Morgantown, West Virginia – The West Virginia Mountaineers, 3-2, dropped one of the most disappointing games in many seasons and there’s really no one else to blame but Head Coach Neal Brown.
Sure, Sam James’ fumble that led to a scoop and score touchdown was back-breaking, but why exactly was Sam James given the ball in that situation? Anyone but Sam James would’ve made sense there, but Neal Brown decided to call a screen pass to James instead of running the ball with Leddie Brown, or going across the middle to Winston Wright, or literally anything else, but Neal Brown chose to put the ball in the hands of potential (probable?) headcase Sam James.
This is just the most glaring problem with Brown’s strategy. Neal Brown’s offense is plain, vanilla and predictable. Our post on social media says it all:
Neal Brown’s Offense: Draw play, draw play, drop, punt.
— The Voice of Motown (@voicemorgantown) October 25, 2020
While that is a slight exaggeration, there’s an awful lot of truth to it. Brown has consistently shown that he doesn’t see the urgency of converting on 3rd downs; instead, he seems to be entirely too comfortable with punting and allowing his (albeit outstanding) defense to bail him out again and again and again.
The defense has performed admirably this season, but it’s impossible to overcome drop passes and poor play-calling every game.
The most disappointing part of this is the surprising lack of growth, maturity and discipline from this team. Brown was tasked with cleaning up what was seen as a a disorganized and undisciplined locker room following Dana Holgorsen’s tenure with the Mountaineers, but has this really happened?
Not really. Players seem out of control off the field and undisciplined on it. Neal Brown certainly has good intentions and is no doubt more frustrated than anyone, but at what point will the climb level off and we expect real, profound results?
Following the disastrous Texas Tech loss, Brown seemed bewildered and heartbroken. “Disappointing. I’m not happy and you can probably tell that.”
I’m not suggesting that Neal Brown should be run out of town or not given an appropriate opportunity to turn this team around, but the “Trust the Climb” days are officially over.
