Baylor game will test WVU’s ability to improve and adjust after loss at OSU

(Neal Brown pregame Zoom conference)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three days after the Mountaineers’ 27-13 loss at Oklahoma State, WVU head coach Neal Brown balanced the obvious disappointment of a lost opportunity with the need to move on to face a Baylor team that dominated Kansas 47-14 in their opener.

“It is not the outcome we wanted,” said Brown. “I thought that we had some opportunities to win the game. And we didn’t do it. So we have to continue to get better. Not only the players, but coaches.

“That game was winnable. There were winning plays we could have made that could have changed the outcome. We didn’t make them. You have to learn from those things.”

Specifically, Brown pointed to West Virginia’s 12 penalties which cost them 106 yards. 7 of those penalties occurred in the second quarter alone, when the Mountaineers fell behind by 17 points.

“The procedure penalties and the non-aggressive penalties, those have to be eliminated before they kill yourself. And the selfish penalties, Leddie (Brown) had one after the whistle had blown, we have to eliminate those.

“Where we are at right now as a program is that we can’t beat ourselves. Whether that is turnovers, whether that is missed assignments, penalties, we can’t do that. We have to get better at it.”

Oklahoma State Cowboys running back LD Brown (0) runs the ball against West Virginia (Rob Ferguson-USA TODAY Sports)

“We did so many things to not win that game,” said WVU cornerbacks coach/co-defensive coordinator Jahmile Addae. “And we still had a chance in the end. What that says is that if we can clean up those things, offensively, defensively and special teams, we have something special going on here. But it is going to take us to clean those up. It takes the work.”

Junior quarterback Jarret Doege passed for 285 yards against OSU. That was his second-highest passing total in five starts at WVU. But the Mountaineers missed out on some chances to hit big plays in the passing game.

“He missed a couple throws. Those were footwork when he got his feet tangled up. What is came down to was he was trying to rush. He was trying to throw the ball before the running back got cleared. We missed two that would have been big plays. He had a couple where he didn’t have his eyes in the right spot. But you are never going to be perfect on those.”

“The decision making was pretty good but when you miss key opportunities as an offense in a game like that that is heavily conflicted with man and zero coverage, the one miss or the one drop or the one misread we may have had kind of collectively added up to three or four things,” said WVU offensive coordinator Gerad Parker.

Through two games, Sam James is West Virginia’s leading receiver with ten receptions. But he was held to just 32 yards receiving against the Cowboys.

West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Sam James (13) catches a pass for a touchdown against Eastern Kentucky (Photo by Will Wotring/The Dominion Post)

“I don’t think Sam would play that way again if we line up again,” Parker said. I think there was a lot of thought in some things he was doing to get off man press. And sometimes when you think too much you don’t respond and let your body do what it is born to do. We are going to give him a better plan and nobody takes more responsibility with that than me.”

As the Mountaineers turn the page to Saturday’s contest against Baylor, they will face a Bears team that has played only one game. Their lone scheduled non-conference game vs. Houston was wiped out due to COVID cases on the BU roster. Baylor rushed for 203 yards in their season-opening win over Kansas in the debut for Dave Aranda as the Bears’ head coach.

“When you put on Baylor’s tape, they are a tough, physical team that runs very well,” Brown said. “You can tell they have a really good culture there that Matt Rhule built and Coach Aranda and his staff continue to maintain.

“I think they want to run the football. Coach (Larry) Fedora (offensive coordinator) always ran the football and played with tempo. They’ll throw it too but with the talent they have at running back, people try to get their best players the ball. And those running backs are special.”

“The tempo is probably going to be the biggest issue,” said WVU defensive line coach/co-defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley. “They try to get you in some scenarios, formation-wise off that tempo. They are not very complicated up front. So they play fast, they play hard and they are physical.”

“That culture has remained pretty good by seeing one game,” Parker said. “I think just seeing how hard they play, they line up and they are sound. Kids know what to do and they play fast and they play hard. What better compliment to a football team to see that, especially with what we see on the defensive tape.”

Baylor Bears quarterback Charlie Brewer (12) makes a throw in the second half against the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl (Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports)

The Mountaineers will face Baylor’s senior signal caller Charlie Brewer for the fourth time. He has completed 29-of-47 passes for 408 yards with 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions against WVU.

“He makes plays with his feet,” Brown said. “They’ll run him a little bit. Where he really hurts you is on called pass plays where he scrambles and breaks the pocket.”

“He is a chain mover,” Addae said. “He doesn’t necessarily wow you with anything specifically, but he is really sound at just about everything.”





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