Morgantown, West Virginia – I’m often told that I primarily write negative stories about the West Virginia football program and head coach Neal Brown in particular.
If you’ve followed me for the past three years, as many of you have, there is a hint of truth in that and it’s certainly a fair criticism, but it’s important to understand that that’s not what I want.
No one wants West Virginia to be successful more than me. West Virginia sports has been a huge part of my life and I desperately want to see the Mountaineers win a national championship before I die. I don’t believe a 6-6, 7-5 or even 8-4 season is a true success. The West Virginia football program has shown over the years that it can be a powerhouse. As the 14th winningest team in the nation, West Virginia is a proven brand that has a real history of success.
Unfortunately, over the past three seasons, there just haven’t been many positive things to say about the program. As the owner of The Voice of Morgantown, I have a massive platform that I will use to inspire change. I could do what’s easy and write only positive, glowing things about Neal Brown and the Mountaineers, but that would not inspire the change that is needed right now.
With that said, I will step outside of attempting to bring about necessary change here today and focus only on what’s positive at West Virginia right now.
Young, talented team
CJ Donaldson, Kaden Prather, Nicco Marchiol, Zach Frazier, Wyatt Milum, Lance Dixon, Sean Martin and Jared Bartlett are just a few of the young, talented Mountaineers who have All Big 12 potential. In addition, West Virginia’s 2023 recruiting class is one of its finest ever, led by ultra-talented wide receiver Rodney Gallagher of Uniontown, PA and lineback Josiah Trotter of Philadelphia, PA.
There’s no doubt that the future is bright in Morgantown.
Super Supportive Fanbase Despite the Challenges
West Virginia fans could have shown their disappointment and frustration with the team after an 0-2 start by not attending its second home game of the season, but instead, over 50,000 fans showed up and were loud for a game against Towson. That’s very impressive and shows that regardless of how the team is playing, they can count on the constant, undying support from their fans.
Opportunities Ahead
The next several weeks will be tricky for West Virginia, but it also provides tremendous opportunities for the Mountaineers.
Although beating Virginia Tech in Blacksburg at night in a rivalry game is never easy, the Hokies are not nearly as good as they typically are, and West Virginia certainly has the talent to go in and pull off the upset. If they do, it could completely turn the season around.
West Virginia will then travel to Austin, Texas to play the Texas Longhorns, which is always challenging, but again, Texas is without its starting quarterback, freshman sensation Quinn Ewers, who is out 4-6 weeks with an SC sprain. This alone makes Texas a very beatable team.
If West Virginia can get past Virginia Tech and Texas on the road, they will return home for a huge home game against the #17 ranked Baylor Bears, who have already shown that they can be beat when they lost in the second week of the season at BYU.
Although the next several weeks won’t be easy for the Mountaineers, there is real hope that they can turn it around and salvage their season and perhaps Neal Brown’s job.
