On Monday, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown talked about his team’s opening game against Pitt in the Backyard Brawl on Thursday. Brown talked about what stood out to him about Pitt, his decision on naming JT Daniels the quarterback, as well as some very important positional updates regarding his team.
Pitt Preview
“It seems like a long time coming. Looking forward to kicking off the 130th season of Mountaineer football with the return of the Backyard Brawl Thursday night,” Brown said. “ACC Champs, 11-3, Coach Narduzzi has done a really good job of building that program I think.”
On offense for the Panthers, they welcome in new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti who will want to slow things down more, rather than have a high tempo spread it out offense.
“Offensively, new coordinator in Coach Cignetti. They’re going to be multiple. He did a really good job at BC the past couple of years,” Brown said.
For Pitt’s offense, they are giving the reigns to their offense to USC transfer Kedon Slovis. Slovis is taking over from Kenny Pickett from a year ago, who got drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft.
“You know obviously Slovis is going to start at quarterback. He’s accurate, he’s done a nice job at USC,” Brown said.
One of Pitt’s biggest strengths is their offensive line. Pitt has experience up front and Brown knows it will be a challenge for them.
“A veteran offensive line. I think one of the top five returning as far as games started in the country,” Brown said.
On defense Pitt’s strength is also up front with their defensive line. Pitt had one of the best defensive lines in the country last season and that will not change this year as they return most of their guys from last season.
“Defensively, that’s the staple of their program (the defensive line). They make it really difficult to run the football. Their d-line is very talented,” Brown said.
Quarterback Decision
Brown on Monday announced what many had long been waiting for — a decision on who will start at quarterback for West Virginia. While it comes as no surprise that the Mountaineers are turning to JT Daniels, Brown said he earned the job from the other three guys.
“JT earned the right to start. He’ll be our starting quarterback,” Brown said. “Have a lot of confidence in him in how he’s going to play in the opener.”
West Virginia is the third stop for Daniels who has spent time at both USC and Georgia. Brown says Daniels was able to be accurate with the football and was able to win the job over the past two weeks.
“The quarterback competition, it went on for the first two weeks of camp. You look at all the scoring drives, completion percentage, decision making and those things. All four of the guys had equal opportunity and over the course of two weeks and two scrimmages, it was clear that JT had earned the right,” Brown said. “The battle for backup is ongoing.”
Positional Breakdowns
Although West Virginia released their preseason depth chart, Brown said he still expects many guys to contribute on Thursday night.
“We’re going to play a large number of bodies in the opener here,” Brown said.
As for positional breakdowns, Brown said he has certain numbers in mind going into the game.
“I think we’ll probably play the five to six range at wide receiver. There’s three running backs that are going to play. There’s three tight ends that are going to play. Up front, along the three defensive line positions, we expect to play eight to 10,” Brown said. “Linebackers we’ll play four SPEAR we’re going to play two, three maybe four corners that play. Three, maybe four safeties. We’re going to play a good number of people.”
Controlling Emotion
With this game not having been played for 11 years, it is safe to say there will be a lot of emotion heading into this game. It is a big stage for this game, and Brown said it is important for his team to keep their emotions in check.
“The ones where you really put some thought into your speeches are the ones where you’re worried about your emotional level going into it,” Brown said. “The fact that you put in a rivalry game makes it even more emotional. It’s going to be about playing the game with emotion, but not necessarily emotional.”
