Mountaineers need to win close ones
Quarterback Jarret Doege passed for 2,587 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.
Associated Press
West Virginia running back Leddie Brown (4) rushed for 1,10 yards and scored 11 touchdowns last season.
Coach Neal Brown believes his West Virginia University football team will be significantly improved in all three facets of play.
He’s encouraged with the culture the players are establishing, mentioning that this year’s squad will be the first one he’s had at West Virginia that will be player-led instead of coach-led.
He’s delighted with the $55 million the athletics department recently invested in the Milan Puskar Center, bringing that facility on par some of the best football complexes in the country.
“That’s really had a positive effect, and we’ve got a lot of momentum in recruiting right now,” Brown said.
From all indications, recruiting, the lifeblood of any football program, is humming along this summer with his staff assembling what some experts believe could be a top-25 class this December.
The Mountaineers are coming off their first bowl victory since 2015, and only their second since joining the Big 12 Conference 10 years ago.
Indeed, there is certainly a lot of momentum within Brown’s West Virginia program.
But will that equate to more wins in 2021? Can the Mountaineers break out of the middle of the pack and improve upon their sixth-place finish in 2020, which is also where they are tabbed to finish in 2021?
“I was looking at one of the preseason All-Big 12 lists and going, ‘Man, so-and-so is a really good player and he’s not on it,'” Brown said. “You start looking at D-line and secondary and there are a lot of elite players on the defensive line and in the secondary in our league right now. In my six years involved in the league as a coordinator and head coach, I don’t remember as many elite players on the defensive side of the ball than there are right now.”
Brown believes the determining factor in success for the Mountaineers is going to be close games. Last year, West Virginia was within striking distance in the fourth quarter in losses to Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas and Iowa State.
A scoop-and-score touchdown gave Texas Tech a 34-27 win in Lubbock, and a late goal-line stand propelled Texas to a 17-13 victory in Austin.
In Stillwater, costly turnovers and penalties caused West Virginia to fall behind Oklahoma State 17-0 in the second quarter before it rallied to make a game of it with nine minutes left.
On all three occasions, the Mountaineers simply couldn’t come up with winning plays in crunch time.
“There is a lot of parity, and to win in this league, you’ve got to win close games,” Brown admitted. “You may have six-to-eight close games on your schedule so it’s difficult. The margin for error in this league is really, really small.”
Defensively, West Virginia had one of the best statistical units in the Big 12 last year, although it didn’t face Oklahoma. Preseason All-Big 12 pick Dante Stills is the headliner, and Brown believes he’s primed for a big senior season on the defensive line.
Stills has 28 ½ career tackles for loss.
Brown also likes emerging sophomore defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor, a freshman All-American who is going to move inside and take consensus All-American Darius Stills’ position this fall.
“I think he’s got an opportunity to be a special player in our league,” Brown said of Mesidor.
Josh Chandler-Semedo is moving to middle linebacker, taking over the role in which Tony Fields excelled last year, and the secondary will be led by a pair of experienced fifth-year seniors, Sean Mahone and Alonzo Addae.
On the other side of the ball, Brown points to the considerable growth the offense made during the spring.
“We didn’t play very well the last two games of the season offensively, and I think that skewed the stats, but for the first time we have experience on that side of the ball, especially up front,” he said.
Senior running back Leddie Brown is the headliner. He’s a tough, physical back with the potential to gain 1,500 yards, and quarterback Jarret Doege is coming off an exceptional spring according to his coach, but the key to the offense’s success is going to be the receivers, who were wildly inconsistent last season.
“We’ve got guys that have played football now for two years, and we have talent in that room,” Brown said. “They had a good spring, and they have to make that next step.”
Along those same lines, Brown is looking for more explosive plays in the return game on special teams. Kicking and punting also has to become more consistent.
Nevertheless, the growth and improvement that has been made over the last two years is clearly visible. Will it be enough to meet the most demanding football schedule in the Big 12 this year?
West Virginia is one of only four teams playing 11 Power 5 opponents – the nine Big 12 foes plus longtime regional rivals Maryland and Virginia Tech.