they are excited about with his future. He competes and is the leader of the developmental group. He has been up and down in the Monday night football games in the past couple weeks. He felt he probably should have used him a little bit more to get some confidence. They’re excited about him; they may see him or may not Saturday.
--Brown isn’t sure who will be back Saturday because he doesn’t understand contact tracing. They have several that are out with contact tracing and they are working through it.
--Brown met with each of the seniors and he isn’t putting pressure on them either way, some are ready to move on. He doesn’t know how many guys will return. They’ve talked about the options and what it means but he isn’t putting pressure on them because they’re O.K. from a scholarship standpoint.
--Brown isn’t sure if there is a right or wrong decision with changing the quarterback in the game, but he wanted to have success finishing the game. It was just an odd game overall. They had a decent shot and jumped offsides on the first drive and then a three and out. They then had a 15 or 16 play drive and didn’t get any points. Had a really bad series at the end of the half and they just beat them at tackle. They had one bad drive in the second half but had some drops. They didn’t have a three and out fest, they just shot themselves in the foot or Iowa State won some one on ones, but they needed to finish the game with some positivity. They had a plan where they could have used him but if he had to do it over again, he maybe would have used it, but he isn’t sure. Jarret Doege wasn’t the cause of them struggling.
--As a staff West Virginia is excited about playing a bowl and he’s confident the team would, too.
--You’re going to have adversity, but they’ve lost some games that are close, but this was the first time that they’ve been thoroughly beaten. Now it’s up to them to respond. Oklahoma is talented and is playing at a very high level. The defensive line has been very good. They all have the ability to put pressure on the quarterback. In the secondary, they have a lot of guys that have played football. Offensively they have been really good for a while now. They have a bunch of wide outs that can run and catch, and their offensive line is long which creates problems.
--Brown said that at placekicker they will have competition. Brown has a lot of trust in Casey Legg, he just hasn’t kicked the ball as well lately. He hasn’t hit it well and they gave Tyler Sumpter a chance. Brown said they don’t have a ton of depth right now, but they’ve been fortunate that they’ve played the year with two safeties, two corners and Tykee Smith has played almost every snap at spear. Akheem Mesidor was the bright spot up front in the Iowa State game, but they rotated some other players at linebacker. What they have is sort of what they’ve got on defense. They’re getting young kids in on special teams and they’ve rotated through some guys on offense at right tackle.
--You have to have a pulse for what is going on. They are physically and mentally worn out after the Oklahoma cancelation. Those kids haven’t been home since mid-June and it’s been a long year given the challenges all around in college football. He is extremely appreciative of what the players and the staff have done. They’re competitive and have had a chance to win every game outside of Saturday. Now, it’s about trying to figure out what caused that because what they put on tape is not who they want to be.
--Taijh Alston has done a great job attacking his rehab after a patella injury. He was almost completely done with that and then had an Achilles injury. He wasn’t even sprinting, and it popped on him. He had to overcome that mentally and he stayed here through the quarantine and got treatment and attacked that. He played 12-15 snaps and was rusty, but he did a good job and kept a positive outlook.
--Garrett Greene is a guy they are excited about with his future. He competes and is the leader of the developmental group. He has been up and down in the Monday night football games in the past couple weeks. He felt he probably should have used him a little bit more to get some confidence. They’re excited about him; they may see him or may not Saturday.
--Brown isn’t sure who will be back Saturday because he doesn’t understand contact tracing. They have several that are out with contact tracing and they are working through it.
--Brown met with each of the seniors and he isn’t putting pressure on them either way, some are ready to move on. He doesn’t know how many guys will return. They’ve talked about the options and what it means but he isn’t putting pressure on them because they’re O.K. from a scholarship standpoint.
--Brown isn’t sure if there is a right or wrong decision with changing the quarterback in the game, but he wanted to have success finishing the game. It was just an odd game overall. They had a decent shot and jumped offsides on the first drive and then a three and out. They then had a 15 or 16 play drive and didn’t get any points. Had a really bad series at the end of the half and they just beat them at tackle. They had one bad drive in the second half but had some drops. They didn’t have a three and out fest, they just shot themselves in the foot or Iowa State won some one on ones, but they needed to finish the game with some positivity. They had a plan where they could have used him but if he had to do it over again, he maybe would have used it, but he isn’t sure. Jarret Doege wasn’t the cause of them struggling.
--As a staff West Virginia is excited about playing a bowl and he’s confident the team would, too.
