West Virginia – Will year two of Neal Brown be any better than year one?
Last season was a rough one for West Virginia, finishing with a losing record for the first time since 2013. Neal Brown was hired after Dana Holgerson bolted to Houston and underperformed in his first season as head coach.
Bringing in Oklahoma transfer quarterback Austin Kendall, the junior was not so spectacular, throwing for less than 2,000 yards, with 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in nine games. He was even replaced in the final 3.5 games of the season by Jarrett Doege.
On the ground, no Mountaineer ran for more than 400 yards this past season, with Leddie Brown leading the way with 367 rushing yards.
Allowing nearly 30 points a game last season, West Virginia ranked sixth in pass defense, seventh in run defense, and eighth in scoring defense in the Big 12 last season. In their five-game losing streak last season, Brown’s defense gave up at least 38 points four different times, including 52 to Oklahoma and 42 to Texas.
Their three Big 12 wins in 2019 (surprisingly all on the road) came by a combined 10 points. Scraping by in the wins, you could say West Virginia did not have the most successful 2019 season.
Can 2020 produce better results for the Mountaineers? The first question will be surrounding the defense and if they can improve. Brown brought over Vic Koenning from Troy as the defensive coordinator. If Koenning can bring the same defense which allowed less than 21 points in the final three games against Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and TCU to the table for an entire season, they should improve.
Next will be the starting quarterback for the Mountaineers going forward. Kendall played in and started nine games, but the offense struggled with him under center. Doege then came in and led West Virginia towards two victories in the final three games.
Brown and the Mountaineers should be fighting for bowl eligibility this season after coming up short in 2019. Things may look stale in Morgantown, but anything around six wins would be considered an improvement in year two.
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