--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown recognized the veterans and their efforts. He appreciates their service and it’s because of them that they are able to do what they want to do.
--Usually when you watch video it’s not as bad or as good as you thought it was and that was the case on Saturday. The margin for error is really small and when you’re not emotionally or mentally locked in or make the routine plays you get exposed. Special teams it was an average day, they didn’t do anything in that phase that changed the outcome and they have to make plays there. They had two penalties on special teams that gave them the ball with good field position and poor coverage. Miscommunication on kickoff returns were not good as well. Defensively, disappointed in how they played and he doesn’t think they handled success from the week before. They weren’t ready to go with missed tackles, slow to the line and critical down execution was poor. They showed fight but at that point the damage was done. Offensively they played well in the open field but struggled in the red zone. Brown is excited for the future of the wide receiver position and they played well outside the drops. The pass protection has been pretty solid but for them to have sustain success they can’t have missed assignments or drops to end the drives themselves. It’s not the outcome they wanted but what he is looking for is he just wants to see improvement and get better. They have made some serious improvements by watching games earlier in the year and have made solid progress but Saturday that didn’t show on special teams and defense.
--Kansas State lost a close game to Texas and they are playing well right now with three wins in a row before that. They are a veteran team that plats disciplined and it’s been the culture there. They do a great job evaluating and have a great walk-on program there and they simply don’t beat themselves. They have eight senior starters on offense, including all five on the offensive line, and ten out of the 11 are upperclassmen. They have a lot of continuity up front and it shows. The quarterback Skylar Thompson is playing under control and has been calm. He is a natural runner that can throw the football effectively down the field while they have a timely passing game. They are starting a lot of upperclassmen on defense as well and are one of the best in the Big 12. They go three-deep on the defensive end and have great pass rushers. Their secondary has confidence and they put them in a lot of man-to-man situations and they have been able to get off the field on third down.
--Wide receiver Sean Ryan will practice this week and will make a decision if he can play. Linebacker Josh Chandler practiced a little bit but he will play this week barring any setbacks. Cornerback Dreshun Miller will not be available this week while they will make a decision on kicker Evan Staley later this week. And wide receiver T.J. Simmons jogged this week but they’ll see how things go there.
--Brown wants his team to lead the country in fair catches on the punt team. His kickoff coverage they want to keep them inside the 22 or 23 and they’ve been good on both of those teams. That’s a mentality team and they didn’t set the tone well against Texas Tech.
--Assistant coach Blake Seiler was a graduate assistant with Vic Koenning and they wanted to add some people on the staff with recent Big 12 experience in the league. Part of the culture there at Kansas State was important as well and he respected that. Seiler had done a great job recruiting in the Southeast as well. He’s led the special teams and it’s been the bright spot of the football team while being in with some higher ranked recruits. He has done a great job.
--Brown says he coaches Sam James harder than anybody on the team because of his ceiling. He liked the talent he saw in the winter and spring and you have to coach your best players the hardest and they game plan him to get him the ball. You have to hold those guys to a higher standard. He overcame negative plays for the first time in his career which is something he hadn’t done.
--Jared Bartlett will not play in one of the remaining games, he is going to redshirt. The Texas Tech game was the worst for the freshman group at large.
--Brown said they have a plan for the quarterback role but he isn’t going to share it. They’ve got issues on offense but their quarterback play hasn’t been tremendous but it hasn’t been the reason they’ve struggled.
--Josh Chandler will be a tremendous help in this game because they’re a box team. Chandler is a future MIKE linebacker on this team and was playing as well as anybody before he got hurt. Kansas State is going to line up and run it right at you.
--Usually when you watch video it’s not as bad or as good as you thought it was and that was the case on Saturday. The margin for error is really small and when you’re not emotionally or mentally locked in or make the routine plays you get exposed. Special teams it was an average day, they didn’t do anything in that phase that changed the outcome and they have to make plays there. They had two penalties on special teams that gave them the ball with good field position and poor coverage. Miscommunication on kickoff returns were not good as well. Defensively, disappointed in how they played and he doesn’t think they handled success from the week before. They weren’t ready to go with missed tackles, slow to the line and critical down execution was poor. They showed fight but at that point the damage was done. Offensively they played well in the open field but struggled in the red zone. Brown is excited for the future of the wide receiver position and they played well outside the drops. The pass protection has been pretty solid but for them to have sustain success they can’t have missed assignments or drops to end the drives themselves. It’s not the outcome they wanted but what he is looking for is he just wants to see improvement and get better. They have made some serious improvements by watching games earlier in the year and have made solid progress but Saturday that didn’t show on special teams and defense.
--Kansas State lost a close game to Texas and they are playing well right now with three wins in a row before that. They are a veteran team that plats disciplined and it’s been the culture there. They do a great job evaluating and have a great walk-on program there and they simply don’t beat themselves. They have eight senior starters on offense, including all five on the offensive line, and ten out of the 11 are upperclassmen. They have a lot of continuity up front and it shows. The quarterback Skylar Thompson is playing under control and has been calm. He is a natural runner that can throw the football effectively down the field while they have a timely passing game. They are starting a lot of upperclassmen on defense as well and are one of the best in the Big 12. They go three-deep on the defensive end and have great pass rushers. Their secondary has confidence and they put them in a lot of man-to-man situations and they have been able to get off the field on third down.
--Wide receiver Sean Ryan will practice this week and will make a decision if he can play. Linebacker Josh Chandler practiced a little bit but he will play this week barring any setbacks. Cornerback Dreshun Miller will not be available this week while they will make a decision on kicker Evan Staley later this week. And wide receiver T.J. Simmons jogged this week but they’ll see how things go there.
--Brown wants his team to lead the country in fair catches on the punt team. His kickoff coverage they want to keep them inside the 22 or 23 and they’ve been good on both of those teams. That’s a mentality team and they didn’t set the tone well against Texas Tech.
--Assistant coach Blake Seiler was a graduate assistant with Vic Koenning and they wanted to add some people on the staff with recent Big 12 experience in the league. Part of the culture there at Kansas State was important as well and he respected that. Seiler had done a great job recruiting in the Southeast as well. He’s led the special teams and it’s been the bright spot of the football team while being in with some higher ranked recruits. He has done a great job.
--Brown says he coaches Sam James harder than anybody on the team because of his ceiling. He liked the talent he saw in the winter and spring and you have to coach your best players the hardest and they game plan him to get him the ball. You have to hold those guys to a higher standard. He overcame negative plays for the first time in his career which is something he hadn’t done.
--Jared Bartlett will not play in one of the remaining games, he is going to redshirt. The Texas Tech game was the worst for the freshman group at large.
--Brown said they have a plan for the quarterback role but he isn’t going to share it. They’ve got issues on offense but their quarterback play hasn’t been tremendous but it hasn’t been the reason they’ve struggled.
--Josh Chandler will be a tremendous help in this game because they’re a box team. Chandler is a future MIKE linebacker on this team and was playing as well as anybody before he got hurt. Kansas State is going to line up and run it right at you.
