MORGANTOWN, W.Va. 鈥 Certainly Saturday鈥檚 48-10 drubbing at the hands of Texas Tech was disappointing for the Mountaineer football team, but its coach, Neal Brown, said his squad has no choice but put last week鈥檚 frustration behind it and turn its attention to the next opponent, No. 7 TCU (7-0).
鈥淲e鈥檙e back to work. I refuse to accept that鈥檚 who we are,鈥 said Brown after his club dropped to 3-4 with its loss at Lubbock. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not who we were against Baylor here (in 成品人视频鈥檚 43-40 win in its last home game on Oct. 13), and I refuse to accept that鈥檚 who we are as a football team. Failure is temporary unless you accept it, and I refuse to accept it. Nobody who is coaching here is going to allow that to be who we are.
鈥淲e have a great opportunity this week. We have the No. 1 team in the Big 12 coming in, No. 7 in the country,鈥 the coach noted of the showdown with the Horned Frogs at Mountaineer Field on Saturday at noon in a game that will be televised by ESPN. 鈥淭hey are a really impressive team.鈥
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While Brown is focusing his attention on West Virginia鈥檚 next game, he also took a moment to reflect back on its last one.
鈥淓xtremely disappointed and frustrated at the inconsistency in both phases, though I do think special teams did some good things,鈥 Brown said of West Virginia against the Red Raiders. 鈥淚t was a poor performance (on offense). We didn鈥檛 play good enough at any position. I felt like the three keys going into it were going to be turnovers, rushing and the ability to score touchdowns in the red zone. We turned the ball over four times and struggled to run the ball consistently (73 net yards), and we also didn鈥檛 win against man coverage. If we don鈥檛 do any of those things, it鈥檚 going to be a struggle, no matter who you are playing.
鈥淒efensively, we made life way too easy on the quarterback,鈥 Brown added of Tech鈥檚 Behren Morton, who was 28 of 45 passing for 325 yards. 鈥淗e had over 100 yards just throwing now screens, just catch-and-throws. The quick game was easily accessible for them, and we were also slow to fit on the run and our fits were inconsistent, which allowed them to get in a lot of third- and fourth-and-shorts that allowed them to stay on the field. It wasn鈥檛 good enough.鈥
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West Virginia鈥檚 task this Saturday is difficult enough against the No. 7 Horned Frogs 鈥 成品人视频 is currently a 7.5-point underdog 鈥 and it is made even tougher by the continuing string of injuries that have beset the Mountaineers.
According to 成品人视频鈥檚 head coach, three starters 鈥 running back Tony Mathis, cornerback Rashad Ajayi and spear linebacker Lance Dixon 鈥 all were injured against Texas Tech, and none of them will be able to play against TCU. In addition, starting offensive guard James Gmiter will be forced to miss his second straight game after suffering an injury late in the win over Baylor.
With Mathis out, freshman C.J. Donaldson will get his first career start this week at running back. His backup is up in the air, though, because not only is Mathis unavailable, but 成品人视频鈥檚 third running back, Justin Johnson, is questionable after suffering an injury of his own at Tech.
Not all the news was bad, though. Left tackle Wyatt Milum limped off the field in the second half at Tech last week, but Brown feels 鈥減retty good鈥 about the sophomore鈥檚 opportunity to play this coming Saturday. Cornerback Charles Woods, who played this past weekend for the first time since suffering a foot injury in the season opener, also was unable to finish against the Red Raiders, but he has a chance to play against Texas Christian. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to practice today, and he鈥檒l be available (Saturday),鈥 said the coach of his senior cornerback. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping he can play a few more plays. We鈥檝e messed with his orthotics a little bit (to help his foot injury). As long as he does OK today, and then Thursday and Friday, he鈥檒l be able to play.鈥
Defensive end Sean Martin played against Texas Tech, though he was not 100% after straining his knee against Baylor. But, 鈥淗e should be closer to full speed this week,鈥 said Brown. The coach is also hopeful that cornerback Welsey McCormick, who did not play at Tech because of an injury, will be back in the lineup against TCU.
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A pair of redshirt freshmen, Jordan White and Tomas Rimac, split the left guard duties at Texas Tech in Gmiter鈥檚 absence, and they are expected to do so again this coming week.
鈥淭here was some good and bad,鈥 noted Brown of the young linemen鈥檚 performances against TTU. 鈥淚 thought they both had some good plays. Jordan did give up a couple pressures, though one was unfortunate because he got stepped on.
鈥淚 thought for Tomas鈥 first extended playing time against a Big 12 opponent, he handled himself well.鈥
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At running back, redshirt freshman Jaylen Anderson, who has played in just one game so far in his Mountaineer career, is going to have to be prepared to spell Donaldson, if Johnson, like Mathis, is unavailable.
鈥淭his is what I think of injuries,鈥 explained Brown, 鈥淚 hate it for the guy who gets injured. From a personal standpoint, you really feel for those people, because they put so much time and effort into it.
鈥淪o, you really feel for them, but at the same time, it鈥檚 a real opportunity for whoever is behind them. Jaylen Anderson has an opportunity. C.J. Donaldson will start. We鈥檒l try to get Justin ready to play, but if he鈥檚 can't, then Jaylen has to be ready to go. It will be his opportunity to prove that as a redshirt freshman he鈥檚 ready to play at this level. He鈥檚 got the talent, and he鈥檚 got to put it together.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the same way with Tomas and Jordan,鈥 concluded 成品人视频鈥檚 head coach. 鈥淚 hate it for James Gmiter, but what a wonderful opportunity for Tomas and Jordan White to show that they are ready.
鈥淎s coaches, we can鈥檛 accept a step back. You have got to be able to play, because the expectations don鈥檛 change.鈥
