COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The message was simple and maybe even a little cliché from coach Neal Brown after West Virginia’s meltdown against Texas Tech on Nov. 9 at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Brown let Mountaineers fans know that was the 38-17 loss was the low point of not only the season, but of his tenure at WVU.
“We’re not playing well as a football team right now. We have a ton of work to do in this program,” Brown said. “But I’ll tell you, this is probably going to be one of our worst days. I’ll tell you right now, we will build a successful program here. It doesn’t look like it right now.”
A week later, West Virginia earned a road win against a top 25 Kansas State team that was still in the hunt for the Big 12 title game. That was followed up by a tough loss against Oklahoma State, but West Virginia remained in the game until the final drive of the game.
On Friday, the season culminated in another road win, this time against TCU 20-17, to spoil the Horned Frogs chances at a bowl game. While the Mountaineers season came to an end earlier than they wanted to by going 5-7 and missing out on a bowl, the way they played in the final three games following Brown’s declaration is certainly something to springboard them into next season.
In his first season at Troy in 2015, Brown had the Trojans sitting at 3-8, but ended with a 41-17 road win at Louisiana. The next three years, Troy won 10 games each season.
While that big a jump isn’t likely for West Virginia next season, the proof is in the pudding that Brown has the Mountaineers moving in the right direction. With the way WVU has played the last three weeks, there is reason to believe its first half against Texas Tech where it allowed five touchdowns on the Red Raiders’ first five possessions, may be the worst a Neal Brown football team will look at West Virginia.
“We haven’t won enough, but the last three games of the season — winning two of those vs. really proud programs — is big for us in this first year building a program with a lot of young guys,” Brown said.
There are quite a few issues that need to be addressed before the 2020 season-opener Sept. 5 in Atlanta against Florida State, beginning with offense. The offensive line struggled mightily this year, and it’ll have to replace the two most consistent starters in tackles Colton McKivitz and Kelby Wickline.
The running game was also bad, and while it may have been directly related to the offensive line issues, but has to be better.
Quarterback play needs to be more consistent, but Jarret Doege, despite his three interceptions against TCU, helped stabilize the position in the last three games.
The defense has many young pieces that played key snaps all year and will only continue to get better. Finding replacements for cornerbacks Keith Washington and Hakeem Bailey will be critical in the offseason, but young talent like Nicktroy Fortune and Dreshun Miller should be ready to step in.
While West Virginia’s season is over in November, which has only happened twice this century (2001 and 2013), Friday’s win may have a similar impact to a bowl win. The last time WVU won its final game of the season was in 2015, beating Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl. The next year? The Mountaineers won 10 games.
The same season in 2015, Brown won his season finale for Troy. The next year? He won 10 games.
West Virginia is hoping history repeats itself as we close the book on the 2019 season.
