MORGANTOWN — Young athletes dream to work their way to getting a shot at hearing their name called on draft night.

West Virginia University placed three players on the All-Big 12 football first and second teams announced by the league on Wednesday.

There’s no way to sugar-coat what happened to West Virginia at Texas Tech Saturday afternoon.

Just nine days removed from their best win of the season against Baylor, the Mountaineers fell completely flat in Lubbock, losing to the Red Raiders in about every way, shape and form.

Not only was WVU blown out on the scoreboard (48-10), but it was dominated in most statistical categories as well. Tech had 594 yards of total offense (355 passing and 239 rushing) compared to West Virginia’s 282 total yards (209 passing and 73 rushing). Add in a 4-0 TTU advantage in turnovers, and it was a recipe for a Mountaineer disaster.

“We never got going on offense, and that was very disappointing,� stated West Virginia sophomore center Zach Frazier. “We may have put one (good) drive together, but other than that we just couldn’t finish.�

WVU’s defense has had struggles much of the year, but for its offense to be stonewalled by the Red Raiders was surprising.

West Virginia was held to its lowest point total of the season, as its 38-20 loss at Texas was the only other time the Mountaineers did not manage to score at least 30 points in 2022. Their 283 yards of total offense was also a season low, as the 314 yards at Texas (61 rushing and 253 passing) was the only other time WVU failed to reach at least 400 yards of offense.

“It was just little things, little mistakes, but you can’t have that,� explained Frazier. “You have to have all 11 guys on the same page. If one is off, that’s going to stop us.�

Injuries have been a growing problem for the Mountaineers on both sides of the ball. On offense, the biggest absence Saturday was at left guard where veteran James Gmiter was unable to play after being hurt the previous week against Baylor.

WVU’s center didn’t want to use Gmiter’s absence as an excuse, though, as Jordan White and Tomas Rimac filled those shoes

“That wasn’t really an issue, I didn’t think,� stated Frazier. “Gmiter went down, and Tomas and Jordan White stepped in. I was proud of them in how they worked this week and prepared.

“It does suck,� he admitted of the injuries, though. “I feel we’ve had a lot of problems with injuries lately, but we just have to have a next-guy-up mentality.�

West Virginia’s defense has also sustained a large number of injuries. While the Mountaineer D has struggled most of the season, things have been particularly bad the past couple of weeks, as WVU gave up 590 yards of offense to Baylor, albeit it in a West Virginia victory, and 594 to Texas Tech.

“We know different teams will try to beat us in different ways,� stated Mountaineer sophomore safety Aubrey Burks. “Texas Tech was really good with tempo, and we knew that coming into the game. At times we were slow with our communication on the backend and we miscommunicated.

“We worked hard in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, trying to adjust to the tempo Texas Tech runs,� continued Burks, who had a game-high 10 tackles Saturday. “We worked on lining up fast, because this is the first time we faced a team that did this. We had to be basic with our play calls because they play so fast. That’s no excuse for the backend or whole defense not playing hard or playing with a lot of effort. The miscommunication was the real problem I thought, though.�

For the Mountaineers, any improvement has to begin well before game day.

“It really needs to start at practice,� explained Burks. “We have a lot of new guys, and we have to come together at practice and then after practice, watching film and things like that.�

For West Virginia, its redemption opportunity comes next Saturday when it entertains TCU at noon in a game that will be televised by ESPN.

There’s no way to sugar-coat what happened to West Virginia at Texas Tech Saturday afternoon.

Just nine days removed from their best win of the season against Baylor, the Mountaineers fell completely flat in Lubbock, losing to the Red Raiders in about every way, shape and form.

Not only was WVU blown out on the scoreboard (48-10), but it was dominated in most statistical categories as well. Tech had 594 yards of total offense (355 passing and 239 rushing) compared to West Virginia’s 282 total yards (209 passing and 73 rushing). Add in a 4-0 TTU advantage in turnovers, and it was a recipe for a Mountaineer disaster.

“We never got going on offense, and that was very disappointing,� stated West Virginia sophomore center Zach Frazier. “We may have put one (good) drive together, but other than that we just couldn’t finish.�

WVU’s defense has had struggles much of the year, but for its offense to be stonewalled by the Red Raiders was surprising.

West Virginia was held to its lowest point total of the season, as its 38-20 loss at Texas was the only other time the Mountaineers did not manage to score at least 30 points in 2022. Their 283 yards of total offense was also a season low, as the 314 yards at Texas (61 rushing and 253 passing) was the only other time WVU failed to reach at least 400 yards of offense.

“It was just little things, little mistakes, but you can’t have that,� explained Frazier. “You have to have all 11 guys on the same page. If one is off, that’s going to stop us.�

Injuries have been a growing problem for the Mountaineers on both sides of the ball. On offense, the biggest absence Saturday was at left guard where veteran James Gmiter was unable to play after being hurt the previous week against Baylor.

WVU’s center didn’t want to use Gmiter’s absence as an excuse, though, as Jordan White and Tomas Rimac filled those shoes

“That wasn’t really an issue, I didn’t think,� stated Frazier. “Gmiter went down, and Tomas and Jordan White stepped in. I was proud of them in how they worked this week and prepared.

“It does suck,� he admitted of the injuries, though. “I feel we’ve had a lot of problems with injuries lately, but we just have to have a next-guy-up mentality.�

West Virginia’s defense has also sustained a large number of injuries. While the Mountaineer D has struggled most of the season, things have been particularly bad the past couple of weeks, as WVU gave up 590 yards of offense to Baylor, albeit it in a West Virginia victory, and 594 to Texas Tech.

“We know different teams will try to beat us in different ways,� stated Mountaineer sophomore safety Aubrey Burks. “Texas Tech was really good with tempo, and we knew that coming into the game. At times we were slow with our communication on the backend and we miscommunicated.

“We worked hard in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, trying to adjust to the tempo Texas Tech runs,� continued Burks, who had a game-high 10 tackles Saturday. “We worked on lining up fast, because this is the first time we faced a team that did this. We had to be basic with our play calls because they play so fast. That’s no excuse for the backend or whole defense not playing hard or playing with a lot of effort. The miscommunication was the real problem I thought, though.�

For the Mountaineers, any improvement has to begin well before game day.

“It really needs to start at practice,� explained Burks. “We have a lot of new guys, and we have to come together at practice and then after practice, watching film and things like that.�

For West Virginia, its redemption opportunity comes next Saturday when it entertains TCU.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — It is traditional after a winning football game that coach Neal Brown early in his Tuesday press conference names the award winners from the previous week.

This is not to be confused with winning the Heisman Trophy, nor is it treated as such, but it gives players on offense, defense and special teams, as well the scout team and a reserve who has added something extra to the spirit shown on the sideline a bit of recognition for performance or going the extra mile.

Normally, any mention of it is for notes at the bottom of a weekly notebook, but this week's awards out of the Virginia Tech victory offered up a step away from the norm, for the offensive lineman of the week was Zach Frazier, the center.

Now winning the award is nothing new to Frazier, but coaches seldom select the same player two weeks in a row, which it was for Frazier.

Even if you are an All-American player, as Frazier is, the coaches try not to give it to the same player in consecutive weeks, for it is something held out there as a perk, a confidence builder, for the players to shoot for.

Now that is not an incentive for Frazier, for he doesn't need that. In fact, the temptation is to say they gave it to Frazier to draw attention to him as part of a campaign to earn All-American honors and even a chance to win the Rimington Award presented to the nation's top center.

But the WVU coaching staff really had no other way to go this week before they play at Texas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on FS1 than Frazier, as Brown would note in making the announcement.

"Assignment-wise, he was perfect," Brown began.

Now I don't know about you, but I don't grade out perfectly getting out of bed, brushing my teeth and taking a shower ... and I don't have to block a 300-pound nose guard or pick up a blitzing linebacker, or call out blocking assignments.

And it wasn't only that he carried out the proper assignment on each of the 76 plays run by the offense.

"He had almost double-digit knockdowns," Brown revealed.

Not only was he blocking the right man, he was blocking him the right way, putting him on his fanny far more often they he would want to be there.

No, it wasn't a perfect game, but not far from it.

"He's been playing at a really high level the last two weeks," Brown said.

Brown added one other comment over Frazier's performance and just how difficult it was.

"I know it's hard for fans to get a really good understanding of what the role of the center is," he admitted.

Indeed, he his hidden in the middle of the offensive line, noticed only if he snaps the ball badly or is badly beaten and a runner is stopped behind the line of scrimmage.

While the public address announcer may inform the crowd that CJ Donaldson has taken advantage of a block by Frazier or a double team by Frazier and either of the guards James Gmiter and Doug Nester to run for 30 yards, never do you hear that Frazier flipped the defender over backwards to make it all possible.

So, since the fans don't understand it, we felt it was necessary to ask Brown just what the center's role really is, what he does when they are watching the ball.

"We put a lot of responsibility on him, from front IDs to ... we spend at lot of time with him on how we are going to ID the run game; how we are going to pick up the blitzes," Brown began in his explanation.

"He's a really intelligent football player, so we're getting hats on the right people," Brown continued, meaning Frazier has the line blocking the assigned players.

But there's a physical side to the job, too.

"He's really strong, so we can man some things with him that a lot of other teams can't," Brown said. "They have to use a double team and that allows us opportunities for the guard and tackle to double team there in both the run game and pass protection."

So if Frazier is handling his man alone, there can be a double team on the opponent's top edge rusher, for example.

"He wins a lot of the one on ones," Brown said. "I say to our players a lot 'There's 22 players on the field but the play is really decided a lot by one-on-one situations."

Now, a big part of a player's psyche is how he handles adversity, and it doesn't matter how good a player is, there's adversity along the way. Take the game against Oklahoma where Frazier had two bad snaps in a row.

"That was a tough deal for him," Brown said. "A lot goes into it. It's loud and it was a learning experience for all of us. We fixed some things we were doing cadence wise after that and it was a growth opportunity for him.

"Anyone who gets to a really high level — and I would vehemently argue he's playing at an extremely high level — there's some adversity you have to go through to get there and that was one of them for him.

"He had another game where he was a true freshman playing guard. I think it was Oklahoma State and he got beat a couple of times. But he was going from Fairmont Senior High to playing Oklahoma State. No disrespect for Fairmont Senior. I don't care where you played high school, that's a big jump.

"So, he's had some adversity, some opportunities where he's had to learn and like any great individual in any craft, he's learned from them and plays through and gotten better from it."

And now he's the leader of an offensive line that has grown along with him and is allowing WVU's offense to operate without major problems from defensive pressure.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — During his weekly media session on Tuesday, West Virginia coach Neal Brown concentrated on the technical aspects of turning his team around after a 2-0 start, but he acknowledges that there is another side to the equation.

Football is a game of inner emotion and outer commotion.

While they try as they might to isolate their team within the confines of the Puskar Center, there is a real world out there, and pressure is being put upon them by, yes, us in the media, but in this most modern of worlds, perhaps more heavily by the social media that eats its way into all our existences.

Brown and his staff warn the players about the dangers there but also know that it has become a part of everyone's way of life ... be it Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or TikTok or whatever.

Talk, they say, is cheap, and on social media, its free.

"Negativity is never good," Brown acknowledges. "But this is what it is. It's big-time football. There's pros and cons to it."

You will come in contact with negativity.

"The thing is, if you're affected by outside noise now, you are going to be affected your whole life," Brown said. "You try to teach life lessons along the way, and this is it. Our message when we came back Sunday was, 'Hey, you have to have a singular focus.'

"I said in the locker room as soon as I walked in there Saturday night when you have adversity, two things happen. You either learn from it and you grow from it or it splinters. So it's up to everybody who is the program right now to draw together and get better.

"There's plenty of ownership to go around, and I don't think anyone will be harder on themselves (than) the staff and the players."

Brown has tried to make them aware of what they face and said he believes they will handle it.

But there are dangers out there, comments floating around in cyberspace that players may not be able to shrug off. It's up to Brown and staff and the team leaders to build the confidence and belief from within despite the growing negativity.

"The brutal reality is where we're at, and where we're at is 0-2," Brown said. "Here's what happens, and this comes from a really good spot, the people you are around the most, the ones who really care about you the most want to protect you.

"They want you to know everything is going to be OK, and so they tell you, 'You're going to be all right. It's not your fault. Maybe it's the coach's fault. Maybe it's somebody else,'" Brown said.

That may seem to be the best way to protect the player, but Brown says it isn't.

"That BS," he said, "It isn't accurate. It isn't OK. We're sitting here 0-2 and haven't done the things we need to do to win football games. So, on an individual level, you have to take ownership. The leaders have to take ownership.

"You have to look inward. Are you doing everything you need to do? Are you helping create the standard everyone needs to uphold?"

The idea is that anyone who is trying to keep the players' attitude up by saying they're doing fine and it isn't their fault is doing them no favor at all because everyone is part of each and every loss.

Brown's advice to his players about this?

"Never listen to criticism from someone who you would not go to for advice," he says.

The only positive criticism — if there is such a thing — comes from someone you trust.

"People will tell you, 'Oh, you're so close. You almost had it,'" center Zach Frazier admits. "Almost, it's OK ... it's not OK. It's not the result you want. We have a chance to fix it and we have to do it."

Frazier tries to stay clear of the outside noise that's everywhere now.

"I try not to get on my social media at all," Frazier said. "I don't listen to people telling me I did good or I did bad, really. I just try to do my own thing, keep my head down and focus on the people who really matter like my family and my coaches; people who will steer me in the right direction."