Neal Brown & WVU Finding Success Since Bye Week
After a 42-6 blowout loss to the Iowa State Cyclones last season, the West Virginia Mountaineers were looking to prove they were better than the dreadful final score from a year ago.
Doege and co. looked poised and level-headed most of the game, and the defense came up big at the end to finish it off in a back and forth affair 38-31.
"We finished on defense," said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown. "If you think about it, we've been in that scenario that we just went through against Oklahoma. We had a chance to get off the field and we didn't."
"We had a chance versus Texas Tech to get off the field and we didn't. Today, we had a chance to get off the field and finish the game, and we finished the game on defense."
After beating Virginia Tech in a similar fashion, but then dropped three-straight, falling to 2-4 on the season in a completely opposite turn of events. It was huge for the Mountaineer defense to come away with that game-sealing drive.
Brown and his staff have this West Virginia team on a roll. They went into Fort Worth, Texas a week ago after a bye week and shocked the Horned Frogs. A victory that propelled the momentum for the Mountaineers coming into the Iowa State matchup.
With the Cyclones coming off a big win last week themselves over then-ranked No. 8 Cowboys, it puts this win high on the list for Brown and the Mountaineers. Now, you can see the tide shifting in Morgantown.
It's a daunting task to finish off the rest of the season 6-0. But that is the goal that Brown has set for his team, and if they continue to perform this well it's not impossible.
They are 2-0 since the bye week and it has been all about responding for the Mountaineers.
"I think that's something that we've really tried to invest in since the bye week is to respond," said Brown. "There's a difference between reacting and responding. Reacting, you're emotional. Responses are calculated. I thought as a football team we've done a good job of responding."
You couldn't ask for a much better start to the second half of the season so far. The offense looks a lot more fluid. The receivers are making incredible catches. The offensive line is beginning to come together. Brown seems to have these guys breaking out at the right time.
Of course, if you're a Mountaineer fan, you wanted to see this at the beginning of the year. Nonetheless, you could look back a year from now and see this as the turning point for the "Trust The Climb" era.
Since the bye week, the Mountaineers have amassed more than 480 yards in back-to-back weeks. Running back Leddie Brown has showcased why he's one of the top rushers in the league, and Doege has looked better than ever.
Doege and Brown seem to have found their groove on offense. Brown has accumulated 220 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns in the last two weeks, showing just how improved the offensive line has become, as well as, how good he is coming out of the backfield.
Doege went over 350 yards (370) for the first time this season against the Cyclones and was extremely efficient going 21 of 28 a week ago against the Horned Frogs.
In addition, two more big contributions for West Virginia on offense have been Bryce Ford-Wheaton and the entire receiving corps. A year ago, everyone is talking about drops plaguing the Mountaineers game after game. Ford-Wheaton has done a fantastic job of the leading unit and showed what responding looks like in perfect fashion against the Cyclones.
After allowing a pass to bounce off his hands and into the Iowa State defender's hands for the interception, Ford-Wheaton came back to burn the Cyclones with two great touchdown catches. One against three defenders, and another ridiculous acrobatic catch in the back of the end zone.
If the Mountaineers want to continue riding high on this momentum, they'll need those leaders to continue showing up. As they still await two big, tough matchups at home against the Cowboys and Longhorns.
A win this weekend against Oklahoma State would certainly push their chances of going 6-0 to end the season much higher and will bring a lot of fans back on the "Trust the Climb" train.
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