WVU Football Coaches, Players Own Inconsistent Season, Striving for Bowl Game

Originally posted on WV Sports Now | By Mike Asti | Last updated Nov 19, 2024 2:20 PM ET

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Now officially eliminated from the conference race, the theme of the week for WVU football is clear – no excuses. From head coach Neal Brown down to the players, they know they haven’t been good enough, especially at home. But instead of dwelling in the past, they’re now just simply focused on winning their final home game of 2024 season this coming Saturday against UCF.

“We should play better at home. I think that criticism is fair,” said Brown while providing a blunt assessment that all fans will universally agree with at this point.

And aside from playing quality opponents – three of WVU’s five home games so far have been against ranked teams, the issue has been a lack of consistency. When the offense is clicking, the defense and/or specials teams is struggling and vice versa.

“We’ve been an inconsistent football team and that’s why we’re 5-5,” said Brown.

WVU HC Neal Brown: “We should play better at home. I think that criticism is fair.”

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) November 18, 2024

Tight end Kole Taylor, whose college career is coming to an end at the conclusion of the season, expressed his desire to claim a sixth victory so he can have one more game as a Mountaineer. Taylor said reaching a bowl game is still important to the team, even though it’s shy of their initial goal of winning the Big 12 and competing in the College Football Playoff.

But even though West Virginia still has two more opportunities to lock up a bowl game, they know nothing is guaranteed if they don’t play better football.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Koonz echoed what Brown said about a lack of consistency on defense before placing the blame on himself.

“Not a good enough job by me to get them ready to play in this game,” said Koonz, who also added that he did feel the team was ready during practice and in meetings leading up to the game.

Nothing anyone can say will change the reality of the situation for this group of Mountaineers. The reality is they own an average 5-5 overall record and would fall to .500 in conference play with a loss as well.

Offensive coordinator Chad Scott, often known for his motivational speeches, offered these words of wisdom about not dwelling in what can’t be changed, that he shared with his players.

“Our mind gotta be stronger than our feelings,” preached Scott.

The first order of business is winning the home finale against UCF and going from there.

Most major sportsbooks view West Virginia as an underdog to UCF. Both DraftKings and FanDuel opened their lines with the Knights as a -3.

West Virginia is on the heels of a 49-35 loss to Baylor while the Knights are coming off a bye. At 4-6, UCF needs to win out in order to be eligible for a bowl game.

Kickoff between the Mountaineers and Knights is set for 3:30 pm ET and the game will air on ESPNU.

For a related story, Garrett Greene was ‘okay, not good enough’ in his return for WVU football.

This article first appeared on WV Sports Now and was syndicated with permission.

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