WVU Puts Brawl Loss Behind Them, Excited for Season

It's Kansas game week, and the West Virginia football team has put a disappointing opening loss behind them.

Emotions were high on Thursday night, and head coach Neal Brown wants to see that kind of intensity in every game in 2022.

"I'm proud of our guys," Brown said. "I thought we had a chance to be a good football team when we went in. Coming out of that game, after watching it, I know we do."

All three sides of the game plan came away with success, and defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley acknowledged that a Week 1 loss isn't indicative of the quality of football ahead.

"We can't let it linger," Lesley said. "It was the first game.

"It's not going to make or break our season, first and foremost," he said. "It's tough, because we had opportunities, especially defensively in key situations, to get off the field... It's correcting those things and moving on to what's next."

The players echoed a generally positive emotional response heading into Week 2. After such a back-and-forth game with a ranked opponent, tight end Mike O'Laughlin said that his teammates were antsy for another go of it.

"If we could have suited up the next day or the following day, we would have," O'Laughlin said with a laugh. "We were just antsy to play. Guys were beat up. They were hurting. They weren't feeling so good, but like, if someone said, 'Hey. Let's go play tomorrow.' I think you'd have hands everywhere. That's a great sign, I think."

O'Laughlin, who has been rehabbing from an ACL injury, finally suited back up, and he's ready to make 2022 a season lead by team positivity.

"That was the best I've felt ever after a loss," O'Laughlin said. "These guys, I knew they'd have my back and I'd have theirs. That's just kind of the team as it is. They're just excited to play."

O'Laughlin is a tenured vet on this West Virginia team; he's seen massive roster shifts and a full coaching overhaul in 2019. Still, he noted this team as having an intangible factor that unites.

Junior nose tackle Jordan Jefferson, who got his sixth career start in the Backyard Brawl, agreed, saying, "There's something different about this group. No matter what, we fought. We fought until the zeroes hit the clock, and I know for sure that if we do what we did last week as a team to prepare for this week, we'll be just fine."

Quarterback JT Daniels, who kicked off his time in the gold and blue Thursday, admitted that he's taken on the role of uplifting presence in previous locker rooms post-loss. The last few days haven't yielded the same result; it seemed to shock him how ready his new team was to return to the gridiron.

"Something that's impressive in this team, and that I think matters a lot, is that as soon as you watch the final play, that's the last you talk about it," Daniels said. "I haven't seen anyone that's been in low spirits or thinking about last week. You put it to bed and you move on. There's always the potential for a challenge for me to get guys focused on this week, but that's not been a challenge that's presented itself. Guys are locked in on Kansas and ready to play Kansas."

Returning to a Saturday game week also refreshes the team, giving them a few extra days of planning before they christen Milan Puskar Stadium for the home opener. Jefferson said that the defense is using this time to key in on the small details that let the Backyard Brawl score even itself out.

"We're going to try to be even better and work even harder," Jefferson said. "I think the loss, it was tough, but at the same time, if we all correct our mistakes and move on, we'll be just fine."

Moving on is the name of the game, and Jefferson and the Mountaineers (0-1) will need to before facing the Kansas Jayhawks (1-0) on Sept. 10's Gold Rush game Kick-off is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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