Neal Brown Quotes from Win Over LIU
Opening Statement
Good evening. I appreciate you all being here. (It was a) really fun atmosphere. I appreciate our fans for showing up. The Mantrip was great. I think the decision to move the kickoff back to 5 o’clock was a good one. People had a good time. The parking lots had a ton of energy. I appreciate that we had a bunch of students show up. I always appreciate them. I thought our fans stayed and hopefully got a glimpse of some young people in our program. We got done what we needed to get done. It wasn’t perfect by any means.
Starting on the defensive side of the ball, I thought we flew around and got lined up. Our communication was much improved from a week ago. I thought we did a better job other than that drive right before the half. I was disappointed in that one, where we blocked the field goal. But I thought we played better overall defense.
On offense, we were efficient. We were able to break some tackles, something we hadn’t done. I’m not as fired up about what we did in the run game, especially in the first half. We didn’t want to give (senior running back) Leddie (Brown) a ton of work, but we would have liked to give him more room with some of his carries. That was probably the only disappointing thing offensively. I thought (redshirt senior quarterback Jarret) Doege was really efficient. I thought our first group of wide outs, minus one ball probably, played like they should have in this game.
Special teams was another bright spot. (Junior wide receiver) Winston (Wright Jr.) is turning into a real threat there on kickoff returns. He did a nice job of starting the game off with a bang with that big return. We blocked that really well. I know I said this the other day, but we’ve blocked kickoff returns really well for three years now. (Co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach) Chad Scott has done a tremendous job with that. Now, Winston is using his talent, and he has a chance to be special.
Then, we got to play a lot of guys. Almost everybody within our program got a chance to go out there, which gets overlooked some. I think people sometimes wonder why we play these games. Well, 12 months a year, everybody in our program is working for one opportunity to get out there and play on Mountaineer Field. The walk-on program is really important to us, and in this game, a lot of our walk-ons got the opportunity to get in (the game). We played a lot of people for the first time today. That’s a special opportunity. We got a bunch of guys ready. If you look at it, a lot of those young offensive linemen, like (freshman) Wyatt Milum, got a ton of snaps. (Redshirt freshman) Jordan White got a ton of snaps. (Redshirt sophomore) Ja’Quay Hubbard (too). We got all those running backs in (the game), and they got some carries. (Redshirt sophomore running back) Tony Mathis, back from his injury. (Freshman running back) Justin Johnson (Jr.) (also). Defensively, if you look at the entire second half, we played a secondary with (freshman cornerback) Andrew Wilson-Lamp. We had (freshman safety) Davis Mallinger, (freshman safety) Saint McLeod and (freshman defensive back) Aubrey Burks (in there). Both of our linebackers got a ton of work. You saw some talent with our young defensive line. That’s why you play these types of games.
Give credit to Long Island. Their university and athletic department is asked to do something that’s tough. They played an FBS school last week. They played a Power 5 school today. Then, they play another FBS school next week. I think those guys do a really good job coaching. I think their kids are scrappy. I think they competed all the way to the end. I think the two fourth-and-one stops show that. I thought they competed hard. That’s a program, as they move on, they’ll continue to do well.
On redshirt freshman quarterback Garrett Greene
I think that anytime you are going to play young players it is important for them to know when they are going in the game. Starting on Monday we told him the third series you’re going to go into the game, and this is what you’re going to run. Then, in the second series of the game, the second time you go into the game these are the plays you’re going to run. We practiced on his set of plays all week. The third-down plays and all of those types of things. The intention was to get him into the game early. Depending on how it went we knew he would get to see snaps. I just didn't know when that was going to come - into the first half or in the middle of the third quarter. I felt really good about him getting a bunch of snaps. The only time I got after him was when he forgot to go out there one time.
On initial thoughts on offensive line
We pass protected well. We started finally getting some runs in the third quarter. Here is the thing, we didn’t scheme a bunch of things this week. I think they are well-coached on offense and defense. I was impressed schematically at what they have done. That is a program that has had success. They did a good job of moving and twisting which they had shown on film. They did some things that our defense does, which is credit to them. We ran the ball much better in the third quarter. One thing offensively that I think we could do a better job of is to continue to run the football better. I thought it was tight quarters there in the first half.
On junior wide receiver Winston Wright Jr.
He has been a difference maker for us. He has, and there is a knack to that. It’s to kickoff returns because you have to have a certain amount of patience. You don’t want to rush it. You can’t get right up in the back of your blockers, but at the same time, you know you have to hit it with speed because you don’t have enough people to block them. You know? The thing that I really like that he has done in the kickoff return game is that he has
not stopped his feet. If you look at all of the great returners, they never stop their feet. He hasn’t stopped his feet. Every move he has made has been forward. I know it felt good for him to finally take one to the house.
