Sunday Morning Thoughts: Offense Could Hold Back West Virginia
On Saturday afternoon, the West Virginia Mountaineers walked away with a 38-17 win over the Kansas Jayhawks. For the third straight game, the offense struggled and the deficiencies are getting harder and harder to hide each time out.
Sure, if you look purely at the numbers you would think that there's nothing to be really concerned about. The Mountaineers racked up 544 total yards and were fairly balanced with 318 of those yards through the air and 226 on the ground. But if you get too caught up in the numbers, you're not seeing the real issue.
Disappointing Receiver Play
There's way too many routine drops occurring week after week and it's putting the offense behind the eight ball. Guys like Sam James and T.J. Simmons have been underperforming. James has 18 receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns on the year, but only had 5 receptions for 30 yards combined vs Oklahoma State and Kansas. Drops have been his biggest issue and it's really the one thing that's holding him back from being a top receiver in the Big 12.
As for Simmons, you expect more out of him. On the first drive vs Kansas, the Mountaineers took a shot down the field to Simmons on the first play and he should have been able to make the play but took his eye off the ball for a half a second and caused it to fall incomplete. Two plays later, he hauled in a catch on 3rd and long but coughed the ball up and gave Kansas great field position, which they would capitalize on. Don't get me wrong, Denzel Feaster delivered a crushing hit, but you have to hold onto the football at all costs. In the last two games, Simmons has just one catch for 13 yards - that has to change.
The real deal with Doege
I said it last year and I'll say it again: There's virtually no difference in terms of the team's overall offensive production with Doege on the field compared to Austin Kendall. I'm not saying Neal Brown needs to make a switch at quarterback, but the play at the position has been far from great. Doege has not been able to connect on deep balls at a consistent rate and at times, just flat out misses easy, wide open throws.
Lack of awareness is something that is really popping off the screen to me and it's a bit concerning. He's put the ball on the turf a handful of times already this season and part of that is just holding onto the ball a tad too long. Part of that may be the receivers just not getting open, but Doege must do a better job of eliminating the no gain, negative plays on passing plays. Another miscue he had on Saturday vs Kansas was calling for the snap while two of his wide receivers were still trying to get set. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's the little things that add up. Bottom line is Doege has to play better and has to start developing confidence in himself because right now, I'm not seeing much confidence from No. 2.
What has hindered both Doege and Kendall is the poor play at receiver. Like I said, the offense looks the same in terms of the passing game regardless of who is back there. Until the wide receivers start playing better, the quarterback will continue to struggle. With that said, I expect more from Doege because I believe he gives West Virginia a better chance to win.
Questionable Play Calling
People are going to question the play calls every game because that's just the natural reaction when a play doesn't work. I try not to bring it up very much because for the most part, it's about the players executing instead of what was called. But this week, I couldn't help myself.
West Virginia has continued to try and run the ball on the outside with Leddie Brown on early downs and it has been a disaster nearly every time. Brown is a downhill runner, not an east-west type of guy. That's not to say that Brown can't have success turning the corner and getting up the field because he can, but that's a play that I would imagine should be designed more for Alec Sinkfield who can get out there much quicker. But that's not the main issue with those calls. The tackles are having a hard time sealing off the edge and making way for Brown to gain a couple yards or at least get back to the line of scrimmage. The theme I have noticed is an outside run call on 1st down going for zero or negative yardage which gets you to 2nd and 10/2nd and 12 followed by a drop in the passing game or errant throw and now all of a sudden you're in 3rd and long. Again, playing behind the eight ball. I don't mind running it to the outside but if you do, that's where Sinkfield should be utilized more often.
There were several other play calls that I questioned, but the other one that stuck out to me was a 2nd and 10 call in the red zone where Doege threw up a 50/50 ball to Sam James in the end zone. Do I mind taking a shot in the end zone to James in attempt to rise his confidence? Not at all, but not on 2nd and 10. When you're running the ball seemingly at will on Kansas, I was shocked that the play wasn't an inside run for Leddie Brown and let him get you into a third and manageable instead of a 3rd and 10. The Mountaineers ended up getting a field goal from Evan Staley, but that decision on 2nd down could have been the difference in three and seven points on that particular drive.
The good news? Neal Brown began to get a little more creative with his calls in the 2nd half and drew up some things that would give Doege easier reads and quicker progressions. Is play calling a major concern for this team? Absolutely not. It's just something that stuck out to me yesterday. As the season moves along, we will see Brown get more comfortable and in a groove with his play calls just like the players are trying to get into a rhythm on the field.
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