MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU coach Neal Brown had to cut himself off before he said something he’d regret after Saturday’s 17-13 loss at Texas.
“I’ve gotta be careful because I’m not in a good mood to talk about it,” Brown said.
Three plays in the second half can be debated, and all three went against the Mountaineers in the end. The first was what was originally ruled a touchdown from quarterback Jarret Doege to wide receiver Winston Wright, but was ultimately overturned after review with the officials saying the ball hit the ground.
Wright dropped the ball at first, but re-gathered it, but the ball touched the ground as Wright’s body came down, as well.
“My biggest question is going to be on the one where they ruled Winston out of bounds,” Brown said.
“I thought Winston got held before they called him out-of-bounds, but there was clear restriction there, so it’s unfortunate.”
The next was in the fourth quarter when the officials ruled a backward pass, recovered by WVU safety Alonzo Addae, but again after review, it was overturned to an incomplete forward pass and the Longhorns kept possession.
“The guys on the field have the best line,” Brown said. “The camera does not go straight down the line and the guys on the field have the best line. That looked like a fumble to me and I happened to be really close to it.”
Lastly, on the final play for WVU’s offense — a 4th and 1 — Doege’s pass went to a slanting Ali Jennings, but was broken up. It appeared Texas defensive back Chris Brown grabbed Jennings’ left arm, but no flag was thrown.
An animated Neal Brown was upset on the field, but after the game, said he needed to have another look at it.
“The [pass interference] stuff … I’m not looking for bailouts,” he said. “I don’t know. I’ll have to look at it.”
Esdale has big day
Wide receiver Isaiah Esdale was a rising star for the Mountaineers toward the end of last season, capped win the game-winning catch in the season finale at TCU.
While his encore hasn’t gone the way he expected, Esdale caught six passes for 60 yards, including a strong catch where he leapt over and ripped the ball away from a Texas defender.
“Isaiah has had two great weeks of practice and has the best hands in that unit,” Brown said. “He didn’t mope around and complain, he just went to work.”
T.J. Simmons, the only senior in the receiving corps, noted the same, saying Esdale never pouted and went through the motions to get the opportunity he did Saturday.
“Isaiah is resilient,” Simmons said. “No matter what goes on, he just waits for his number to get called and he steps in and makes those plays.”
Leddie Brown banged up
While running back Leddie Brown scored the only touchdown of the day for the Mountaineers on the opening drive, the same series may have cost him a little more.
Neal Brown said Leddie got dinged up on the first series and was not 100% the rest of the way. Alec Sinkfield got a few carries in obvious running downs and was tackled for no gain or a loss, typically spots reserved for Brown.
Total, WVU was 6 of 16 on 3rd down and 0 of 3 on 4th, many of which were in short-yardage situations.
Neal Brown did not specify exactly what Leddie injured or the severity.
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