MORGANTOWN, W.Va. 鈥 West Virginia head football coach Neal Brown started his weekly press conference on Tuesday on an extremely sad note 鈥 Kim Gmiter, the mother of 成品人视频 offensive lineman James Gmiter, passed away suddenly on Sunday.
鈥淎ll Mountaineers will be thinking of James and his family and praying for them,鈥 said Brown.
The 52-year-old Kim (Beeson) Gmiter was a registered nurse, who lived with her husband in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
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Obviously, any other news from Mountaineer football pales in comparison to Kim Gmiter鈥檚 passing, but Brown did go into detail on 成品人视频鈥檚 increasing injury problems.
It starts with James Gmiter, who missed the past couple of games with an injury that will likely force him to sit out the rest of the season.
Freshman running back C.J. Donaldson will also miss the rest of the season after suffering a lower leg injury against TCU. He had surgery Monday to repair his injury.
Without Donaldson and other injuries to 成品人视频 ballcarriers, West Virginia鈥檚 running back room has become very thin. Tony Mathis, normally the starter, missed Saturday鈥檚 game, and his status for Iowa State is questionable. 鈥淭ony will be kind of a later-in-the-week decision,鈥 said Brown.
Backup running back Justin Johnson, who had 10 carries for 36 yards against Texas Christian, also is dealing with an injury. 鈥淛ustin played Saturday, though he was banged up and only practiced one day last week,鈥 explained Brown. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to practice this week with the hope of playing (at Iowa State).鈥
Redshirt freshman Jaylen Anderson, who finished with three carries for six yards against TCU in just his second career college game, will have to be ready to step up at running back, if necessary, said 成品人视频鈥檚 coach, and walk-on running back Markquan Rucker will also travel to Iowa State to provide additional depth in the backfield.
鈥淲e have to be creative as coaches, too, to create some carries,鈥 Brown said cryptically about the running back situation. 鈥淚t rolls on. Trust me, I wish we had C.J., Tony, all of them. We鈥檝e run the ball pretty well, but we鈥檝e also run it well regardless of who has been back there. So, if it鈥檚 Jaylen, J.J, Rucker, whoever it is, we鈥檝e got to block, they鈥檝e got to make the right read and then be able to break some tackles.鈥
Both of the Mountaineers鈥 top spear linebackers, Lance Dixon and Davis Mallinger, are also dealing with injuries. 鈥淒avis Mallinger will miss this week. How long he鈥檒l be out, I鈥檓 not sure,鈥 said Brown. 鈥淎s for Lance, there is a chance (he could play this week), but I鈥檇 say it鈥檚 very doubtful for Dixon.鈥 True freshman Raleigh Collins and walk-on Naim Muhammad got a bulk of the work this past Saturday after Mallinger鈥檚 injury.
There is some positive news for 成品人视频 on the injury front, though. Starting offensive guard Doug Nester is expected to return to action this week after missing the contest against Texas Christian.
Rashad Ajayi, who had been starting at cornerback for 成品人视频 until sitting out this past Saturday鈥檚 game with an injury, is on the mend as well. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to run today and practice tomorrow, so I would say he鈥檚 probable,鈥 explained Brown of Ajayi.
Freshmen defensive backs Jacolby Spells and Mumu Bin-Wahad both were unable to go against the Horned Frogs, but Brown called each 鈥減robable鈥 for this coming week.
Cornerback Charles Woods, who saw his most extensive action of the year this past Saturday, playing every defensive snap, after suffering an injury in the season opener, should be able to go against Iowa State as well. 鈥淚 thought he played well (against the Horned Frogs). If you ask him, he鈥檒l tell you he鈥檚 not 100%, but I thought he played really well,鈥 noted Brown of the senior cornerback. 鈥淧art of the reason we played better (defensively) in the second half is because we could do some things coverage-wise we hadn鈥檛 been able to do because we felt good about Charles in one-on-ones.鈥
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West Virginia is coming off a 41-31 loss to Texas Christian at Mountaineer Field.
成品人视频 had chances to pull off the upset of the No. 7 Horned Frogs (8-0), trailing by just one score throughout much of the contest until the final seconds, but West Virginia came up empty on multiple opportunities in the second half when it had a chance to take the lead.
鈥淚 said after the (TCU) game, and I feel the same way after watching the video, is our guys competed and fought,鈥 said Brown, whose club fell to 3-5 after the loss. 鈥淭hey played the game the way it was supposed to be played on Saturday. At the end of the day, though, we just didn鈥檛 make enough plays at winning time. It wasn鈥檛 the outcome of what we wanted, but the standard of how we play was met.
鈥淚t was a big missed opportunity,鈥 continued the head coach. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get many opportunities to play a top 10 team, an undefeated team here at home. So, it was a big missed opportunity.
鈥淒efensively, the first half that absolutely can not happen, but the second half I thought (the defense) gave us a chance to win,鈥 said Brown, whose Mountaineers trailed TCU 28-21 at the midway point. 鈥淥ffensively we statistically did some really good things, but we just didn鈥檛 make enough plays at winning time. Two missed opportunities in the redzone after the takeaway on the (muffed TCU) punt were huge, and having the ball third-and-goal at the four and not being able to score (hurt). The last (offensive) drive was extremely disappointing. That鈥檚 what you want; you want your offense with a chance to go win the game, and we had that chance but didn鈥檛 take advantage of it.
鈥淣ot the outcome we wanted, but I thought our guys competed. I was proud of how we played but disappointed with the outcome.鈥
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The Mountaineers now turn around and head to Iowa State this weekend for a contest with the 3-5 Cyclones in Ames (Saturday, Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m., in a broadcast that will be streamed on ESPN+).
鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the toughest venues to play,鈥 Brown said of ISU鈥檚 Jack Trice Stadium. 鈥淚 have a lot of respect for (Iowa State head coach) Matt Campbell and his staff and what they鈥檝e built there.
鈥淏oth teams come into this game needing a win; it鈥檚 pretty simple 鈥 by any means necessary,鈥 concluded 成品人视频鈥檚 coach.
