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Iowa State poses different challenges to WVU’s improving defense

(Neal Brown pregame Zoom conference)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When the Mountaineers take the field Saturday afternoon in Ames, twenty days will have come off the calendar since their last game, a 24-6 triumph over TCU on November 14. While bye weeks can be a precious commodity late in a season, the mid-week postponement of the Oklahoma game due to COVID cases with the Sooners didn’t give WVU much of a window to make best use of the extra week.

“Our guys were obviously disappointed we didn’t get to play last weekend. Really it was a tough end to last week. Guys were away from home on Thanksgiving and then not having a game to look forward to like they normally would. I thought our players and staff handled it the best they could,” said WVU head coach Neal Brown.

West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown arrives at Milan Puskar Stadium. (Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports)

“If we were in a situation where we knew we were going to have really three weeks in between games, then you would manage it in a different manner. We didn’t know we were going to have that. We were under the assumption we were going to play until last Wednesday afternoon. We are going to be fresh. That is the positive. I hope our timing can stay sharp.”

WVU will close out the regular season against the two likely combatants in the Big 12 Championship game, Iowa State and Oklahoma. The No. 12 Cyclones (7-2) heavily rely on multiple tight ends in the passing game. Charlie Kolar is second on the Cyclone roster with 31 receptions. He is also tied for the team-high with four touchdown catches. Dylan Soehner (15 rec., 174 yards) and Chase Allen (13 rec., 172 yards, 2 TD) are also top targets of Brock Purdy.

“They are different than other teams in our league,” Brown said. “They are going to operate with two and three tight ends. They motion and shift nearly every play. So getting lined up is going to be critical.”

Cyclones tight end Dylan Soehner (89) pulls the ball in for the first down (Ricardo B. Brazziell-USA TODAY NETWORK)

“It does present a lot of problems and when you have three really elite ones sitting in your room, it is hard not to utilize that. So hats off to those guys, they have done a nice job of spotlighting that and utilizing that type of offense,” said WVU co-defensive coordinator Jahmile Addae.

“You have to make sure you attack the ball when you are in the air,” said WVU cornerback Alonzo Addae. “With bigger guys, if they are able to go up and locate the ball, challenging them is going to be difficult. So you have got to make sure you are aggressive. Being technically sound, obviously they are bigger, but I have speed and quickness on them so I can use those skills to my advantage.”

West Virginia will line up against ISU quarterback Brock Purdy for a third time. In two meetings against WVU, Purdy is 2-0. He has completed 37-of-55 passes for 483 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. This season, Purdy is averaging 225 passing yards per game with 14 scores and 6 picks.

“He is a dual-threat guy, they don’t run him a ton,” Brown said. “When he does run, it is always effective on third downs and things like that. He extends plays. He has a little pump fake that he uses that gets people off their feet and is proven effective over and over throughout his career.”

The Mountaineers’ vastly improved defense will be tested by the Big 12’s leading rusher in Breece Hall. In 9 games, Hall has rushed for 1,260 yards and 16 touchdown totes. Both of those numbers are tops in the league by a wide margin.

Iowa State running back Breece Hall (28) outruns Kansas State senior Defensive Back Jahron McPherson (31) (Brian Powers-USA TODAY Sports)

“He is extremely patient,” said WVU co-defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley. “He waits on his spots and cuts. And when he does make them, he has a speed and power combination to get yards after contact and then he can break the big one.”

“He is definitely a good ball player,” said WVU defensive lineman Dante Stills. “He is physical and strong. He has capabilities to break tackles so that is kind of the main goal, to wrap him up and get him down on the ground.”

After allowing 31 points to Louisiana in a season-opening loss and 34 points against TCU, the Cyclone defense is yielding just 20.2 points per game since. They shutout Kansas State two weeks ago.

“Everybody would say in old school teaching that it is a three-man front and they drop eight, so run the football,” said WVU offensive coordinator Gerad Parker. “Well those guys aren’t that far away so they fit the run really good out of the drop-eight looks that make it really difficult to run the football. There’s eleven pairs of eyes on the football because everybody sees it.”





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