Sunday Morning Thoughts: It's Simple, Trust the Climb

Three weeks ago when West Virginia fell apart against Baylor and dropped to 2-4 on the season, it felt like the team had waved the white flag. Since then, the Mountaineers have responded by playing some of its best football coming away with a pair of wins over TCU and No. 22 Iowa State to get back to .500.

What these last two weeks have shown me more than anything is that this group is never going to back down, which is a good sign to see when things don't go your way early in year three of a new coaching regime. Neal Brown could have lost the locker room, lost commits on the recruiting trail, and lose a handful of key players to the transfer portal. None of that has happened. He's rallied the troops to a 2-0 record since the bye week, giving WVU a chance to become bowl eligible.

A year ago, Iowa State curb-stomped West Virginia, 42-6. They were beaten soundly in every way imaginable but especially in the trenches, they just weren't physical enough. The moment that game ended, Neal Brown made sure to remind the team of what it is going to have to take to beat some of the top teams in this league.

"We changed our offseason program after they dominated us last year. We had that 42-6 score up from the time we came back in late January and started our offseason program, all the way through fall camp. We talked about how we had to get bigger, stronger, and more physical. A year ago, it was domination on the front. Now this week, we didn't talk about that game one time. We told our guys we're going to have a new season that starts during our bye week and we're not going to go rewind on our previous game, we're not going to flash forward. All we're going to do is stay in the moment and concentrate on being 1-0."

To be able to close the gap in just one offseason against virtually the same team from last season is very impressive. When you look back at West Virginia's four losses, they've been in every one of them with exception of the Baylor game. They had a chance against Maryland, had a 4th quarter lead against Oklahoma, and had a chance to beat Texas Tech. As Neal Brown stated in his postgame press conference, the ball just hasn't bounced their way this year.

On Saturday, WVU received a couple of huge calls such as Breece Hall fumbling into the end zone when he was down at the one-yard line, Brock Purdy extending for the first down but was marked shy of the sticks, and a few others. Some of those calls are calls that the Mountaineers have been on the wrong end of all season long, so it was time for a few to go their way.

That said, West Virginia earned this win over the Cyclones. They did a number on Iowa State's defense which ranked 3rd in the nation in total defense entering the game. WVU put up 492 yards on a team that only allowed 226 yards per game. Jarret Doege was phenomenal in the win, which was a good thing to see. Much of the fan base have pointed a lot of the blame on him and rightfully so, but he showed on Saturday why he has remained as the team's starting quarterback - he gives them the best chance to win. He made one really bad decision trying to force a ball to a receiver near the sideline that was picked off and returned for a touchdown but aside from that, he balled out and made some big-time throws. He finished the game completing 30 of 46 passes for 370 yards (career-high), three touchdowns, and two interceptions. The other interception was a ball that bounced right off the hands of Bryce Ford-Wheaton and into the defender's hands, so you can't really knock him for that one.

Regardless of what West Virginia's record ends up being, everyone has to keep in mind that this is still a very young team that is still building depth on both sides of the ball. The 2021 season isn't going to be the highlight of Neal Brown's tenure in Morgantown but it could be the season that turns the tide to get things going in the right direction. If anything, these past two weeks are just another reason folks should continue to trust the climb.

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