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The WVU Defense has the Worst Performance in Neal Brown Era

West Virginia's loss to Kansas is lowlighted by poor defensive play

The West Virginia Mountaineers suffered their second loss in as many games following a shocking 55-42 decision to the Kansas Jayhawks in the Mountaineers home-opener on Saturday.

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The defense, which held seventeenth ranked Pitt to a mere 76 yards of rushing a weak ago, allowed 200 yards rushing to the Jayhawks. The Mountaineer defense also allowed 219 yards through the air. It’s a stunning turn of events from a defense that was ready to prove the offseason departures were not going to hold the unit back.

Kansas has been perennial bottom feeder of the Big 12 Conference since West Virginia’s arrival to the league. Head coach Lance Leipold is in his second year at the helm and has made an immediate impact in Lawrence, it appears he found himself a quarterback in Jalon Daniels. He finished the night with 304 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. 

“I knew coming into the game we were going to have some issues with them – I didn’t think they would punt the twice and we’d only get off the field twice,” said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown. “That’s not what I thought but I knew we were going to have some issues because the quarterback’s a good player. He’s a really good player and they put some stress on you how they go about attacking you. I knew we were going to have some issues, but I thought we’d win enough battles up front that we could get them in some second and third and longs, but we never did.”

Sep 10, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels (6) passes the ball against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the second quarter at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Sep 10, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels (6) passes the ball against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the second quarter at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Kansas was 11-15 on third down. Their success stemmed from successful first downs. If you take away their self-inflicted opening series, Kansas averaged 8.2 yards on first down. On average, Kansas was looking at third and just shy of four yards, aside from the opening drive where they faced a third and 16.

“They went unbalanced,” said Brown. “A ton of triple-option looks, a bunch of different shifts and a bunch of different motions. We didn’t get off-box very well. We didn’t tackle very well.

“We did some things a little bit better in the second half, but it was a track meet. We didn’t slow them down.”

“Early in the game, we played really soft, and that wasn’t necessarily what we had called,” he continued. “We played with a lack of confidence in the secondary. That was not the way we played defense here for three years. They did a good job schematically, but that wasn’t good enough.”

Sep 10, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Kansas Jayhawks wide receiver Quentin Skinner (83) catches a touchdown pass during overtime against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Sep 10, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Kansas Jayhawks wide receiver Quentin Skinner (83) catches a touchdown pass during overtime against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Kansas hit four explosive pass plays in the game, three were down the field and with the lack of experience in the secondary and missing 2022 Preseason All-Big 12 corner Charles Woods to an injury, it was evident the group of newcomers and young talent lacked confidence, and it had a rippling affect throughout the defense.

“They ran inside zone, they ran outside zone, they ran counter, they ran a little belly scheme and then they were good enough throwing the football where we couldn’t load up the box,” said Brown. “They hit us on three shot plays but they did a really good job of mixing it up. We didn’t play well enough win the game defensively.”

Brown noted it was the little things throughout the evening that added up to a poor performance before providing a couple of examples.

On the touchdown where they stuck the tight end (up the seam) we’re supposed to be inside leverage on that, we’re supposed to outside leverage. It’s a small thing but its six points,” said Brown. “There’s a couple things where we’re supposed to be tighter in coverage, its third and medium and we’re back peddling and we should never back peddle in that down and distance.”

Sep 10, 2022; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels (6) celebrates after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Kansas’ 55 points is the most given up at Mountaineer Field since a sixth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners squad loaded with Kyler Murray escaped Morgantown with a 59-56 win in the 2018 season finale. It’s also the most points given up by the current staff, although not by much when, again, the Sooners raked in 52 points in Brown’s first season (2019).

It’s not the first time the defense appeared to lack fight or simply overmatched the last three seasons, but with Kansas it’s more than just a concern, it’s a problem.

Of note, following the 52 points allowed in 2019, the defense gave up 20 points or less four of the last five games. 

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