^^^THIS^^^
The is no doubt that things could have been better yesterday. There is also no doubt that PSU has considerably more talent than Wvu has or has ever had. When you have only beaten a team three times since 1955 that says it all. No one said anything about accepting mediocrity but outside of the 2005-2007 era that has been what we have mostly been. I will judge this season based on how we perform against the middle and top of the big 12 and not by what we did against PSU. We have the players to compete against Big 12 teams we don't have the horses to compete against PSU.
We also finished the 2014 season 7-6 so the performance wasn't indicative of anything great. We don't know what PSU will end up being, but they are currently ranked 8th. I will judge this season based on how we perform against the middle and top tier of the Big 12. We have the players top compete against those teams we don't have the players to compete against the PSU's of the world. Wvu hasn't proven it can have success in the new era college football and NB is the only coach we have had in that era.
Ok, we agree on the talent of PSU. Then can you explain to me why Brown decided to be almost extra aggressive on defense against PSU skill guys, giving up quick scoring plays, while on offense he was very basic and vanilla? My point is to not say that WVU should have the talent of PSU, but we should have had a game plan against a superior opponent, like we used to do with other coaches when facing a huge obstacle.
The only way we were going to beat PSU was if they coughed up the ball 4-5 times and we capitalized on it. I don't disagree that Brown needs to do a better job with his game plans at times but there is no game plan he could have come up with that would have been able to overcome the disparity in talent. I think we should have tried to run Greene more but according to the scouting reports on PSU this is the deepest they have been in the defensive backfield in the James Franklin era. Outside of the 2005-2007 era when have we ever beaten the Big Boys when they were at their best? People need to take a step back and let the season play out. Let's see how we perform against the middle and top of the Big 12 before we say the sky is falling. I don't expect we will win all those games, but I do think we will hold our own.
Do you think that there are many coaches out there with the experience that Brown has that would have made the fatal mistake with 30 seconds remaining in the first half, still in striking distance, coming off points, that would have made the decision to allow his defense to not play deep safeties and soft corners? That's my problem with him. Brown seems like a great guy, but he also seems like he is an emotional decision maker and not a tactical thinker.
That whole sequence killed me. We looked like we were going to undeservedly end the half within striking distance, maybe we catch a break again and level the score coming out of the tunnel and then that happened, game over. Idk wtf he was thinking, and he called a time out to setup the defense that allowed the TD as the topper. Should have called it when they started hurrying up to the line when it looked like they were trying and of course succeeded in catching our guys napping.
With 12 teams in the CFP we might as well keep scheduling these games to sellout the stadium. When the day comes we have a nationally relevant team again, they’ll have plenty of chances to make up for it if we drop an opener to PSU or any other top 10 type of team.
BINGO.....this new mentality from some of our fans that "this team is way out of our league" when we play them is something that troubles me.
Who is saying that? Personally, I am saying they were better and played better. That happens often in all games. That is why there is a Las Vegas and a betting line. Doesn't mean we couldn't have played better or couldn't win. We just didn't as those that are objective mostly predicted.
Here’s a valid question, how would Neal Brown and WVU do in the old Big East? I don’t think he does as well as Nehlen or Rodriguez. We keep hearing how great and amazing Penn State is after they wiped the field with us 2 years in a row. Last year they were 10-3. Not 13-0. How would Brown have done against 2003 Miami? If not for a miracle catch of Winslow on 4th and 22 with a minute left in the 4Q, WVU beats them. That’s the difference. It was competitive. Not a blowout. Who was better? 2023 Penn State or 2003 Miami? Easily Miami. Could Brown have managed to beat those VT teams? Doubtful, they were top 10. It’s easy to play “what if”, but the eyeball test tells me those Nehlen and Rod WVU teams would also wipe the field with any Brown WVU team.
