--Productive bye week for West Virginia where the focus was just on getting better. They worked up toward this date to be as in shape as they could be. They open against Oklahoma State this weekend and what Mike Gundy has done with his alma mater is remarkable. Stillwater is a very tough place to play. Offensively they are extremely explosive and talented at the skill positions. Chuba Hubbard has the ability to break tackles or make explosive plays at any time. He’s a great rusher as well as a wide receiver. Tylan Wallace is a guy that is as good as any wide receiver in the country and they play with a lot of tempo. They are an underrated defense that creates a lot of negative plays as well as turnovers. They held Tulsa to 0-11 on third down and returned 10 of 11 starters overall. The strength of the unit is their ability to mix and match by giving different looks. Secondary wise they have four NFL players in the back end and played a lot of man coverage against Tulsa because they can do it. The Oklahoma State defense has done a good job stopping the run. On special teams they are solid and have always had talented specialists. The kicker, punter and snapper are all upper tier. It’s a great opportunity for the program with the game being featured on ABC.
--Illingsworth came in and threw a touch fade last year which is a difficult throw. He is a true freshman, but he plays with confidence.
--Jordan Lesley controls the front end and Jahmile Addae controls the back end of the defense and they work together and feed off each other during the game when they are tasked with calling plays.
--The hope is that West Virginia is better. They attacked the bye week with some goals in mind to continue to work with the rushing offense, more work in the red zone on both sides of the ball and special teams. They underperformed on special teams week one in all the phases so they put a lot of time in that with drill work and good on good situations.
--Brown said that they wish Josh Sills the best of luck outside obviously this game, but he hasn’t really thought about it going against a former player.
--Brown doesn’t know the answer for the digital whistles where the players have gone full speed on dead plays. It was evident that plays played through the whistle and he’s interested to see how it is addressed moving forward.
--It’s important to see if West Virginia is ready to play against the top teams in the conference. This gives them a chance to do that against a very experienced team in Oklahoma State.
--Brown hasn’t put a lot of time thinking about the fit for West Virginia in the Big 12. They are a happy member of the league outside a few difficult away trips for fans. Other than that, he likes the venues with great college towns, and he is excited and proud to be a member of the league.
--There is some anticipation for how the offensive line will play with the starters returning to the lineup. Brown is confident though and believes his unit can go seven or eight deep. Those guys that didn’t play in the first game have practiced well which is comforting.
--There is trepidation every time that they do testing. They tested Sunday and all tested negative, but they will test Wednesday and Friday as well. They are going to try to do the best they can to follow all procedures and protocols. They will roll with the punches and try to do the next right thing.
--To prepare for multi quarterbacks you prepare for the one that started the year. If Spencer Sanders is well, his assumption is he’ll play so they’ll prepare for him and if not, they’ll adjust. They look at the strengths of what he does and then move to other factors.
--Offensively his opinion of the Oklahoma State and Tulsa game is a little different because their starting quarterback got hurt early in the game. You only have so much time to practice and be ready which limits what you can do overall. Brown expects to see a much different unit this week. The offensive line piece is important from a communication standpoint and it’s hard to work different groups. You make a lot of improvement from week one to week two.
--The veterans can play better up front, but the young guys did well against Eastern Kentucky on defensive line. That is going to be one of the most important matchups of the game.
--Brown will watch high school tape for true freshmen at times just to get an idea of what they bring to the table. But it’s a little bit of a guessing game.
--Brown assumed that the dead period would continue through the end of the year and it’s unfortunate for the student athletes. They are playing a reduced schedule for the most part and now they won’t be able to take official visits or other things. They have been planning for this by getting as much video as they possibly can to finish out the overall class. Brown does think that you will see less flips because players won’t be able to take official visits. Without official visits, he doesn’t think that will happen.
--Normally it would be a good thing to play an opponent late last year and early this year but so much has changed.
--Illingsworth came in and threw a touch fade last year which is a difficult throw. He is a true freshman, but he plays with confidence.
--Jordan Lesley controls the front end and Jahmile Addae controls the back end of the defense and they work together and feed off each other during the game when they are tasked with calling plays.
--The hope is that West Virginia is better. They attacked the bye week with some goals in mind to continue to work with the rushing offense, more work in the red zone on both sides of the ball and special teams. They underperformed on special teams week one in all the phases so they put a lot of time in that with drill work and good on good situations.
--Brown said that they wish Josh Sills the best of luck outside obviously this game, but he hasn’t really thought about it going against a former player.
--Brown doesn’t know the answer for the digital whistles where the players have gone full speed on dead plays. It was evident that plays played through the whistle and he’s interested to see how it is addressed moving forward.
--It’s important to see if West Virginia is ready to play against the top teams in the conference. This gives them a chance to do that against a very experienced team in Oklahoma State.
--Brown hasn’t put a lot of time thinking about the fit for West Virginia in the Big 12. They are a happy member of the league outside a few difficult away trips for fans. Other than that, he likes the venues with great college towns, and he is excited and proud to be a member of the league.
--There is some anticipation for how the offensive line will play with the starters returning to the lineup. Brown is confident though and believes his unit can go seven or eight deep. Those guys that didn’t play in the first game have practiced well which is comforting.
--There is trepidation every time that they do testing. They tested Sunday and all tested negative, but they will test Wednesday and Friday as well. They are going to try to do the best they can to follow all procedures and protocols. They will roll with the punches and try to do the next right thing.
--To prepare for multi quarterbacks you prepare for the one that started the year. If Spencer Sanders is well, his assumption is he’ll play so they’ll prepare for him and if not, they’ll adjust. They look at the strengths of what he does and then move to other factors.
--Offensively his opinion of the Oklahoma State and Tulsa game is a little different because their starting quarterback got hurt early in the game. You only have so much time to practice and be ready which limits what you can do overall. Brown expects to see a much different unit this week. The offensive line piece is important from a communication standpoint and it’s hard to work different groups. You make a lot of improvement from week one to week two.
--The veterans can play better up front, but the young guys did well against Eastern Kentucky on defensive line. That is going to be one of the most important matchups of the game.
--Brown will watch high school tape for true freshmen at times just to get an idea of what they bring to the table. But it’s a little bit of a guessing game.
--Brown assumed that the dead period would continue through the end of the year and it’s unfortunate for the student athletes. They are playing a reduced schedule for the most part and now they won’t be able to take official visits or other things. They have been planning for this by getting as much video as they possibly can to finish out the overall class. Brown does think that you will see less flips because players won’t be able to take official visits. Without official visits, he doesn’t think that will happen.
--Normally it would be a good thing to play an opponent late last year and early this year but so much has changed.