West Virginia Mountaineers’ Head Coach Neal Brown speaks of adversity often. He has a blue-collar mentality, and he repeats ad nauseam that he asks his team to embrace the Mountain State culture. But his focus on overcoming adversity, and its centrality to the blue-collar culture he is building, came into sharp focus as the Mountaineers adjust to overcome the N.C. State Wolfpack.
Mountaineers Face Adversity
As we wrote in our preview article, the Mountaineers faced adversity following their loss to Missouri. The offense, frankly, looked completely inept, and Brown called it, quite simply, bad football. His team lacked the physicality necessary to win all of the one-on-one battles that go into winning the simple numbers game the comprises football. So the team was really struggling to find its identity.
Additionally, the Mountaineers faced adversity in the week leading up to the game. Senior running back Martell Pettaway was conspicuously absent from the team’s matchup against the Wolfpack. Explosive wideout Tevin Bush was suspended for the game. Taijh Alston underwent season-ending knee surgery. And an already-thin offensive line lost Josh Sills and Mike Brown to unspecified injuries.
Even during the first half of the game this Saturday, the Mountaineers faced adversity, as the Wolfpack was able to work well in the middle of the field to gash West Virginia for 21 points in the first half. Despite West Virginia playing its best offense of the season, the teams were tied going into halftime. Not to mention West Virginia lost one of its top defenders, Josh Norwood, to a targeting call early in the first half.
Mountaineers Adjust To Overcome Wolfpack
Despite that adversity, the Mountaineers showed character and lived up to that blue-collar mentality Brown has talked about often this season. More importantly, fans saw the Mountaineers adjust to overcome the adversity the faced both before and during the game.
Pre-Game Adjustments
Clearly, Coach Brown and his staff had heart-to-heart talks with him team over the course of this week. While we are simply guessing here, it is reasonable to assume that the absence of Bush and Pettaway were statements from the staff. Brown’s decision to play several freshman for the first time was also driven by, among things, the need to send a message.
As a result, the following freshmen saw their first action of the season: Ali Jennings, Winston Wright, Briason Mays, and James Gmiter. Another player who epitomizes blue-collar work, Logan Thimons, also saw his role expand. Brown also drew up a game plan that proved fruitful early. Instead of attacking the run game between the tackles, Brown called plays that took advantage of misdirection and bounced the runners to the outside. Then, once N.C. State started to show wear, Brown threw more and more runs directly up the middle.
As a result, a team that had run for just around one yard per carry and that faced a defense surrendering only about a yard per carry ended up with 173 rushing yards, averaging over six per attempt. The result was certainly not accidental. And the result also opened up a passing game that really needed a boost.
In-Game Adjustments
In his post-game comments, defensive secondary coach Jahmile Addae noted that the staff saw the Wolfpack taking advantage of favorable alignments in the secondary to capitalize between the numbers. So Addae and Defensive Coordinator Vic Koenning adjusted. The result? The defense surrendered 21 points and 272 yards in the first half. And that same defense only gave up six points on less than 100 yards in the second.
Perhaps the most critical play defining the Mountaineers’ second half performance was the punt block by Thimons. Thimons came in virtually untouched and swallowed the ball, and Exree Loe fell on it. After the game, Thimons told the media that the block was perpetuated by a last-second sideline adjustment called in by linebackers coach Al Pogue.
The Result
As we said earlier, the Mountaineers were looking for their identity coming into Saturday’s battle with the Wolfpack. Coach Brown told fans after last week the adjustments that had to be made, as we covered here. He said, simply, that our offense has to win one-on-one blocks and our receivers have to win against man coverage. The Mountaineers showed a far more physical element, and the result showed as the Mountaineers adjusted to overcome the Wolfpack by a final score of 44-27. As for that climb that Brown asked fans to trust? We told you it began in earnest after the lopsided loss to Missouri. So far, it looks like the Mountaineers are quick climbers.
