MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Neal Brown didn’t take long to reset his goals for the Mountaineers this season. In his first year at the head of the program, he wanted to wait and see what this team looked like on the field before making any bold predictions.
He got his answer in the second game in Columbia, Mo.
“My message since that debacle in the first half at Missouri is ‘just get better,’ ” Brown said. “That’s been our singular focus. I just want to improve as we go.”
That’s really all there is to it for Brown — as of Tuesday, he claims he hadn’t even mentioned the word “bowl” in the WVU football facility, and probably for good reason. After starting the season 3-1, the Mountaineers lost five straight games to fall to 3-6. To become bowl eligible, a team needs six wins, so WVU needed to win its final three games to reach that mark.
With two of those three on the road and two against teams either in or just outside the top 25, it didn’t seem plausible … until the Mountaineers upset No. 24 Kansas State in Manhattan. The win breathed life into the program, but also left the door open to postseason play, regardless of whether or not Brown has talked to his team about it.
He may not be thinking it, but his players certainly are heading into Saturday’s home game against Oklahoma State at Milan Puskar Stadium.
“Think about it — we have a lot to play for,” senior Reese Donahue said. “Chance at a bowl game, sending out the seniors right, the way things went down last year against Oklahoma State. Why would you not want to play as hard as you can and prepare as well as you can? We have what, 10 days guaranteed? After that, we’re not guaranteed anything. Why would you not lay it on the line?”
The Cowboys (7-3, 4-3) come in at No. 21 in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings and have won three in a row. WVU ends its regular season in Forth Worth, Texas, against TCU on Black Friday, and the Horned Frogs upset Texas Tech on the road last Saturday, so they may be finding their footing.
Winning out certainly will not be an easy task for the Mountaineers, but they will be fighting for one more game. However, Brown wants to take it one step at a time.
“Let’s worry about that when it happens, how about that?” he said with a grin.
The question he was asked was in regards to how Brown will handle the quarterback situation if WVU makes a bowl game. It’s likely Jarret Doege secured the starting job for the final two games after his performance at K-State, throwing for 234 yards and three touchdowns, replacing Austin Kendall.
If Doege does play the next two weeks, that will be the maximum four games he’s allowed to play under the new redshirt rule. While there’s little to no chance Brown would then play Doege in a fifth game — the bowl — a plan will have to be implemented to who plays quarterback.
Would Kendall simply step back into the spot he held for most of the season, or would Trey Lowe get his chance to start a game?
None of this matters if WVU loses to Oklahoma State, which is why Brown is happy with staying in the present, which is getting a win at home after losing 38-17 to Texas Tech the last time WVU played on Mountaineer Field on Nov. 9.
“I just want to make sure we put a much better product on the field for our fans this Saturday than we did the last time we were in this stadium,” Brown said. “We’re really not focusing on end-of-season goals or anything like that.”
