Morgantown, West Virginia – The West Virginia Mountaineers came ready to play and compete today, but ultimately, coaching once again was the problem.
Neal Brown is not a winner and he doesn’t know how to win close games.
Down 28-24 with 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter and on TCU’s 7 yard line, West Virginia called a jet sweep on first down, then a quarterback draw on 2nd down with JT Daniels that got no yards. On 3rd down, the Mountaineers ran a very difficult fade route into the endzone. Incomplete. 4th down? Exact same challenging fade route that was broken up.
At that time, West Virginia had the momentum and could have made things very interesting. Instead, TCU drove down the field and got a score.
Luckily, the Mountaineers got back to within 3 points at 34-31 late in the 4th quarter. Rather than putting the ball in the air and trying to get a quick score, West Virginia once again ran the ball (with their 4th string running back) conservatively and ended up having to punt, which ultimately cost them the game.
Too often, Neal Brown-coached teams tighten up and get way too conservative at really important moments in the game. This happened at Pitt in the Backyard Brawl. Brown chose to punt the ball on 4th and inches in Pitt territory with all of the momentum in the game. West Virginia was literally inches away from beating their top rival and starting the season off with a huge win. Instead, Brown punted and the rest is history.
West Virginia has the talent to be a competitive team in the Big 12 Conference and nationally. The only thing holding the Mountaineers back right now is coaching and specifically head coach Neal Brown.
Neal Brown is not a winner and he doesn’t know how to win close games. #WVU
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) October 29, 2022
Neal Brown is the worst end-of-close-game head coach ever. Ever.
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) October 29, 2022
