MORGANTOWN — Sometimes, coaches and players look at the upcoming game in a different light, and this week is no exception for WVU head coach Neal Brown and quarterback Jarret Doege.
The Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) take on Iowa State (4-2, 2-1) on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium, looking to snap a three-game losing streak to the Cyclones, including a 42-6 drubbing last season in Ames.
Brown and the coaches have tried to motivate their team with the revenge factor, but he said it can be tough for them to remember what they had for breakfast, let alone what happened 11 months ago.
“I’ll say this nicely,” Brown said with a laugh, “this age group we deal with … shoot, they don’t remember that. They don’t remember last week. I don’t mean that badly, but that was a long time ago.”
A couple of Brown’s veterans, though, don’t seem to fall into that category. Left guard James Gmiter posted a screenshot of last season’s score on Twitter with a subtle “…” above.
Doege, just an hour after Brown’s comments during Tuesday’s news conference, was asked a similar question on if he remembers the final score.
“Yeah, 42-6,” Doege said, quickly. “We had it up on the board on a little graphic all winter and summer, so it was implanted into our heads pretty well.”
Iowa State was a top-10 team toward the end of the 2020 season, ultimately winning the Fiesta Bowl in one of the best seasons in school history.
The Mountaineers, on the other hand, were limping toward the finish line as COVID-19 issues were beginning to plaque the team toward the end of the season. They ended up having about five starters out, and the next game against Oklahoma was eventually canceled because of it.
Brown doesn’t want to make excuses, though, believing it was a thorough beatdown in almost every facet.
“Last year, that performance was what it was,” he said. “I could sit up here and give you a lot of reasons why it happened. “The first half of it we weren’t far away. Then I think it was 3rd-and-goal from the 26 and they scored a touchdown right before the half. We just didn’t play very well. We had a bunch of COVID issues going into that game that didn’t show up until Thursday after practice. I could list a bunch of reasons why but the bottom line is they physically dominated both lines of scrimmage. That’s what happened.”
The Cyclones return many of those same players this year as one of the most-veteran teams in the Big 12. After a rough start with losses to Iowa and Baylor, they are coming off a win over previously unbeaten Oklahoma State last Saturday.
WVU is also coming off its first win in a month after beating TCU, hoping to continue momentum with five games remaining.
“Our focus is on being 1-0 each week,” Doege said. “Beating TCU was huge. Now, we can think about Iowa State. We want to be 6-0. It started against TCU.”
Legg earns scholarship
WVU kicker Casey Legg, who has been one of the best in the Big 12 this season, was awarded a scholarship this week, just a day after earning the conference special teams player of the week.
Legg notably did not play football until his senior year of high school at Cross Lanes Christian, where he played soccer. After getting a chance his final year, he earned a walk-on spot at WVU.
This season is Legg’s first as the full-time placekicker, and he’s made 13-of-14 field goals and all 20 of his extra-point attempts. His only miss was a block last Saturday at TCU.
Injury update
Three players were banged up last week — cornerback Nicktroy Fortune, tight end Mike O’Laughlin, and defensive tackle Akheem Mesidor — and Brown provided an update on their status for the game against the Cyclones.
“They’re leg injuries, so you kind of wait and see,” he said. “We had three go down. Two of them will be Saturday calls and then Akheem is fine. He practiced Monday. The other two will go down to the weekend.”
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