Advertisement
football Edit

The Opponents: Brown Set For First Season With Young Mountaineers

West Virginia quarterback Jack Allison looks to throw during the Mountaineers' Camping World Bowl loss to Syracuse this past December.
West Virginia quarterback Jack Allison looks to throw during the Mountaineers' Camping World Bowl loss to Syracuse this past December. (Associated Press)

HARRISONBURG — No one needs to caution Neal Brown about the dangers of opening the season against James Madison.

The Dukes have knocked off their FBS opponent in two of the last four seasons.

“Not a good part on scheduling on our end,” the first-year West Virginia coach said. “I got a lot of respect for them.”

When JMU kicks off its 2019 campaign at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va., on Aug. 31, and receives a $550,000 check for showing up, it won’t be the first time Brown battles the FCS power.

As a wide receiver at Massachusetts in the early 2000s, Brown caught a touchdown pass against the Dukes in an October 2001 win for the Minutemen. Then, during his climb as an assistant when he worked at UMass and spent a year Delaware, he stood on the opposing sideline of ex-JMU coach Mickey Matthews, his staffs and his teams.

“I remember vividly we played ‘em when I was at Delaware,” Brown said. “They were in the top five in the country, and they won a national championship shortly after that, so I always knew they were right at or near the top of the A-10 or what used be the A-10 and is now the CAA. I’m zero surprised they’ve been able to have success. With the geographical location, the facilities they have, it’s not a surprise to me.”

Brown departed Troy for West Virginia this offseason to replace Dana Holgorsen, who spent eight years at the helm before taking the same job at Houston in early January. Brown, a Kentucky native, said WVU fits him and his family well as it is closer to home and that the tradition of the program — the 14th winningest in all of college football — sold itself.

During his four seasons as the coach at Troy, Brown led the Trojans to three bowl victories. And since 2016, Troy is tied with Central Florida for the highest-winning percentage (79.5 percent) for any FBS school outside of the Power Five.

What Brown said concerns him most about his new squad is its youthfulness.

Gone to the NFL off last year’s Mountaineers, who finished 8-4 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12, are former quarterback Will Grier, offensive lineman Yodny Cajuste, tight end Trevon Wesco, wide receivers Gary Jennings and David Sills V and linebacker David Long Jr., the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2018.

“We’re a really inexperienced football team, especially offensively,” Brown said. “If you look at Division I, I think our return of production is one of the lowest in the entire country, so we’re going to have a lot of new faces on the offensive line, in the receiver core and quarterback and tight end. So when we line up and play a quality opponent right out of the gate, it’s going to definitely be a challenge. Defensively, we’ve got more kids who have played on that side of the ball, but JMU is definitely going to give us a lot of issues.”

Brown said he hasn’t named a starting quarterback yet as Jack Allison, who began his career at Miami, and Austin Kendall, who transferred to WVU from Oklahoma prior to the spring, are competing for the job.

Allison backed up Grier during the regular season last year, but started WVU’s Camping World Bowl loss to Syracuse. Over seven appearances including the one start, he completed 51 percent of his throws for 352 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Like Allison, Kendall was the backup to an elite player, slotted behind Heisman winner Kyler Murray with the Sooners after sitting behind another Heisman winner, Baker Mayfield, before that.

“It’s kind of wide open,” Brown said. “Neither one of them really separated themselves in the spring, so we’ll carry that thing into the summer and into fall camp.”

Whoever wins the quarterback job should benefit from the offense’s most-seasoned position group. While sharing space in the backfield throughout their careers, seniors Kennedy McKoy and Martell Pettaway have combined to rush for 2,902 yards and 28 touchdowns, so until the quarterback settles in, Brown can lean on his running game.

Another bonus for the quarterbacks, according to Brown, is the offensive system Brown uses isn’t drastically different from what either signal-caller has done in the past. Brown, Holgorsen and Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley all run a version of the air raid.

The drastic change for the Mountaineers comes on defense because Brown is moving the program away from the 3-3-5 stack.

“It’ll be a total 180,” he said.

West Virginia safety Kenny Robinson celebrates after making a tackle in the Mountaineers win over Kansas State last season at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va.
West Virginia safety Kenny Robinson celebrates after making a tackle in the Mountaineers win over Kansas State last season at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va. (Associated Press)

Brown brought new defensive coordinator Vic Koenning with him from Troy and Koenning spent the spring installing a 4-2-5 defense.

“It’s been different,” Brown said. “Not only from a schematic standpoint, but a lot of the techniques we’re teaching. And they played good defense here in the past. They just sustained a lot of injuries last year, so that’s what really set ‘em back a year ago and [former WVU defensive coordinator] Tony Gibson did a really good job, but what we’re asking them to do is quite a bit different.”

At all three levels of the unit Brown has players he can trust, he said.

Defensive end Reese Donahue already has played in 37 games and started 25 throughout his career. Linebacker Dylan Tonkery is coming off of an injury, but has started 13 of the 19 games he played in. Safety Kenny Robinson was an All-Big 12 first-teamer last year with 77 tackles and four interceptions.

“Kenny Robinson is probably our most talented guy defensively,” Brown said. “But those three are probably the guys that have played the most football, have the most experience and have had the most success.”

With JMU, a trip to Missouri and a home game against N.C. State ahead of the start of Big 12 play, the first schedule Brown faces is daunting especially considering how many first-year starters the Mountaineers will use. He said the only goal he has for his players is for them to improve.

“Until we line up and play somebody else, I have no idea what we’ve got,” Brown said. “You get so many false impressions when all you do is scrimmage yourself in the spring and then even into fall camp.

“I think we’re going to be really young on offense, but I think we’re going to improve as the year goes on. I think a lot of it will depend on how we mature at quarterback and the depth we’re able to build on the offensive line. And defensively, I think we have some pieces. We don’t have a ton of depth, but our initial group, I like how we play.”

Advertisement