ARLINGTON, Texas – Neal Brown believes his West Virginia University football team will be significantly improved in all three facets of play in 2021. Off the field, he's pleased with the buy-in he's getting from his players, citing his team's impressive 3.11 cumulative grade point average last spring and 100% graduation rate over the last 19 months.
He's also encouraged with the culture the players are establishing, mentioning that this year's squad will be the first one he's had at West Virginia that will be player-led instead of coach-led.
He's delighted with the $55 million the athletics department recently invested in the Milan Puskar Center, bringing that facility on par some of the best football complexes in the country.
"That's really had a positive effect, and we've got a lot of momentum in recruiting right now," Brown said Wednesday afternoon at Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
From all indications, recruiting, the lifeblood of any football program, is humming along this summer with his staff assembling what some experts believe could be a top-25 class this December.
The Mountaineers are coming off their first bowl victory since 2015, and only their second since joining the Big 12 Conference 10 years ago.
Indeed, there is certainly a lot of momentum within Brown's West Virginia program right now.
But will that equate to more wins in 2021? Can the Mountaineers break out of the middle of the pack and improve upon their sixth-place finish in 2020, which is also where they are tabbed to finish in 2021?
College football guru Phil Steele is predicting a national championship for Oklahoma in 2022. The Sooners have 15 returning starters, including quarterback Spencer Rattler, from a team that won its last eight games and throttled a depleted Florida team 55-20 in the Cotton Bowl.
Many are expecting a top-10 finish this year for Iowa State, which has a staggering 25 seniors on its roster.
Folks in Fort Worth believe TCU is laying in the weeds this fall with 18 returning starters, including nearly everyone back on a defense that could be as good as the unit the Horned Frogs fielded in 2014.
Texas has a new sheriff in town with coach Steve Sarkisian taking over an underachieving Longhorn program that was two close wins away from going 5-5, or three bad plays shy of reaching the Big 12 championship game.
Kansas State has its entire offensive line returning to protect talented quarterback Skylar Thompson.
Texas Tech and Baylor have a ton of starters returning, and although Kansas doesn't, it does have a new coach in Lance Leipold to finally clear the air in Lawrence and get the Jayhawks heading in the right direction.
Oklahoma State, which has won at least eight games four out of the last five years under veteran coach Mike Gundy and has been an annual thorn in West Virginia's side, has the fewest starters returning in the conference with 13, which demonstrates just how experienced and hazardous the Big 12 could be in 2021.
"I was looking at one of the preseason All-Big 12 lists and going, 'Man, so-and-so is a really good player and he's not on it,'" Brown said. "You start looking at d-line and secondary and there are a lot of elite players on the defensive line and in the secondary in our league right now. In my six years involved in the league as a coordinator and head coach, I don't remember as many elite players on the defensive side of the ball than there are right now."
Brown believes the determining factor in success for his 2021 Mountaineer team is going to be close games. Last year, West Virginia was within striking distance in the fourth quarter in three of its four losses to Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas and Iowa State.
A scoop-and-score touchdown gave Texas Tech a 34-27 win in Lubbock, and a late goal-line stand propelled Texas to a 17-13 victory in Austin.
In Stillwater, costly turnovers and penalties caused West Virginia to fall behind Oklahoma State 17-0 in the second quarter before it rallied to make a game of it with nine minutes left.
On all three occasions, the Mountaineers simply couldn't come up with winning plays in crunch time.
"There is a lot of parity, and to win in this league, you've got to win close games," Brown admitted. "You may have six-to-eight close games on your schedule so it's difficult. The margin for error in this league is really, really small."
Defensively, West Virginia had one of the best statistical units in the Big 12 last year, although it didn't face Oklahoma. Preseason All-Big 12 pick Dante Stills is the headliner, and Brown believes he's primed for a big senior season.
Brown also likes emerging sophomore defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor, a Freshman All-American who is going to move inside and take consensus All-American Darius Stills' position this fall.
"I think he's got an opportunity to be a special player in our league," Brown said of Mesidor.
Josh Chandler-Semedo is moving to middle linebacker, taking over the role in which Arizona transfer Tony Fields II excelled last year in West Virginia's defense, and the secondary will be led by a pair of experienced fifth-year seniors in Sean Mahone and Alonzo Addae.
On the other side of the ball, Brown points to the considerable growth the offense made during the spring.
"We didn't play very well the last two games of the season offensively, and I think that skewed the stats, but for the first time we have experience on that side of the ball, especially up front," he said.
Senior running back Leddie Brown is the headliner - a tough, physical back with the potential to gain 1,500 yards if he remains healthy, and quarterback Jarret Doege is coming off an exceptional spring according to his coach, but the key to the offense's success is going to be a receivers corps that was wildly inconsistent in 2020.
"We've got guys that have played football now for two years, and we have talent in that room," Brown said. "They had a good spring, and they have to make that next step."
Along those same lines, Brown is looking for more explosive plays in the return game on special teams. Kicking and punting also has to become more consistent.
Nevertheless, the growth and improvement that has been made over the last two years is clearly visible. Will it be enough to meet the most demanding football schedule in the Big 12 this year?
According to Brown, West Virginia is one of only four teams in America playing 11 Power 5 opponents this season – the nine Big 12 foes plus longtime regional rivals Maryland (Big Ten) and Virginia Tech (ACC).
"We are looking forward to the challenge," he concluded.
So are we.
West Virginia opens the 2021 campaign in College Park, Maryland, on Saturday, Sept. 4, against the Terrains. The 2021 home opener is a week later against Long Island on Saturday, Sept. 11.
Season and mini-season tickets remain on sale for the 2021 season and can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
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July 15, 2021 at 11:12PM
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WVU's Brown Says Close Games Will Determine Team's Success in 2021 - WVU Athletics
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