--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown offered his condolences to former coach Frank Cignetti. Losing stinks when you invest time and energy into something and it doesn't go the way it goes. He is frustrated and disappointed and that trickles down to players and staff. He understands the fans frustration. He remembers a lot of rides home in an old beat up van when after Kentucky games growing up. Nobody feels that frustration more than anybody in this building but the only way it gets fixed is in this building. They aren't throwing in the towel and going back to work. There are three primary reasons, they are 27-0 points off turnovers. They have inopportune penalties and missed opportunities. You have to clean up those and get some take aways. Focus on the future and sustain what they've done well. They have ran the ball well, played pretty well offensively and special teams outside return has been a strength. They have to clean it up and it's about next. They are aware of where they're at and its about getting it fixed.
--Towson is well coached and a quality FCS program. They have almost an entire new roster and they have some quality skill guys and a good quarterback. They are talented, look the part and can run. They are strong up front on defense and Gibbs there is likely a draft pick. The focus is on them this week and he says that all due respect to Towson. This is about them getting better and improving and finding a way to get a win.
--Negativity is never good but this is big time football and there's pros and cons for it. They have to have a singular focus and when you have adversity two things happen you learn and grow from it or it splinters. It's up to them to draw and get better. That's not a concern of his early in the year and they will handle it the right way.
--Defensively if you look at it they stopped the run against Pittsburgh. They got pressure on the quarterback and they just didn't do a good job. They weren't surprised by what Kansas did with the option. They weren't able to stop the run. They didn't do a good job defensive line wise keeping the linemen off the linebackers. They did an extremely poor job of adjusting and aligning to shift and motions. Kansas used four formations the only game. There is a big difference between playing inside and outside leverage. They have to go back defensively and work on getting aligned and one-on-one tackling. Young guys need to play and Sean Martin is one as well as young defensive backs.
--Live and learn. Penalty ended the game and he 110-percent agreed with it. It was a selfish penalty and not smart football. You have to clean up procedure penalties. If they don't get a procedure penalty inside the ten.
--They need to play at cornerback. Mumu Bin-Wahad will play more at safety than corner and Jacolby Spells at corner. They need to play.
--Charles Woods will be out again this week and will have a better feel at the end of last week. Jalen Thornton will be out and hope will be back. Austin-Cave will be back and Jordan White will be ready to go.
--Virginia Tech plays on a short week, too. You figure out some of this stuff early in the summer and they won't do anything for them this week.
--Brown said playing time is all about trust and it's about who will do what they're supposed to do and play as hard as they can. Who are the guys they trust and are extremely talented and how do they get more out of them?
--JT Daniels has played at a high level but that throw was too inside. Really proud of Bryce Ford-Wheaton handled the week after the difficult play in the Pitt game. If you don't like the outcome you better go back to work and he has.
--It's about confronting. You don't sugar coat these things, we're 0-2. The people you're around the most and care they want to protect you and say it's OK. It's not OK, they are 0-2 and haven't done the things they need to do to win football games and they need to take ownership and that's the leaders. The staff, the players and more. Look inward and own it.
--Aubrey Burks is going to be questionable for the game. Rashad Ajayi has played well and they can win with how he's played. Wes McCormick has played well in the second half. Jacolby Spells and Wilson-Lamp can both play.
--Special teams they only punted once. The game hasn't been too big for Oliver Straw. Kickoff coverage and punt coverage is better. They blocked a punt. Got to catch the punts and get better on kickoff returns.
--They continue to have Garrett Greene ready to play at all times. Nicco Marchiol is excited on how much he's improving.
--The noise that hurts is you are so close. You could be 2-0, but we're not.
--Towson is well coached and a quality FCS program. They have almost an entire new roster and they have some quality skill guys and a good quarterback. They are talented, look the part and can run. They are strong up front on defense and Gibbs there is likely a draft pick. The focus is on them this week and he says that all due respect to Towson. This is about them getting better and improving and finding a way to get a win.
--Negativity is never good but this is big time football and there's pros and cons for it. They have to have a singular focus and when you have adversity two things happen you learn and grow from it or it splinters. It's up to them to draw and get better. That's not a concern of his early in the year and they will handle it the right way.
--Defensively if you look at it they stopped the run against Pittsburgh. They got pressure on the quarterback and they just didn't do a good job. They weren't surprised by what Kansas did with the option. They weren't able to stop the run. They didn't do a good job defensive line wise keeping the linemen off the linebackers. They did an extremely poor job of adjusting and aligning to shift and motions. Kansas used four formations the only game. There is a big difference between playing inside and outside leverage. They have to go back defensively and work on getting aligned and one-on-one tackling. Young guys need to play and Sean Martin is one as well as young defensive backs.
--Live and learn. Penalty ended the game and he 110-percent agreed with it. It was a selfish penalty and not smart football. You have to clean up procedure penalties. If they don't get a procedure penalty inside the ten.
--They need to play at cornerback. Mumu Bin-Wahad will play more at safety than corner and Jacolby Spells at corner. They need to play.
--Charles Woods will be out again this week and will have a better feel at the end of last week. Jalen Thornton will be out and hope will be back. Austin-Cave will be back and Jordan White will be ready to go.
--Virginia Tech plays on a short week, too. You figure out some of this stuff early in the summer and they won't do anything for them this week.
--Brown said playing time is all about trust and it's about who will do what they're supposed to do and play as hard as they can. Who are the guys they trust and are extremely talented and how do they get more out of them?
--JT Daniels has played at a high level but that throw was too inside. Really proud of Bryce Ford-Wheaton handled the week after the difficult play in the Pitt game. If you don't like the outcome you better go back to work and he has.
--It's about confronting. You don't sugar coat these things, we're 0-2. The people you're around the most and care they want to protect you and say it's OK. It's not OK, they are 0-2 and haven't done the things they need to do to win football games and they need to take ownership and that's the leaders. The staff, the players and more. Look inward and own it.
--Aubrey Burks is going to be questionable for the game. Rashad Ajayi has played well and they can win with how he's played. Wes McCormick has played well in the second half. Jacolby Spells and Wilson-Lamp can both play.
--Special teams they only punted once. The game hasn't been too big for Oliver Straw. Kickoff coverage and punt coverage is better. They blocked a punt. Got to catch the punts and get better on kickoff returns.
--They continue to have Garrett Greene ready to play at all times. Nicco Marchiol is excited on how much he's improving.
--The noise that hurts is you are so close. You could be 2-0, but we're not.
