Sunday Morning Thoughts: Is a Strong Finish in Store for WVU?

West Virginia pulled out a 43-40 win on Thursday night to remain undefeated at home against the Baylor Bears while drawing back to .500 on the season.

After the Mountaineers' win a few weeks back over Virginia Tech, head coach Neal Brown felt like there was a bit of an overreaction to the slow start to the season.

“I think the story of our downturn was probably exaggerated. Pitt’s a good football team, and we had a chance to win. It was a fluke play. There were some other plays where we could have won the game. Kansas did a nice job, but we kind of were our own worst enemy. But I knew we were close. We didn’t hit the panic button. I really like our staff, and I felt good about our team going into the year."

One week after Brown made that statement, the Mountaineers were blown out of the water in Austin against the Texas Longhorns. They weren't prepared and failed to make adjustments in time to be able to stay within reach.

Fast-forward to Brown's postgame presser on Thursday night and he echoed a similar sentiment about the early season struggles.

"I think the demise is kind of getting ahead of itself. You know, we've won three of four. This league's going to be wide open. There's a bunch of really good football teams. That team just won the Big 12 championship last year and they've got a bunch of guys back. They handled us pretty good last year and our guys came back."

Yes, West Virginia has won three of its last four games. That is a fact. However, two of those three wins come against Towson, an FCS opponent, and Virginia Tech who now sits at 2-5 on the season. The Baylor win is a good win, don't get me wrong. As a matter of fact, it could be a win that leads to this group turning the corner. The problem is, I'm just not sold that this four-game stretch proves that everything in Morgantown will be all hunky dory by season's end.

Neal Brown is 0-3 in his tenure at WVU against Texas Tech and is 6-13 in road games, including a 5-10 mark in Big 12 road affairs.

2019: 3-3 (3-2)

2020: 0-4 (0-4)

2021: 2-4 (2-3)

2022: 1-2 (0-1)

Overall: 6-13 (5-10)

I'm not saying next Saturday's game in Lubbock is do or die for Neal Brown, mainly because it isn't. That said, it will tell us a lot about where the Mountaineers are at in this "climb".

As far as talent is concerned, WVU has the offensive firepower to compete with anyone in the league. This is an extremely balanced attack that features a three-headed monster in the backfield (191 ypg) along with a dynamic passing game (271 ypg). Now, having to outscore folks on a weekly basis isn't a recipe for success, so at some point in time, they're going to have to find some answers defensively.

When you look at the remaining schedule, it's a bit of a mixed bag. West Virginia still has to play the top three teams in the conference - TCU, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State, but also has the bottom three in Texas Tech, Iowa State, and Oklahoma. If the Mountaineers are truly headed in the right direction, they must finish better than going 3-3 in the final six games.

I will give Neal Brown this, the Big 12 is not only wide open but it might be the deepest its ever been. There are no gimmes on the schedule this year. Yet somehow, WVU has to find some consistency in its results. This team is too talented to be alternating wins and losses throughout the rest of the season. And with two of those games against the top three teams being at home, it presents an opportunity to finish the year strong and silence the hot seat noise once and for all.

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