Mountaineers Now Postgame Show: WVU Runs Over Cincinnati
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:09 Welcome in to the Mountaineers Now post game show presented by
00:13 Country Roads AirDug Cleaning.
00:15 Take me home to comfort.
00:16 That's Eugene Napoleon on Skyline Calendar.
00:18 We're here to recap West Virginia Cincinnati.
00:21 The Mountaineers closing out the home portion of the 2023 schedule,
00:25 they 42 to 21 beat down of the Bearcats.
00:28 A familiar foe but one that Mountaineers haven't seen in over a decade for
00:32 a big East rival.
00:34 Again, we won't get into that but I think that we made our stance pretty clear on
00:39 that in the game they shared last week but a quick look here at the numbers.
00:43 In this game, the Mountaineers did just about anything that they wanted to
00:47 offensively 634 yards of total offense, 424 of which came on the ground.
00:54 Garrett Green had himself a bounce back day 1219 through the air 210 yards
00:58 a touchdown to pick and then he also added 154 yards in three scores with his legs.
01:04 And Jaheim White filling in as the starting running back in this game goes for
01:09 204 yards and the touchdown on 21 carries also with a 75 yard touchdown catch.
01:17 And this one was West Virginia pretty much from start to finish gene.
01:21 It was even on that first drive where they went down they didn't get the field goal.
01:27 You still felt pretty good about where the offense started this game then
01:30 the defense got the three and out and you just kind of felt like.
01:33 It was just a matter of when not if the Mountaineers would take control.
01:36 >> Absolutely.
01:38 What did I say?
01:39 We talked about this early in the week, right?
01:41 Poor, poor bearcat.
01:42 >> [LAUGH] >> Poor, poor bearcats.
01:47 >> Poor, poor bearcats.
01:48 At the end of the day, listen, man, when you dominate the line of scrimmage and
01:52 your discipline on defense, anything is about to happen and subject to happen.
01:56 And that's what happened today.
01:57 Running the football allowed Garrett Green to have the type of day that he had.
02:02 Those type of games when you are able to dominate on the ground like that, and
02:06 you live on their opposite side of the line of scrimmage, you're gonna do that.
02:10 You're gonna put up some big numbers and that's what we did.
02:12 So I'm really, really glad to see that, especially on guess what?
02:16 Don Newlands day.
02:17 >> Absolutely.
02:18 >> At the end of the day, what a Don Newlands day.
02:20 What did I say?
02:21 Cincinnati comes into Morgantown and you'll leave.
02:25 >> Poor, poor bearcats.
02:26 You understand?
02:27 It is what it is.
02:28 So I don't wanna hear nothing about a rivalry.
02:31 You gotta win games before to be a rivalry scholar.
02:33 Come on now.
02:34 >> You do, you do.
02:35 And I really like the response in this one to a lot of people.
02:37 >> I don't think we'll hear that from an- >> Yeah, yeah.
02:41 I mean, I love the response from a lot of people in this game.
02:45 You're talking about Neil Brown.
02:46 Hearing that he, I don't know if he paid much attention to it, but
02:49 I'm sure he had to have heard about it in some way.
02:52 About the fans being frustrated with how the team played last week.
02:55 And then you have the Jimbo stuff that comes out and
02:57 all the fans want him to come to West Virginia.
02:59 And then you have Jordan Leslie, the defensive coordinator who was certainly
03:03 under fire by the fans last week after giving up 59 points to Oklahoma.
03:08 Garrett Green had his worst game.
03:10 And all three of those guys, I thought, did a really good job.
03:13 Neil Brown, getting his team ready to play,
03:15 did a really nice job calling the offense today.
03:17 Jordan Leslie did a really good job.
03:19 Again, most of Cincinnati's yardage on the ground and 14 other points kind of
03:24 came there toward the end of the game where it was already out of hand.
03:27 So I can't even put too much stock into that.
03:30 But and then you go to Garrett Green and my goodness, what a day he had.
03:34 And I think it's really important not only that this team finishes the season
03:37 strong, but for Garrett Green in particular.
03:40 I mean, this is a guy that's kind of been up and down at times.
03:43 But for the most part, he's been really consistent.
03:45 He's taken good care of the football.
03:47 And we didn't really get to see what he could do early on in the year because of
03:52 that injury, it took him a little while to get going.
03:55 And this was the better version, obviously, of Garrett today.
03:58 And I think if he can carry this into next week and into the bowl game,
04:02 that's gonna be great news for his trajectory heading into 2024.
04:06 >> No doubt about it, you gotta feel good about everything that he did today.
04:09 And again, as you just stated, what a bounce back from what happened last week.
04:13 And you have to do that, especially send the seniors out to some senior day,
04:17 send them out the right way, number one.
04:19 In this season at home the right way, number two.
04:23 And each player who didn't play well last week bounced back today and
04:27 they all had magnificent games.
04:29 That's the mark of a well coached team.
04:31 That's the mark of each week, each player is getting progressively better.
04:38 And they play better as a unit because of that.
04:40 So to me, individually you play well, you're gonna play well as a collective
04:45 unit and that's what this is all about and we saw that today.
04:47 They put up, offensively they did exactly what they needed to do.
04:51 Defensively they did exactly what they need to do.
04:52 I don't really mind too much, all right, they give up 21 points, but
04:56 I don't like to use the term, towards the end of the game,
05:00 it's garbage minutes or whatever.
05:01 Nah, listen, it is what it is.
05:04 They were dominant in my opinion from start to finish and
05:07 that's how you close out the game at home.
05:09 >> Absolutely, and the one battle that we kinda mentioned earlier in the week that
05:14 everyone was gonna have their eyes on was Zach Frazier against Dante Corleone.
05:18 And I gotta say, I mean, obviously I haven't watched the tape cuz I was
05:22 watching a bunch of things throughout the game and
05:24 I always concentrate on one area.
05:25 But it felt like Zach had his way for the most part with Dante Corleone,
05:30 who's one of the best big 12 defensive linemen.
05:32 And maybe one of the best interior defensive linemen in all of college
05:36 football, had a really nice day.
05:37 He only had two tackles, zero negative plays in terms of tackles for loss and
05:42 sack, so he did a really good job, I thought on him.
05:44 But I think the offensive line as a whole did a really good job because remember
05:48 last week wasn't the greatest either there and that's kinda where I think that
05:52 game was lost really was up front in that offensive line in that Oklahoma game.
05:57 So great news for Zach to go up and do what he did today to put that on tape
06:02 against another premier NFL prospect, but I gotta talk about our guy, right?
06:09 Jaheim White, my goodness, you get his first start,
06:12 he goes over two bills and Gene, I know it's really early in his career.
06:19 And I hate to put expectations or compare him to anybody else, but man,
06:25 it's like every time this kid touches the ball, you hold your breath because you
06:30 just feel like man, he's about to pop one and it feels like every time he does get
06:33 it, it's going for at least seven, eight, nine yards.
06:37 >> Listen, I was telling my wife this earlier.
06:40 So he's special, you understand he's different.
06:44 And I was telling her barring any injuries throughout his career,
06:49 you're looking at a bat that can, he'll probably go down in history as one of
06:54 the best running backs in WVU's history.
06:56 And again, you don't wanna over jump the, you know what I mean?
06:59 >> The potential certainly there.
07:01 >> But I'm gonna tell you, the potential is definitely there and
07:04 the fact that he did what he did today.
07:06 It kinda shows you how tough he really is because he went out a little nicked up
07:09 early, right in the first quarter.
07:11 Think of if I'm not mistaken, something with his calf, but
07:16 he came back and man, listen, lit it up man.
07:19 I'm really impressed with that young man.
07:22 And interviewing him a few months ago when he first committed to WVU,
07:26 what a quality high character young man.
07:29 So not only is he dynamic on the field, he seems to be a really good individual and
07:34 a good character young man off the field.
07:36 Those things are real important.
07:38 Not only is he talented, but he's a really good young man.
07:42 >> He's really slippery too.
07:43 It's like every time he gets in between the tackles,
07:46 you feel like a guy of his stature, being as small as he is,
07:50 would kinda be an easier guy to bring down to the ground.
07:52 But I mean, he's tough, he's physical, he's powerful for how small and compact he is.
07:57 But also he's very hard to tackle because of how slippery he is.
08:00 I mean, he just does not go to the ground, very good contact balance.
08:04 And I've gotta say too, that touchdown catch that he had that 75 yarder,
08:07 that's not an easy catch.
08:09 Because Garrett really didn't put it on the money,
08:11 he kinda had to throw him open a little bit.
08:13 He had to come back to it, reach down, he somehow got it, went upfield and
08:18 off he went, and once he gets the open field, there's no catching him.
08:21 So really good game for Taheem White, and it really looks like
08:25 this Mountaineer backfield is really starting to come into its own.
08:29 And I mean, look, if they can keep these two guys in 2024 and
08:34 Garrett Green's coming back, and all those guys are healthy.
08:39 This is gonna be an interesting team next fall.
08:42 >> Listen, it could be very special, they have the potential to be really special.
08:46 And I'm really glad that they're starting to hit on all cylinders now.
08:51 Like I said, you go, you finish it out at Baylor, you do what you do.
08:56 You close out an eight and four season,
08:58 an eight win season for Neil Brown and that staff and these players.
09:02 Anything is possible in the bowl game, you got the potential to end up with
09:06 a potentially nine win season, come on man.
09:09 I'm real excited about the future of where we're going.
09:14 If this is what I have to look forward to, I'm excited about that.
09:18 >> Absolutely, and we'll dive more into all this stuff, what this means in terms
09:23 of how this could carry into the 2024 season next week on the walkthrough game
09:28 day show.
09:29 I will say though, it does take a little bit of heat off of me.
09:33 I don't think he's clearly out of the woods just yet.
09:36 Because if you go to Baylor and it's a meltdown and for
09:39 some reason you lose that game, then that talk's gonna keep coming back up.
09:43 Remember, it seems like every time you feel like you save something happens.
09:46 And then every time you feel like, my gosh, he's right on the edge of the hot
09:50 seat, they bounce back and they're fine.
09:52 So I think next week, that puts the fire out.
09:57 If you go out and win at Baylor, you don't have to worry about anything in terms of
10:01 coaching change in my opinion.
10:03 So let's go ahead and take a look here at the road ahead.
10:06 It's not much of one because there's only one game left.
10:09 And that is West Virginia heading to Waco next Saturday to take on
10:12 the Baylor Bears, who are just absolutely struggling this season.
10:16 They're three and seven.
10:18 As we're taping this, they're down 28 to 17 to TCU with 14 minutes and
10:22 nine seconds to go into fourth.
10:23 So they're likely going to fall to three and eight.
10:27 And West Virginia will have a chance to put them at three and nine.
10:31 And this would also, gee, this win today for Neil Brown is the most wins.
10:36 I don't know if it's a good thing that we should be saying, but it's only seven.
10:40 But hey, it is a step, right?
10:42 It's a step in the right direction.
10:43 Seven wins the most any season under a Neil Brown coach team at WVU.
10:48 So we've got a lot coming up for you.
10:50 I'll be back tomorrow morning, for the morning after, recapping this one again.
10:55 And then we'll get into how WVU beats Baylor.
10:58 And then Gene will be back with me next Thursday on the walkthrough game day show
11:02 to preview West Virginia and Baylor.
11:04 And we will have a bowl preview as well.
11:06 So we got two more walkthrough shows to go for the 23 seasons.
11:11 So thank you guys for tuning in to the Mountaineers Now post game show presented
11:14 by Country Roads Air Duct Cleaning, take me home to comfort.
11:18 Be sure to hit that subscribe button and give us a like on YouTube.
11:21 And also give us a follow on X at Mountaineers Now.
11:25 So for Eugene Napoleon, I'm Skylar Kellin.
11:27 You've been watching and listening to the Mountaineers Now post game show.
11:30 We'll talk to you guys tomorrow morning.
11:32 Take care.
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