West Virginia football: 3 overreactions to Week 4 Oklahoma State loss
By Phil Poling
3. Coaching simply isn’t good
So what is going on with the Mountaineers? Through two games, West Virginia’s committed 20 penalties for 191 yards. There are a couple words that come to mind to describe this fiasco, but “unacceptable” and “undisciplined” jump out at me.
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Are they just undisciplined? Not being coached up the right way on a day-to-day basis? COVID-19 can’t be an excuse or every team in college football would have this problem. The little things tend to matter the most, especially when you’re trying to build something — which is what I thought Neal Brown was brought to Morgantown to do. We still #TrustTheClimb, but improvement in this area is an absolute must.
And what’s up with the offensive play-calling? Leddie Brown was gashing the Cowboys’ defense throughout the game, especially early on. But once the ‘Eers got close to midfield, it was all of a sudden time to throw the ball. And instead of running on first or second down to make a potential third easier, West Virginia opted to pass. And after two incompletions, it was third-and-long. That’s not a winning game-plan.
Don’t even get me started on West Virginia’s approach to any third-and-long situation. They kept going empty. Meaning there were just five blockers for Doege as he dropped back to scan the field. No tight ends. No running backs staying in to block. This made it super easy for the Cowboys to stop West Virginia, as all they had to do was bring six rushers to out-number the ‘Eers blockers. It worked almost every time for Oklahoma State.
I understand the offensive line is improved from a season ago, but come on. It’s a simple numbers game, and West Virginia didn’t keep enough protection.