Neal Brown assesses first half play of West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech

An old Big East rivalry is being renewed on Thursday, with West Virginia visiting Lane Stadium to face off against Virginia Tech. It’s been a dogfight thus far, with Neal Brown leading his team into the locker room with a 13-7 lead. The Mountaineers will assuredly have a tough second half ahead.

Before leaving the field, Brown discussed how crucial the touchdown near the end of the second quarter was for West Virginia. Coming in a two-minute situation, quarterback JT Daniels was able to link up with Sam James for the score. Brown said it made up for some other offensive struggles.

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“Well, I thought we did a good job executing in two minute,” Brown said. “And then JT made a great throw. They went two high and we were able to get up the seam. Sam James made a great catch. We kind of stubbed our toe there offensively, so it was big to score the touchdown.”

Neal Brown discusses West Virginia defense

Defensively, Brown is looking for his team to perform a little better in coverage. Of Virginia Tech’s 140 total yards, 128 have come through quarterback Grant Wells. Brown thinks as the first half progressed, the Mountaineers got better but he wants to see if come full circle on the other side of the break.

“I was it was that simple,” said Brown. “We haven’t covered very well and so they’ve been going through the air. We got to play a little tighter coverage. I thought our young guys and the secondary started playing with more confidence there at the end of the second quarter.”

West Virginia playing a rivalry game on the road is nothing new this season, doing so against Pitt in the season opener. Ending in defeat during Week 1, Brown will be hoping for a different result on Thursday night.