Football, Sports, WVU Sports

Neal Brown: Youngsters no longer allowed to use freshman label as an excuse

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — There will come a time when the football coaches at West Virginia will be able to sort through the chaos of a young roster and be able to establish some sort of a foothold.

Through seven games of his first season with the Mountaineers, that has not been the case for WVU head coach Neal Brown, who has dealt with a rash of roster turnover and injuries by going with a youth movement.

How much of one? Take this into consideration: Through seven games last season, the Mountaineers saw true freshmen play 670 snaps. Through seven games this season, that number is 1,152 with more on the way.

That includes freshman linebacker Jared Bartlett, who could see action in tomorrow’s game against 12th-ranked Baylor.

If not, WVU defensive coordinator Vic Koenning expects Bartlett to play at some point this season.

“We’re going to see. He’s practicing,” Koenning said. “He’s got some twitch about him. We’ll see how things transpire with Jared. He’s got some things we don’t have at linebacker. He’s got some quickness and a knack on the pass rush. He’s just like the rest of those guys, though, that have (fr.) by their name. We’ll see how he does whenever we get him in the game.”

The list also includes freshman running back Tony Mathis, who is just starting to get back to full speed after a knee injury.

“He’s a little bit behind,” Brown said. “He had a knee injury that kept him out for three weeks. He’s coming back. The O.U. week was his first week practicing full speed. You will see him as we go. Will it be against Baylor? That’s to be determined, but he will play and get some carries at some point this season.”

West Virginia has already become dependent on freshmen such as safeties Tykee Smith and Kerry Martin, as well as defensive lineman Jordan Jefferson and receivers Bryce Wheaton and Sam James.

They have become such fixtures that Brown no longer refers to his first-year guys as freshmen.

“I’m not using the F word anymore,” Brown said.

It is Brown’s way of beginning to see the bigger picture within the program and by using the excuse that WVU (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) is young is to allow players to believe they get a pass to simply look ahead without working hard this season.

“I think it’s a built-in excuse,” Brown said. “I think it’s a built-in excuse for those kids, for our staff and myself. Listen, we’re a no-excuse operation. It is what it is. We’re playing a lot of young people. We’ve played seven games now. They’ve got seven games worth of experience, some have five. It’s time.”

As for getting that foothold on the situation, Brown doesn’t need a stat sheet to see just how much the Mountaineers’ offense has struggled this season, but believes the offense will be a strength moving into future seasons.

“We’ve got a lot of people who are playing for the first time,” Brown said. “There is a lot of hope. Sam James is a guy I’m excited about. he didn’t play very well against Oklahoma, but I’m excited about his future. Bryce Wheaton is starting to come along. Ali Jennings is going to be a really good player. Winston Wright is going to be a really good player.”

Brown said defense will be the focus in the next two recruiting classes. Koenning said the key is to be able to evaluate just what the Mountaineers have on defense moving forward and then coming up with a solid plan on how to defend in the Big 12.

“I do think what we have to do defensively, and this will be after the signing date, this is the players we have and here’s what best suits us and here’s going forward in this conference,” Koenning said. “I think we’re suited in some respects. We’ve got to go back and say, ‘Here’s where we need to be and here’s what we have.’ We need to make assessments after that.”