BilldGopher
Section 211
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Pulled this from the WVU Rivals site from Friday.
Here's the link: https://westvirginia.forums.rivals....h-neal-brown-press-conference-summary.265762/
Some nice bowl-related tidbits...
--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown recognized the players graduating. It's a big number and he is proud of them. There is a lot that goes into it.
--Brown is looking forward to finishing the season in Phoenix. Sitting at 2-4 during the bye week and won four of the last six. A lot of respect for what PJ Fleck has done in his career. They're a good football team and are physical and tough.
--Kirk Ciarrocca spent the season has an analyst and worked with PJ Fleck at Western Michigan and Minnesota. They finalized the deal before the bowl announcement was made and when it got announced they talked and it's odd but his understanding is he is not going to Arizona or coaching in the bowl game.
--Minnesota from a special team's standpoint plays really hard and is sound. They play special teams and both their punt and kickoff team has done a really nice job. They take pride in it and their return game. They have a kickoff and a punter that was impressive. They are a team that is built around playing great defense and they are big on the offensive line and run the ball one everybody they've played. Three of their offensive linemen are NFL players and at receiver they have some guys that have made plays. Tanner Morgan has won a lot of games during his career. They're in the top ten nationally on defense and the whole group is a veteran group.
--West Virginia practiced the Saturday following the game and they'll practice tomorrow and get some time off then come back next Wednesday. Post season honor wise they didn't receive some honors that they were capable of receiving.
--Brown is the only opt out at this point. It was a decision Leddie Brown made and he was a tough competitor over the past two seasons. He had to play more snaps earlier in the year than they wanted him to and he's played a lot of football. He handled it really well and is a guy that loves West Virginia.
--Nicktroy Fortune will be out. They will get back Lance Dixon, Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Jackie Matthews.
--Great opportunity for Tony Mathis. He played almost every snap in the second half and good opportunity for Justin Johnson. Jaylen Anderson is not eligible for the game.
--All these guys that have an extra year, they will talk about it at the end. They already have their 32 scholarships and deal with it after the game.
--They worked on throwing sessions to keep in rhythm to avoid what happened in the bowl game last year.
--Goal is to win the game and then make it an enjoyable and memorable experience. Then salute the senior class when they leave the program and finally build momentum for the next season. This is the fifth time Brown has had the opportunity to lead a team into a bowl and they've approached it the same way every time. It's a bowl game that's supposed to be a reward and they treat it as such.
--There is an overriding formula to be successful in bowls, but you have to tweak it. There's a fine line of what's enough and not enough when it comes to the physical element.
--They remind him of Baylor on defense. They don't do a ton defensively until they get to third down but they are fundamentally sound and put an emphasis on tackling.
--Hammond Russell is getting better, Andrew Wilson-Lamp, Davis Mallinger are all getting better. On offense, Justin Johnson, Goose Crowder and Tomas Rimac.
--Charles Finley has played at tight end, Victor Wikstrom will play and they have people capable at tight end and could use some surprising bodies there.
--Yesterday was the second time they've had pads on since Kansas and it takes a while. They are doing more good on good work and more scout work next week. They'll be ready to go from a run game perspective on both sides.
Here's the link: https://westvirginia.forums.rivals....h-neal-brown-press-conference-summary.265762/
Some nice bowl-related tidbits...
--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown recognized the players graduating. It's a big number and he is proud of them. There is a lot that goes into it.
--Brown is looking forward to finishing the season in Phoenix. Sitting at 2-4 during the bye week and won four of the last six. A lot of respect for what PJ Fleck has done in his career. They're a good football team and are physical and tough.
--Kirk Ciarrocca spent the season has an analyst and worked with PJ Fleck at Western Michigan and Minnesota. They finalized the deal before the bowl announcement was made and when it got announced they talked and it's odd but his understanding is he is not going to Arizona or coaching in the bowl game.
--Minnesota from a special team's standpoint plays really hard and is sound. They play special teams and both their punt and kickoff team has done a really nice job. They take pride in it and their return game. They have a kickoff and a punter that was impressive. They are a team that is built around playing great defense and they are big on the offensive line and run the ball one everybody they've played. Three of their offensive linemen are NFL players and at receiver they have some guys that have made plays. Tanner Morgan has won a lot of games during his career. They're in the top ten nationally on defense and the whole group is a veteran group.
--West Virginia practiced the Saturday following the game and they'll practice tomorrow and get some time off then come back next Wednesday. Post season honor wise they didn't receive some honors that they were capable of receiving.
--Brown is the only opt out at this point. It was a decision Leddie Brown made and he was a tough competitor over the past two seasons. He had to play more snaps earlier in the year than they wanted him to and he's played a lot of football. He handled it really well and is a guy that loves West Virginia.
--Nicktroy Fortune will be out. They will get back Lance Dixon, Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Jackie Matthews.
--Great opportunity for Tony Mathis. He played almost every snap in the second half and good opportunity for Justin Johnson. Jaylen Anderson is not eligible for the game.
--All these guys that have an extra year, they will talk about it at the end. They already have their 32 scholarships and deal with it after the game.
--They worked on throwing sessions to keep in rhythm to avoid what happened in the bowl game last year.
--Goal is to win the game and then make it an enjoyable and memorable experience. Then salute the senior class when they leave the program and finally build momentum for the next season. This is the fifth time Brown has had the opportunity to lead a team into a bowl and they've approached it the same way every time. It's a bowl game that's supposed to be a reward and they treat it as such.
--There is an overriding formula to be successful in bowls, but you have to tweak it. There's a fine line of what's enough and not enough when it comes to the physical element.
--They remind him of Baylor on defense. They don't do a ton defensively until they get to third down but they are fundamentally sound and put an emphasis on tackling.
--Hammond Russell is getting better, Andrew Wilson-Lamp, Davis Mallinger are all getting better. On offense, Justin Johnson, Goose Crowder and Tomas Rimac.
--Charles Finley has played at tight end, Victor Wikstrom will play and they have people capable at tight end and could use some surprising bodies there.
--Yesterday was the second time they've had pads on since Kansas and it takes a while. They are doing more good on good work and more scout work next week. They'll be ready to go from a run game perspective on both sides.
