WVU Football: 3 Takeaways from the win over Baylor
Neal Brown is a difficult Coach to figure out
Neal Brown’s seat was as hot as any Coach’s in the country coming into the 2023 season. Entering his 5th season, he had yet to reach the 7-win mark. The critics were silenced after the Mountaineers started the season 4-1, their lone loss coming in the opener on the road against Penn State.
West Virginia proceeded to lose two winnable games to Houston (game-losing Hail Mary) and Oklahoma State. This caused many to ramp up the talk of Neal Brown’s hot seat and the thought that he would not be back with the Mountaineers next season. Since then, West Virginia has closed out the regular-season winning 4 out of 5, the lone loss coming in blowout fashion to the Sooners in Oklahoma.
Had Neal Brown lost to the 3-win Baylor Bears team, many would’ve been clamoring for his termination at WVU. In the fashion with which they almost did lose, some will still want Neal Brown gone. However, an 8-win season and finishing top 5 in the Big 12 conference will allow Brown to keep his job for the 2024 season.
Neal Brown is difficult to figure out from a coaching standpoint as well. He has emphasized the importance of special teams since arriving on the scene in Morgantown, but it was two kickoff return touchdowns by the Baylor Bears that nearly cost WVU the game. West Virginia has only allowed two kickoff return touchdowns in the same game one other time. The previous time was in a 130-0 loss to Michigan in 1904. West Virginia came into this game among the worst kickoff return coverage units in the country. They plummeted even lower in that statistical category after this performance against Baylor.
#WVU came into tonight's game ranked 120th (out of 132 teams) in kickoff return yards allowed per game. That will, obviously, be even worse after tonight.
— Chris Anderson (@CMAnderson247) November 26, 2023
There is just something to be said for Neal Brown-coached teams. WVU had a chance to run away with a victory in this one. Instead, it took a game-winning touchdown drive with 1-minute left to survive a struggling Baylor Bears team. While there is inconsistency all over college football, WVU has been among the most inconsistent and undisciplined at times this year.