MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia head coach Neal Brown spoke during the Big 12 coaches teleconference Monday morning, heading into WVU’s (4-3, 3-3 Big 12) Saturday matchup against TCU (3-3, 3-3) at Milan Puskar Stadium:
- On wrapping up last week’s 17-13 loss at Texas: “We’re coming off a tough loss in Austin vs. a really talented Texas team. I thought it was a really good college football game — probably fun to watch but not necessarily to coach in. I thought our guys competed but we just didn’t get it done in the end.”
- On the strategy involved in calling a timeout before an important offensive play: “What you’re trying to do is make sure you make a clear, thought-out decision. The offensive staff is on the headset and we have open communication. Everybody is allowed to make suggestions or anything that they feel strongly about. We have the guys in the huddle and coach (Matt) Moore usually has the offensive linemen and I have the skill guys together, and we just make a decision about the play we want to run. Everybody on offense has input.”
- On the importance of last season’s win at TCU to end the season: “Last year was a struggle for us and we weren’t very good for much of the year, so any win was major for us. That was a game where TCU didn’t play as well as they’d like. We were able to take advantage of a couple things there. TCU is a program I’ve got a lot of respect for. I think Gary Patterson is the best defensive coach in the country, and I mean that over a long period of time. If you look at defensive results since they joined the Big 12 in 2012, it’s really impressive.
“It was a good win for us and any time you win your last game and you can go into your offseason with positive vibes is definitely a big momentum step for us. It helped with buy-in, it helped in recruiting without question, but totally different circumstances this year.”
- On if there is a discernable difference between WVU at home (4-0) compared to the road (0-3): “They’ve all come down to the last four minutes of the game, so I don’t necessarily think it’s on the road or at home. They’ve all been one-possession games under four minutes, so we’ve been in position to win those games. I think a lot of it is Oklahoma State and Texas are pretty good and really talented. Oklahoma State has been ranked top 10 in the country most of the year and Texas is really, really talented. The Texas Tech game, we were more evenly matched and we just didn’t take advantage of some opportunities.
“I think we’re handling the travel well. I think if we weren’t, it would show up in a different way than it is. We’ve been right there in all three losses and they happen to be on the road, but they’ve been one-possession games under four minutes.”
TCU kickoff time announced
The Big 12 announced WVU’s Saturday game against TCU at Milan Puskar Stadium will be televised at noon on FOX.
The game is also Military Appreciation Day. It’s also Virtual Mountaineer Athletic Club Donor Weekend from Friday-Sunday, as all WVU teams will give an inside look at their programs. Participants will have access to a virtual lunch with WVU coaches, Mountaineer tailgate recipes, auction items and more. Register: wvumac.com/events.
Tickets are available for the TCU and Oklahoma (Nov. 28) home games online at wvugame.com or by calling 1-800-WVU GAME.
With the 25% capacity limit at Milan Puskar Stadium, seats available in the socially distanced, reduced capacity manifest are displayed on the “Pick Your Own Seat” map on wvugame.com in seat blocks ranging from one to six seats.
Tickets are priced by seat locations in each zone (Blue/Red Zone, Orange/Gold Zone, or Green Zone) and will be reflected on the seat map.
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