Between The Eers: The Morning After UCF
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Dare I say Neil Brown is maybe building something
00:14 in West Virginia?
00:16 I don't know.
00:17 I'm Scott Kellan, this is Between the Ears.
00:20 Thank you guys for tuning in,
00:21 and West Virginia coming off of a 41 to 28 victory
00:26 on the road at UCF.
00:27 And look, I'm usually the guy that keeps it
00:30 as real as possible,
00:32 and I'm still going to do that here with this episode.
00:34 But I'm not much of a big picture look at,
00:38 you know, things down the road
00:40 and see what this team looks like next year,
00:43 or what this team may look like by the end of the season.
00:46 I'm more of a kind of in the moment,
00:48 week to week kind of person.
00:50 But I can't help myself this week,
00:52 and I'm gonna go there.
00:54 So West Virginia's win over UCF,
00:59 it wasn't sexy by any means.
01:04 Probably took them a little bit too long
01:07 to kind of pull away, find some separation.
01:11 The defense has still got some issues
01:13 that's got to work out and work through.
01:15 But offensively, you're humming right now.
01:18 I mean, this offense can literally go toe to toe
01:21 with anybody in the Big 12 that's on their schedule.
01:24 So when you got a kid like Garrett Green,
01:28 who is as tough as nails as he is,
01:30 he's improving as a passer,
01:32 the receiver's starting to make more plays,
01:37 they're making more plays after the catch,
01:39 which wasn't the case in the first month of the season.
01:42 Still not where it needs to be,
01:43 but it's making slow and steady progress.
01:47 You're running the football
01:48 with guys not named C.J. Donaldson.
01:51 It's a good situation that this offense is in right now.
01:56 Starting with the running backs,
01:59 I mean, C.J. Donaldson goes over 100 yards
02:02 for the first time in what feels like years.
02:05 He runs his best game in what feels like forever.
02:10 Had a couple of big runs in this one,
02:12 one in the early parts of the game
02:14 on that first drive on fourth and one.
02:16 He busts it for like 22 or 23 yards.
02:18 And then at the end of the game,
02:20 he busts that big one to essentially seal it
02:23 for the Mountaineers.
02:24 So huge win for West Virginia,
02:28 but even a bigger win to get C.J. Donaldson
02:30 back on track in the run game.
02:33 But on top of that, you find another guy,
02:37 which we already kind of knew about in Jaheim White,
02:39 but we didn't know exactly how much of a role
02:42 he was going to play this season.
02:43 Well, I think he just played himself
02:45 in a significant playing time
02:47 with the performance that he put on on Saturday.
02:50 Coming into the game, he was already averaging
02:51 like seven or eight yards a carry.
02:53 And then yesterday he goes for 85 or 87 yards on nine carries.
02:57 I don't have the numbers in front of me,
02:59 but he did a terrific job just finding the open space
03:02 and hitting it and using his speed to his advantage.
03:06 And my goodness, this kid is just electrifying quick.
03:10 So not only is he going to be a bigger part of this offense,
03:14 but you add a different dynamic to your running game
03:16 with him in it,
03:17 because now you have to account for his speed,
03:20 also C.J.'s power, Justin Johnson's elusiveness.
03:24 You get a little bit of everything back there.
03:25 It's a nice mix.
03:27 And look, I know everyone wants to count out Jalen Anderson
03:31 because he had to drop touchdown at Turner interception.
03:34 He hasn't played that much.
03:35 And then yesterday on that trick play, things went south,
03:38 but he's going to be okay.
03:40 He's still going to factor, excuse me, factor into this.
03:44 It just might not be as much.
03:46 He's got to earn some of that trust back.
03:49 But going to the quarterback, I mean, look, Derek Green,
03:54 and I've been trying to hold my actual judgment back on him
03:59 as long as I possibly could.
04:00 Look, we're well into the season now.
04:04 Okay, we're eight games into this thing.
04:06 I think I can officially say this kid is a star.
04:10 He is an absolute freaking star.
04:14 He can run as good as any quarterback in the country.
04:19 And to me, that is the one thing that is separating him
04:23 from just being an average okay quarterback
04:28 to what could be, I'm not saying he's going to be a great,
04:31 but a really, really good college football quarterback.
04:34 You can win a lot of games with that kid under center
04:39 or in the gun or whatever, pistol, whatever it is.
04:43 He is super talented, super smart, tough.
04:47 Everything you want in a quarterback, he is that guy.
04:50 So I think with him, you're in a good spot.
04:56 The running game is a good spot.
04:58 The offensive line, it's tough
05:00 because you have so many injuries.
05:02 There for a week or so, you're dealing with injuries
05:05 to the left side of the line
05:06 with Wyatt Milam and Tomas Rimac.
05:08 Now the injury bug has flipped over to the right side.
05:11 You get Wyatt, you get Milam and Rimac back
05:14 and now you're dealing with injuries to Doug Nestor
05:17 and Brandon Yates, but Jaquay Hubbard and Nick Malone,
05:22 they stepped in and did a decent job yesterday
05:24 to get through that game.
05:25 Doug Nestor was in a boot on the sideline.
05:28 So not really sure how or what that really means for him.
05:33 You know, sometimes those things
05:35 can mean significant injuries.
05:37 It can mean they could be out for the year.
05:38 It could mean they could be back after a week.
05:40 It could mean they're playing next week.
05:42 I've seen it just about every single way.
05:45 Like I said on the postgame show yesterday,
05:47 I've seen guys at the Panthers
05:50 that had a walking boot on after the game
05:54 and then they're back at practice full go on Wednesday.
05:57 It's hard to really tell what it is.
06:00 Again, that probably is a big reason
06:03 as to why those guys may come back.
06:05 It might be just a minor injury
06:06 and depending where the injury is in the leg
06:09 or foot or ankle, whatever.
06:11 But regardless, I think you've seen enough
06:16 out of Nick Malone and Jaquay Hubbard
06:18 to feel at least decent, right?
06:21 They've played a lot of football.
06:22 Like Neil Brown said in his postgame presser,
06:24 that you feel good about where that is
06:27 if they have to go out there and play.
06:29 And I know they probably don't want to put them out there,
06:32 but if it really comes down to it,
06:34 they probably feel good about Johnny Williams,
06:37 the true freshman, to get him integrated there.
06:41 Sully Weidman's maybe another guy that they could look at.
06:43 So they've got options.
06:46 That's not one spot where I think they really are concerned
06:49 about the depth.
06:50 But again, defensively, that's a big question mark.
06:54 They've got to find ways to funnel things better
06:57 to their tacklers.
06:58 They've got to play better up front.
07:00 They've got to fit the run better.
07:02 They've got to play with better pursuit, better angles,
07:06 stop grabbing and reaching, and just hit the guy.
07:08 Tackling was not a problem
07:14 in the first four or five games of the season,
07:16 but it's been a big, big problem
07:18 here in these last couple of games, or last three games.
07:21 But anyways, like I said,
07:23 I want to get to the bigger picture here.
07:25 You've got an opportunity here, if you're Neil Brown,
07:29 to say, "To hell with this hot seat,
07:31 and I'm going to go and not only just save my job,
07:34 but I'm going to stamp myself as the head coach of this team
07:38 through the end of my contract."
07:40 And the reason I say that is because
07:42 you've got a great opportunity to win
07:44 at least three of your last four games.
07:47 And maybe, just maybe,
07:49 you could potentially beat Oklahoma on the road.
07:52 Look, they're a vulnerable team.
07:54 I'm not going to go deep into this,
07:55 but almost lost to UCF at home.
07:59 They lost to Kansas yesterday.
08:02 They've had some other tight calls.
08:03 Like, they're not this team that you just
08:07 are 100% scared of when you go and face them.
08:10 Even in Norman, I think they are a team
08:12 that can lose to West Virginia,
08:15 and they may lose next week to Oklahoma State in Bedlam.
08:18 It's the last time those two teams are playing
08:20 for God knows how long.
08:22 So that one's going to mean something to those guys.
08:25 And it's in Stillwater.
08:27 So this is a tough little stretch that Oklahoma's in.
08:31 But back to West Virginia, you go home this week,
08:34 you're five and three, three and two in a conference.
08:37 Boy, if you can beat BYU,
08:39 I mean, things are really starting to set up nicely for you.
08:44 You're bowl eligible if you can beat them.
08:46 You're four and two in the conference.
08:50 You're feeling good about yourself,
08:52 feeling good about your chances going to Norman.
08:55 And then it sets up beautifully to end the year
08:59 with a home game, your final one against Cincinnati,
09:02 who just cannot for the life of them
09:06 find a way to win a big 12 game,
09:09 just like Central Florida.
09:10 And you've got that one at home.
09:12 They're dealing with some depth issues as well.
09:15 And then you end the year in Waco against Baylor,
09:18 who, oh yeah, is one in five at home.
09:23 One in five.
09:25 So again, you get past BYU,
09:29 you're looking pretty good.
09:32 And the reason why I'm so focused on the BYU game
09:34 is because look, if you lose to Oklahoma,
09:37 no one's going to fault you for that.
09:39 Now you have to play competitive if you lose.
09:42 You can't get your butt kicked by 20 or 30,
09:44 but if you lose to Oklahoma, I think fans can accept that.
09:49 I don't know that they're going to accept losing to BYU
09:52 or Cincinnati or Baylor as much as they would Oklahoma.
09:56 Again, a loss is a loss,
09:57 but some of these are weighted a little bit differently.
10:01 So I think if you can go and beat BYU,
10:04 you're setting yourself up for an at worst
10:07 eight and four season, at worst.
10:10 You go to a bowl game with a chance to get win number nine,
10:14 but if you somehow run the table from here on out,
10:17 you're nine and three,
10:19 and you got to crack it, win number 10 in a bowl game,
10:22 geez, that would be coach of the year type of talk.
10:27 And look, we talked about it a few weeks ago
10:31 when they were four and one going to Houston.
10:33 And again, it felt like this same thing
10:36 was kind of setting up.
10:37 You had Houston, if you won that game, you're five and one,
10:41 you come back home against Oklahoma State,
10:43 probably have a big crowd for that one,
10:45 which, I mean, they did,
10:47 but it wasn't the same fierce crowd
10:50 that you're used to having.
10:52 And I mean, that thing could have very easily
10:55 been six and one rolling into this week,
10:57 and you're seven and one all of a sudden.
10:58 And now we're talking really different pictures,
11:00 but I'm getting off track here.
11:03 What I'm trying to get to is,
11:06 this can still be a very successful season
11:09 for West Virginia.
11:10 To me, even if you get the seven wins,
11:11 it's a successful year,
11:13 but I think eight plus, it's boom, cherry on top.
11:17 You're really feeling good about where this team is,
11:20 where this program is heading.
11:22 And when you start looking ahead at next year,
11:27 you've got Garrett Green coming back.
11:29 That kid's not going anywhere.
11:30 I know people say, "Oh, you got to worry about the transfer."
11:32 That kid is not going anywhere.
11:34 He loves this program.
11:37 He's not going anywhere.
11:38 He understands by going to another program,
11:41 it's not going to do him anything,
11:42 and he's not even probably guaranteed a job.
11:44 Here, this is his football team.
11:47 Garrett Green coming back.
11:50 Now, there's some other guys here
11:52 that could be flirting with the portal
11:54 or that could draw interest from other schools
11:57 that say, "Hey, hop in the portal."
11:59 You might have a little bit of that poaching going on,
12:01 but let's just say they all come back
12:03 and we'll deal with the news if they leave when it happens.
12:07 That's a loaded running back room.
12:09 It's a crowded room.
12:10 Likely one of them's going to leave,
12:12 but I mean, regardless, you feel really good
12:15 about the overall health of that room.
12:17 Wide receiver, you're going to have to find somebody
12:19 and replace a Devin Carter,
12:21 but you like some of the young guys in that room
12:22 with Gallagher and Ray and Hudson Clement.
12:25 You got Cole Taylor coming back at tight end.
12:28 You'll lose Zach Frazier up front and Doug Nestor,
12:32 but you still have Tomas Remak.
12:33 You have Wyatt Milam.
12:35 It's a very good group you've got coming back up front.
12:37 Very good nucleus.
12:38 Defensively, you've got literally everybody
12:42 but Lee Koba coming back and Beanie Bishop,
12:45 like literally everybody,
12:47 and that's an eight or nine defensive man rotation
12:49 that you have up front.
12:51 Every single one of those guys is coming back,
12:54 so you've got a chance here
12:57 to not only finish this season strong
12:59 but carry that over to next year,
13:01 and I know some coaches will say
13:02 that that doesn't necessarily happen,
13:04 and typically, in theory, it really doesn't,
13:09 but if you're looking at it from a 50,000-foot view,
13:15 you finish this year eight wins or more,
13:18 that's gonna have some sort of impact
13:20 on the kids that you can get in the portal.
13:24 It just will.
13:25 Not so much the high school ranks
13:27 because that's pretty much taken care of at this point,
13:29 but the transfer portal, the guys that you get
13:34 and the guys that you keep, it's going to play a factor.
13:38 It's hard to attract a guy to a six-and-six program
13:43 that's being also recruited by Penn State and Michigan
13:48 and Florida and Miami and whatever, or Florida State,
13:53 I mean, versus finishing year eight and four and say,
13:56 "Hey, look, we got a star quarterback coming back.
13:59 "We've got three guys that are workhorses
14:02 "that are running back that are returning.
14:03 "We got almost everybody coming back on defense.
14:07 "We just need this piece.
14:09 "We need that piece, and you can help us get there
14:13 "to get to that nine, 10-plus win mark."
14:17 Now, does it actually happen?
14:19 That's a different story, but you can at least pitch that.
14:23 So, anyways, I think that's a good place to stop it.
14:28 We'll pick back up here later in the week.
14:31 We're gonna do How West Virginia Beats BYU,
14:33 walkthrough game day show
14:35 presented by Country Roads Airduct Cleaning.
14:38 We're gonna break down the game
14:40 between the Mountaineers and the Cougars,
14:42 and maybe somewhere along the line,
14:45 we'll squeeze another episode in.
14:46 We'll see.
14:47 It's a busy time here with basketball going on as well.
14:51 So, thank you guys for watching.
14:54 As always, hit that subscribe button
14:56 if you haven't already on YouTube at Mountaineers Now.
14:59 Follow us on @xmountaineersnow.
15:01 You can follow myself @callahan_.
15:03 Thank you guys for tuning in today and yesterday
15:07 for the post-game show and throughout the week
15:09 for all of our coverage.
15:11 We'll see you back here in a couple of days.
15:13 Take care.
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