Saturday, September 11
Morgantown, W.Va.
5:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
LIU
Photo by: Drew Mathis
United Bank Playbook – Long Island Preview
September 08, 2021 02:15 PM | Football
| Tale of the Tape |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Points Per Game | 10.0 | 24.0 |
| Points Against | 48.0 | 30.0 |
| Rushing Yards Per Game | 96.0 | 48.0 |
| Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game | 318.0 | 149.0 |
| Passing Yards Per Game | 195.0 | 277.0 |
| Passing Yards Allowed Per Game | 276.0 | 332.0 |
| Total Yards Per Game | 291.0 | 325.0 |
| Total Yards Allowed Per Game | 594.0 | 481.0 |
| First Downs For | 15 | 18 |
| First Downs Against | 22 | 22 |
| Fumbles/Lost | 0/0 | 3/2 |
| Interceptions/Return Ave. | 1/26 | 0/0 |
| Net Punting | 30.5 | 34.6 |
| Field Goal/Attempts | 1/2 | 1/1 |
| Time of Possession | 38:13 | 25:43 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 8/18 | 6/14 |
| 3rd Down Conversion Defense | 1/3 | 9/21 |
| Sacks By/Yards Lost | 0/0 | 2/21 |
| Red Zone Scoring | 0/2 | 4/5 |
Last Saturday at Maryland, Neal Brown's Mountaineers committed four turnovers, gave up 17 points in the first quarter and failed to score in the third yet still had a fighter's chance to defeat the Terps, trailing by six with just 3:32 left.
But Maryland was able to convert a couple of key third downs to run out the clock in its 30-24 triumph.
Brown spent a significant portion of his 25-minute news conference on Tuesday going over all of the things that happened in the opener.
"It was a disappointing performance on Saturday," he began. "It was not the start anybody associated with our team wanted.
"I'm not blind to the brutal fact that we're 0-1, and we didn't play very well last Saturday," he continued. "Really, outside of our kickoff return unit and our kickoff team, I'm not sure we won a whole lot of individual battles in the game – coaching or playing."
Winston Wright Jr. set a school record with 217 kickoff return yards last Saturday, the Savanna, Georgia, junior returning one 98 yards to the 2 that set up Leddie Brown's first-quarter touchdown run, and taking another one 48 yards to midfield early in the fourth quarter.
All-American Tavon Austin previously held the record with 199 kickoff return yards in a 2012 home loss to Kansas State.
"We blocked kickoff returns well last year, but we didn't return them well," Brown pointed out. "What has me excited today is he (Wright) never stopped his feet. He was decisive and he hit it with speed. I think that's going to be a real weapon for us."
Brown was also complimentary of sophomore defensive tackle Akheem Mesidor, who finished the game with nine tackles and 1½ tackles for loss.
"Akheem Mesidor played like a dude," Brown said. "Dude" is Brown's favorite phrase to use for really good players. "If you want to know how I wished all 22 played, watch how he plays."
Defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said on the game's opening play, a hustling Mesidor tracked down running back Taylon Fleet-Davis on a screen pass that would have likely gone for a touchdown.
"How many times do you see your nose guard do that?" Lesley asked.
Neal Brown also cited the promising performance of redshirt freshman Sean Martin at defensive end, the yeoman work put in by junior tight end T.J. Banks and a receiver corps that had a couple of big drops, but also managed to win a high percentage of its one-on-one battles against a pretty good Maryland secondary.
Wright Jr. had six catches for 48 yards, Sam James caught five for a team-best 65 yards, while Sean Ryan, Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Isaiah Esdale combined to grab nine passes for 127 yards.
The passing game accounted for 277 of West Virginia's 325 total yards.
"I wasn't surprised how our receivers played," Brown admitted. "I thought they won versus man coverage probably 80% of the time. I thought we had one, maybe two opportunities to score touchdowns on catch and runs that we didn't and that's something we've got to get better at."
The team's fast start scoring on its first offensive possession was also a positive, as was the defensive performance in the third quarter when it stopped Maryland on its four offensive possessions. Brown was also happy with how his team handled sudden change situations – an aspect of play that was subpar last year.
But, issue No. 1 for the Mountaineers were those turnovers, a couple coming in critical situations in the second half.
"Even though we didn't play very well, if we don't turn the ball over we win," Brown pointed out.
Brown also thought Maryland's front three dominated the line of scrimmage.
"What they did that hurt us was they lined up with a heavy guy at nose, and we didn't do a very good job moving him off the ball," Brown explained. "Then they played a B-gap defender that we didn't use very good technique on and he played stronger than our guys."
Defensively, Brown cited some critical communication errors that led to a couple of big plays, including the game-deciding touchdown in the fourth quarter when Rakim Jarrett got behind the secondary for a 60-yard touchdown reception.
He broke down both plays.
"The one before the half when they hit (Dontay) Demus up the side line for the big play, it was just a miscommunication," Brown said. "We had a check there and didn't stay in it and gave up a big play. On the final touchdown, we should have had somebody right under that corner ball that got thrown for a touchdown."
Brown also thought better team defense could have come up with a big stop late in the game that could have turned the tide.
"We're down six and we've got a third and three and they run a quarterback truck play – a quarterback lead," he said. "We've got our defensive linemen right there. We've got the edge. Akheem Mesidor is going to run and make the tackle and it's going to be fourth and two, but our defensive lineman goes in the B-gap and they hit it outside. That's just one example of not good team defense."
As for quarterback Jarret Doege's play, Brown offered this analysis.
"It was a mixed bag," he said. "He had 12 bad plays, which was one out of five because we only had 62 countable snaps. If you look back, he did some good things. The first drive he throws a great ball, on the upfield shoulder to Leddie and Leddie does the rest. On the drive that we ended up kicking the field goal he's right on the money. And on third downs he was a lot better."The things he has to get better at is he can't make the bad plays worse," Brown continued. "After we got the fourth down stop, a huge momentum deal there, we run four verticals with an under and if he just moves up and throws the under we move on (instead of throwing an interception). It's second and four and we play the next play. We got a little pressure from the outside and rather than just move up he got flushed. Some of that is firming up the pocket and some of that is his instincts have got to be better."
This Saturday against Long Island, Brown said more guys are going to get on the field, particularly on defense. He thought Taijh Alston and Dante Stills played too many snaps up front, and the three safeties - Scottie Young, Alonzo Addae and Sean Mahone - also needed more of a break.
Because of the turnovers and Maryland's 42.8% third-down success rate, the defense had to play 80 total snaps, which likely played a role in Maryland's game-sealing drive.
Long Island dropped its season opening game at Florida International 48-10. The Sharks recently moved up from Division II and are playing in the Northeast Conference this season. Coach Bryan Collins announced his resignation earlier this summer and the program is now being led by interim coach Jonathan Gill.
LIU's lone touchdown in its opener came from junior wide receiver Derick Eugene when he caught a 74-yard pass from quarterback Camden Orth.
"They've got a couple of guys that belong," Brown noted. "Their receiver is really talented, and he hit a couple of long ones on FIU. Their tight end (Owen) Glascoe transferred from Penn State and I thought their quarterback managed things really well.
"Defensively, they are a team that likes to pressure and we didn't handle pressure very well last Saturday," Brown added. "They've got a defensive end (Joseph Amaliftano) who is one of the top defensive ends in FCS, and they've got a corner (Tariq Snead) who has been around the ball a lot during his career.
"But it's really more about us getting back out there," Brown said. "We're going to play a lot of young people this week and some people who didn't play a week ago. We've got a starting point that nobody is happy with, and now we've got to continue to improve."
Family Day tickets (four tickets and a $25 concession voucher for just $150) are still available through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by calling 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Activities surrounding this year's season opener include a 9/11 salute to our first responders and the honoring of student-athletes at both schools who perished during 9/11.
Returning members of last year's senior class will be recognized before the game and a brief tribute to former coach Bobby Bowden will run on the video board. Also, the Gathering of Mountain Eagles, a wounded veterans group, will be making its annual visit to Milan Puskar Stadium this weekend. The group has been attending Mountaineer home football games for the last 10 years or so.
Saturday's game will kick off at 5 p.m. and will be televised on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ (Bill Spaulding and Brooks Bennett).
Mountaineer Sports Network coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. with the Mountaineer Tailgate Show, leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning at 4 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the free popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
Saturday's game will be Long Island's first appearance at Milan Puskar Stadium.
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