--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown took ownership of the performance and they just didn't play well.
--Special teams is the only area they won but they ran a guy into the punter and they need to give themselves a chance to return some kicks. They punted the ball extremely well with hang time and distance, the kickoff team looked different and was fast and physical. They have speed and they played fast there. They defended the swinging gate when they went for two. Pleased with special teams but they have to continue to grow them.
--Defensively not good enough the stats tell the story. From a rushing, Penn State won the rushing battle. The turnover margin they had 1 and West Virginia had 3. Rushing defense was not good and gave up explosive runs and quarterback scrambles. They generated zero pressure and he struggled with pressure. They struggled when they went unbalanced and when they tempoed them. It was a communication issue. The positives zero points off turnovers so they put out the fire. They played physical and didn't get pushed around at the line of scrimmage.
--Offensively below their standards. They had three turnovers and put the ball on the ground a couple more times. They struggled with basic fundamental football. They struggled in the red zone and were 1-4 there. The perimeter blocking didn't do a good job running guys off. West Virginia had four drops on explosive plays. The positives West Virginia had zero penalties and did a good job on their ends. The Mountaineers played with tempo.
--It's not going to make or break the season for West Virginia but the frustrating thing is you work to get to a stage where you can play a game on a national stage and they just didn't produce. The season is still in front of them. There have been a lot of good West Virginia team that have been beaten by Penn State and there is no reason they can't do the same.
--The Albany team is extremely well coached. They're going to do a lot of things on offense and they have 20 division one transfers. They have guys that can play at this level and they aren't going to be intimidated. Defensively they are a four down front and they play gap sound defense and tackle. West Virginia has a great opportunity on Saturday night and his message to the fans is don't lose faith on one game. They will bounce back and show that they're a good football team.
--Offensive line wise if you go back and just watch it they didn't do as poor of a job running the football as the numbers show. They had two minus 16 on the snap that hit the receiver which was the quarterbacks fault and the other snap was -11. The pass play where Garrett fumbled was another -8 so you add that and it looks worse than it actually was. They had one run where they lost six yards and that was the only negative run they had that wasn't self induced. They did a good job on their edge people, their quickness in the interior bothered them some but they got expansion on their ends and got good movement. They didn't get Jahiem White enough touches after he got injured, but he and CJ Donaldson did some good things in the run game. They are playing man coverage so West Virginia has to run those guys off at the wide receiver spot. Greene also made some poor decisions in the run game. On defense, the issues weren't because they knocked us off the ball. That wasn't the case they didn't physically knock us off the ball but they didn't do a good job in their run games. And did a poor job in the passing lanes and left big gaps which led to scramble yards. They over pursued the ball on outside zone and they had several cut backs. It's about simplifying what West Virginia is trying to do in the run game and making sure the cut back lanes are in better spots. They didn't get knocked off the ball but the execution was not very good.
--Allar's completion percentage is not very good when pressured. But when you bring extra people you leave people in man coverage so you have to pick and choose. There was never a time and place.
--Light practice and everybody was out there today so no health concerns.
--Most everything they do in the run game is read wise. There were a couple misreads where he got the ball and two passing plays where Jahiem White got the ball.
--Brown wasn't fired up about the passing game at all and they dropped more balls than they did last year. They missed a lot of plays and were not as efficient. They put a lot of time and effort into that and aren't going to bail out because it's the first game.
--First series we went six plays, they had a couple where the play clock was running down. The coach to player didn't work the first series in full transparency. They were going to huddle but because it went out they didn't. They motioned Garrett Greene asked for the ball late and it hits the wide receiver. At that point, Brown went off the opening script and went to standard plays after the snap was high on the third drive. The ones that were affected by timing they got away from them.
--When Penn State went to the big sets, West Virginia wanted to play open but to play fast you have to use signals. You have to have plans for a rainy day such as when the system went out. You have to have signals and the ability to use them.
--The thing about the motion is from a schematic standpoint they are simple in their schemes but give people a lot of different looks. All the motions fit together so the movement plays look the same whether it's a run or a pass they are moving the pocket. You have to have some of those timing motions and that's the first time in a really long time they've had those issues. They worked it from as soon as they could have a ball in the summer.
--West Virginia can't feel sorry for themselves.
--Brown said he would do every one of his decisions again. If you get it under a yard, you have to go for it. You have to be able to score touchdowns. They converted the other three. The two point play is what you're trying to do is you want to give yourself the most chances. You have to think about they're going to score, you have to do it another two times and play it in advance. If you go 2-3 on two point conversions and it gives you a chance to win the game. Those decisions are made before you go into the game.
--West Virginia had too many third downs in the game. They got themselves in trouble in third and long too much and that's tough sledding against them because you have to help and they are stout.
--Special teams is the only area they won but they ran a guy into the punter and they need to give themselves a chance to return some kicks. They punted the ball extremely well with hang time and distance, the kickoff team looked different and was fast and physical. They have speed and they played fast there. They defended the swinging gate when they went for two. Pleased with special teams but they have to continue to grow them.
--Defensively not good enough the stats tell the story. From a rushing, Penn State won the rushing battle. The turnover margin they had 1 and West Virginia had 3. Rushing defense was not good and gave up explosive runs and quarterback scrambles. They generated zero pressure and he struggled with pressure. They struggled when they went unbalanced and when they tempoed them. It was a communication issue. The positives zero points off turnovers so they put out the fire. They played physical and didn't get pushed around at the line of scrimmage.
--Offensively below their standards. They had three turnovers and put the ball on the ground a couple more times. They struggled with basic fundamental football. They struggled in the red zone and were 1-4 there. The perimeter blocking didn't do a good job running guys off. West Virginia had four drops on explosive plays. The positives West Virginia had zero penalties and did a good job on their ends. The Mountaineers played with tempo.
--It's not going to make or break the season for West Virginia but the frustrating thing is you work to get to a stage where you can play a game on a national stage and they just didn't produce. The season is still in front of them. There have been a lot of good West Virginia team that have been beaten by Penn State and there is no reason they can't do the same.
--The Albany team is extremely well coached. They're going to do a lot of things on offense and they have 20 division one transfers. They have guys that can play at this level and they aren't going to be intimidated. Defensively they are a four down front and they play gap sound defense and tackle. West Virginia has a great opportunity on Saturday night and his message to the fans is don't lose faith on one game. They will bounce back and show that they're a good football team.
--Offensive line wise if you go back and just watch it they didn't do as poor of a job running the football as the numbers show. They had two minus 16 on the snap that hit the receiver which was the quarterbacks fault and the other snap was -11. The pass play where Garrett fumbled was another -8 so you add that and it looks worse than it actually was. They had one run where they lost six yards and that was the only negative run they had that wasn't self induced. They did a good job on their edge people, their quickness in the interior bothered them some but they got expansion on their ends and got good movement. They didn't get Jahiem White enough touches after he got injured, but he and CJ Donaldson did some good things in the run game. They are playing man coverage so West Virginia has to run those guys off at the wide receiver spot. Greene also made some poor decisions in the run game. On defense, the issues weren't because they knocked us off the ball. That wasn't the case they didn't physically knock us off the ball but they didn't do a good job in their run games. And did a poor job in the passing lanes and left big gaps which led to scramble yards. They over pursued the ball on outside zone and they had several cut backs. It's about simplifying what West Virginia is trying to do in the run game and making sure the cut back lanes are in better spots. They didn't get knocked off the ball but the execution was not very good.
--Allar's completion percentage is not very good when pressured. But when you bring extra people you leave people in man coverage so you have to pick and choose. There was never a time and place.
--Light practice and everybody was out there today so no health concerns.
--Most everything they do in the run game is read wise. There were a couple misreads where he got the ball and two passing plays where Jahiem White got the ball.
--Brown wasn't fired up about the passing game at all and they dropped more balls than they did last year. They missed a lot of plays and were not as efficient. They put a lot of time and effort into that and aren't going to bail out because it's the first game.
--First series we went six plays, they had a couple where the play clock was running down. The coach to player didn't work the first series in full transparency. They were going to huddle but because it went out they didn't. They motioned Garrett Greene asked for the ball late and it hits the wide receiver. At that point, Brown went off the opening script and went to standard plays after the snap was high on the third drive. The ones that were affected by timing they got away from them.
--When Penn State went to the big sets, West Virginia wanted to play open but to play fast you have to use signals. You have to have plans for a rainy day such as when the system went out. You have to have signals and the ability to use them.
--The thing about the motion is from a schematic standpoint they are simple in their schemes but give people a lot of different looks. All the motions fit together so the movement plays look the same whether it's a run or a pass they are moving the pocket. You have to have some of those timing motions and that's the first time in a really long time they've had those issues. They worked it from as soon as they could have a ball in the summer.
--West Virginia can't feel sorry for themselves.
--Brown said he would do every one of his decisions again. If you get it under a yard, you have to go for it. You have to be able to score touchdowns. They converted the other three. The two point play is what you're trying to do is you want to give yourself the most chances. You have to think about they're going to score, you have to do it another two times and play it in advance. If you go 2-3 on two point conversions and it gives you a chance to win the game. Those decisions are made before you go into the game.
--West Virginia had too many third downs in the game. They got themselves in trouble in third and long too much and that's tough sledding against them because you have to help and they are stout.
