MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia football team holds a 3-3 record, with all three of its losses this season coming against opponents that are each undefeated and ranked in the top 20 — No. 3 Penn State (6-0), No. 20 Pitt (6-0) and No. 9 Iowa State (6-0).
Though the competition has been tough, West Virginia coach Neal Brown is not satisfied with some of the results so far this fall, and that includes Saturday’s 28-16 loss to the Cyclones.
“Disappointing — the table was set, and we didn’t get it done,†Brown said of the defeat to Iowa State. “When I talk to you all on Monday [at his weekly news conference], I’m usually over it and ready to move on, but that’s not where I am right now. Iowa State is a really good team, undefeated and top 10 in the country, but we just made way too many mistakes.
“That was a game that was right there, but we just didn’t make enough plays to win.
“In a game that had so few possessions — they had nine and we had eight — you just can’t do things to beat yourself. We had way too many negative plays on offense.â€
Several of those negative plays came as a result of — according to Brown’s count — 11 poor snaps. West Virginia senior center Brandon Yates was dealing with a hand issue that caused numerous high snaps throughout Saturday’s game, many of which threw off the timing of the Mountaineer plays.
“He had a little bit of a hand injury coming into the game,†Brown said of Yates, who previously had very few snap issues this season. “He had a few issues in practice early in the week, but not later in the week.
“Five of those [bad snaps] were critical. We have to get it fixed.â€
If Yates’ hand injury again causes poor snaps, the Mountaineers will likely turn to backup center sophomore Landen Livingston (6-4, 295 pounds).
West Virginia’s coach doesn’t anticipate any change in the starting quarterback job, though, as senior Garrett Greene is expected to stay behind center as long as he’s healthy.
“Garrett is our starter,†Brown said. “I believe Nicco [Marchiol, WVU’s sophomore backup QB] is a really good player as well, and I believe he’s going to be the starter here at some point [in future seasons], but Garrett has played well enough. He does have to make better decisions, though.
“I think if you go across the country, everyone is enamored with the backup quarterback. We are very fortunate here in that we have one who can play in Nicco. Are there scenarios he could play? Yes. Has Garrett done enough to lose his job? I’d say no. Did he play as well Saturday as he needed to for us to win? I’d say no to that as well.â€
No matter who starts for West Virginia this week, the Mountaineers again face a difficult challenge, as they host another ranked team in No. 17 Kansas State, which is 5-1 and 2-1 in Big 12 Conference action.
“Now we flip it to the next week,†said Brown, looking ahead to Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. homecoming contest at Milan Puskar Stadium that will be televised by Fox. “That’s something we do every week, whether it’s Oklahoma State and we win big and play really well, or if it’s Iowa State and we didn’t win and didn’t play very well.
“You have to make the corrections. You have to be accountable coaching-wise and player-wise. You hold yourself to a standard, and when you don’t meet them, you recognize that, discuss it and make changes if that’s necessary, and then flip that over to the next week. That’s the way we approach it in the regular season.â€
K-State’s only loss this year came at BYU (38-9) on Sept. 21. The Mountaineers and Wildcats have one common opponent this season, as they both defeated Oklahoma State — WVU won 38-14 in Stillwater, while Kansas State scored a 42-20 victory in Manhattan.
Like Iowa State, Kansas State has ridden a very good defense to a top 20 ranking. The Wildcats are sixth in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing 21.0 points per game, while checking in at No. 1 in the league in rushing defense (71.7 ypg) and No. 15 in passing defense (268.2 ypg).
Meanwhile, K-State’s offense relies on an excellent ground game (second in the Big 12 at 241.0 ypg) to help it average 31.3 points per game (fifth in the league). It is capable of big plays through the air, though overall its passing offense is 14th in the conference (189.0 ypg).
“I think Kansas State is very similar to Iowa State — a tough, physical and a really disciplined football team,†Brown said. “They are used to winning, and they’ve had success on the road. They won their last time here [48-31 in 2022].
“Coach [Chris] Kleiman and his staff do a nice job in all phases.â€
Meanwhile, injuries are mounting for the Mountaineers.
Senior defensive lineman Edward Vesterinen has not played since Week 2 because of a leg injury, and he’s not expected to return anytime soon.
Vesterinen’s replacement as WVU’s starting defensive tackle, senior T.J. Jackson, hurt his leg against Iowa State and is questionable for this week.
Starting spear Aubrey Burks also is questionable because of further injury issues in a season filled with them for the senior. Junior wide receiver Jaden Bray suffered a leg injury at Oklahoma State, forcing him to miss this past week’s game. He’s expected to be out this coming week as well.
After West Virginia entertains K-State, WVU will begin preparations for a long trip to its first-ever regular-season contest at Arizona (3-3) on Oct. 26.
Kickoff time for that meeting between the Mountaineers and Wildcats is still up in the air, as the Big 12 Conference announced that ESPN and Fox will use a six-day window before announcing the broadcast network and time slot for that contest. The start for that game is expected to be revealed on Sunday.
