West Virginia football: The 5 worst losses under Neal Brown

West Virginia Football has fallen on same hard times the past decade or so. Dating back to 2011 when the team hired Dana Holgorsen to replace previous head coach, Bill Stewart, the Mountaineers have amassed only two 10-win seasons coming in 2011 and 2016 which were both on Holgorsen’s watch.

After the Mountaineers parted ways with Holgorsen following the 2018 season, they hired Neal Brown from Troy University who had a tremendous amount of success leading the Trojans to three double digit win seasons in a row in his final three years which propelled him to the West Virginia job. Since then, however, things have been difficult in Morgantown.

Neal Brown has struggled as head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers

Now in his sixth season with the squad, Brown is only 35-33 with his only successful season one could argue coming in 2023 when the team went 9-4 in the regular season and then capped things off with a victory in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl over Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels giving them 10 wins on the year. Every other season so far for Brown has been six wins or less.

Things have recently gotten so bleak in Morgantown that billboards surfaced throughout the city calling for Brown to be fired.

A few days later, news broke that Brown had fired his defensive coordinator, Jordan Lesley. In many instances, firing a coordinator is seen as a last-ditch effort in order to save your job. Seeing as it is year six for Brown who has an overall winning percentage of a subpar 51% at the school, this is most likely that case in this instance.

Neal Brown has had the talent, but it has not translated on the field

The coach has had several chances and players that have come through to try to turn the tide. Most recently, running back CJ Donaldson who has stuck with the team through thick and thin is now in his junior season. There is a strong possibility the former three-star recruit from Miami that has taken the Big 12 by storm since arriving will enter the 2025 NFL Draft after leading the Mountaineers in rushing in 2023 and neck-and-neck to do so again along fellow running back Jaheim White in 2024.

Fifth year starting quarterback Garrett Greene came off of an impressive 2023 season after being inserted into the starting lineup throwing 16 touchdowns to only four interceptions. So far in 2024, Greene has a nine touchdown to eight interception ratio which is a far cry from the solid production he achieved a year prior.

While the Mountaineers are 4-4 so far in 2024 and Brown is squarely on the hot seat, there has been a lot of bad losses to get them to this point under Brown.

Ranking the five worst losses in Neal Brown’s tenure at West Virginia

5. Oklahoma (2019)

A loss of 52-15 against the Oklahoma Sooners who were ranked fifth in the country at the time showed how far West Virginia had to go as a program. To be fair, this was in the first year of Brown’s tenure, but still not a positive considering they decided to part ways with Holgorsen who led the Mountaineers to an 8-4 record the year prior.

4. Kansas State (2024)

In year six, losing to one of the top contenders in the Big 12 at home 42-18 with a chance at the Big 12 Championship Game still well within reach, this one hurt. Heading into the game, Brown made headlines in a press conference earlier in the week insinuating that as long as the fans had fun, that was more important than if the Mountaineers won or lost.

3. Iowa State (2020)

Any road game is tough which is what this one proved to be with an embarrassing 42-6 defeat. If it wasn’t for two fourth quarter field goals, the Mountaineers would have been shutout. Quarterback Seth Doege threw for only 209 yards with a quarterback rating of 56.3. The Mountaineer defense did not help the cause either, giving up 483 yards of offense showing towards the end of Brown’s second season in Morgantown showing that the team still had a lot of improving to do.

2. Penn State (2024)

Although this was not the most crushing defeat, there was a lot of hype surrounding this week one contest when the Mountaineers hosted the eighth ranked Nittany Lions earlier this year. The Mountaineers struggled all day to muster any sort of offense with returning starting quarterback Garrett Greene throwing for only 161 yards and no touchdowns.

This was yet another chance for the Mountaineers to start strong for Brown, now in year six where he fell short.

1. Pittsburgh (2022 & 2024)

Losing to your rival is unacceptable, which is exactly what the “Backyard Brawl” is between Pitt and West Virginia. The rivalry dates back to 1895 with the clubs playing annually between 1919 and 2011 before moving to separate conferences. The two teams started meeting up again for the past three seasons beginning in 2022. Brown has lost two out of three.

While Brown’s teams only lost by a combined 11 points between the two losses, a loss to your rival is a loss to your rival. And with each game happening early in the season, this could have set a more positive trajectory for the season in addition to claiming victory over a rival.