The Mountaineers fell to Pitt Saturday 38-34, after a late collapse.
The Panthers beat West Virginia deep and effectively moved the ball in the passing game. Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein finished with 301 passing yards and three touchdowns en route to the Backyard Brawl victory.
“Let’s just say what it is, man. We have not covered the pass very good,” Brown said. “We didn’t play the deep ball well. And when it happens three weeks in a row, it kind of is what it is, and so we got to make some changes and some corrections.”
WVU allowed nine receptions of 17 or more yards, including two catches of 40 or more yards, one of which was a touchdown despite defensive pass interference. This proved to hurt the Mountaineers late as Pitt came back from a 10-point deficit with under five minutes left to play.
“We played some different guys back there at corner. We played four guys at corner,” Brown said. “It’s easy to look at the stat sheet and say [shoot} they threw for [301] that ain’t very good you know what I mean. And so it felt really bad watching it on the sideline, but until you go back and watch it it’s really hard to assess the personnel.”
With cornerback personnel coming into question, Brown noted that West Virginia needs to make changes in coaching and playing them, but what they have is what they have and they wouldn’t be able to make drastic changes in playing time.
“Our personnel is our personnel. We got to play them better, we got to play better, we got to coach them better,” Brown said. “It’s not like we got people waiting in the bullpen.”
Brown acknowledged that West Virginia’s pass defense is a major area of concern. He’s taken note that it has been a recurring theme in their first three weeks.
“When you don’t cover very well three weeks in a row, it’s an issue, I’m not hiding from it. It’s an issue,” Brown said.
WVU takes on Kansas at home in their first game of Big 12 play next week as they look to recoup and address the concerns in their play. Kickoff for the game is set for noon EST and will be televised on ESPN2.
