Recapping WVU's 49-14 win over Albany

what's going on everyone Wesley Shoemaker and Keenan Cummings back with you with another episode of the West Virginia sports.com podcast the Mountaineers got in the win column for the first time in 2024 with a 49-4 victory over Albany on Saturday Mountaineers really got it going early on offense their defense played well early in the first quarter and then it was kind of smooth sailing a little a couple hiccups but pretty much good to go from that point on so Kenan what were things you liked what were things you didn't like from West Virginia's first victory of the Season yeah when I first watched this game at least you know the early portion of the game I thought the offense looked I don't know maybe I'm just being hard on them but I I you know I was I don't concerned isn't the right word but I was a little it didn't look as good as I thought and then you look at the numbers at the end and I'm kind of thinking what am I doing here because they played pretty well uh uh they scored on seven to n drive not just scored scor touchdowns um one of their drives they didn't score was off basically a 40-yard run where Jim White fumbled the football and yes he has to do a better job than that but you know they were efficient uh they spread the ball around they ran for 300 yards they average 9.5 yards per play yes it's an FCS team but that's the second highest Mark of Neil Brown's career you that's a good number you'll take that against anybody so I think that I was a little harder on them than maybe I should have been in you know just on First Watch I think that they played really well when you go back and look at the numbers and think about what they did I do think they were able to kind of get themselves out of some bad situations a few times just because you know they had better athletes so I'll be interested to see how that continues but most importantly to me and we discussed this you know heading into this thing you saw them fix the issues that plagued them against Penn State um you know issues with snaps you know issues with just stuff that can't happen happen on a veteran offense you didn't see any of that and I think that that's a that's a good sign uh they did a pretty good job for the most part I think there was one or two hiccups you know that allowed Albany to kind of hang around a little bit but you know you score 21 points uh you know they kind of close it you have two your your only two drives you don't score and then you need to respond you go down you score another touchdown you put the game away early in the second half so offensively I I think it's pretty good job uh they did what they needed to do uh they got in they got out they won the game you know everybody on offense healthy so all that was accomplished I I think in a perfect world and Neil Brown mentioned this in his postgame you would have liked to play Nico Maru a little bit more uh they couldn't really get him in there because the way the game was it was a fast game which as a media member I'm not GNA complain about that ever but as a football coach I think that absolutely you would have liked to get him in more get get in some more of the backups now they did accomplish that on defense a little bit towards the end which I think is a good thing obviously you need guys to get experience there but defensively a weird game in a sense you know we came into this game Albany was known for running the football you know that was supposed to be their bread and butter West Virginia completely shut them down running the ball um it really was kind of surprising to me how how effective they were and really for the most part outside of two runs against Penn State they did a good job against them you know they had I think it was one long run in this game I think maybe two runs overall over over 10 15 yards so they did a pretty good job there held them to 1.9 yards per carry but what everybody is going to be talking about from this game and truthfully rightfully so is the secondary it was not good uh again and I think that you know some of that was Neil said they played more man in this one really to kind of test guys but he felt that they were better aligned you know they better aligned they responded to kind of what they were doing defens or offensively but they didn't make plays on the ball and that was evident you know they were just taking shots they throwing it down the field and connected on on quite a few of them and I think that that's that's a problem you know West Virginia is gonna have to fix that because this was an Albany team that yes they're a talented FCS team but you're basically from this point forward going to play a better wide receiver room every single game and you're going to play a better quarterback probably every single game although I was impressed with their quarterback he did show some arm talent in this game made made a couple nice throws and number seven's a player uh I do agree with that he he made some nice catches uh McGee he's a good player he started at Oregon for a reason but again you're playing an FCS team he gave up 300 yards passing against an FCS team I don't care who you are that's disappointing if you're West Virginia you know the play of the safeties I think is was our concern coming into the season that is still a concern I don't think that's been addressed the corners you know they won some they lost some but you know that's G to happen but overall you know the defense they had two really bad drives um now they did allow them to move the football some but they didn't allow any more points after that you know 14 points and they made a nice stand in the Red Zone I thought it was telling that you know Albany was trusting their ability to throw the football in fade just taking shots down the field they trusted that more than running in short yardage situations which that's not something I would have expected coming into the game but that's what happened and I think that's a testament to you know some of those issues that West Virginia needs to sh up because you know pit can throw the football they did today uh against Cincinnati so you're going to need to kind of get things tightened up and really improve there pretty quickly and you know I think that shadon brown has had some success here and you know that's his responsibility and I think think that Neil said it you know that they can practice it all week but you got to be able to make those plays down the field and you got to be able to kind of get get back to the football get your head turned around and make some plays I know it's taught so uh it's something that I do expect to get better but that's a concern and it's going to continue to be a concern until it's not yeah on the on the top of a defense just just looking at the numbers here as far as big plays go and they're categorized of either a pass play of 15 or more yards or a run play of 10 or more yards you said West Virginia stopped the ball stopped the Run well and they sure did like Albany had two big plays on the ground but then on the flip side through through the air they had eight so like something's gota something's got to change right because this is two weeks in a row where I think this time last week we were like okay where's the Improvement going to come and you saw a lot of that across the board especially on the offensive side of the ball right we both wanted to see this offense get in their groove get going they had seven different touchdown scores like that's really good as an offense as a whole and we also wanted to see them go in the red zone and complete drives in the Red Zone they did that too so as an offense I think we are can be satisfied with what we saw from them but as you said the defense is still kind of you're just still searching to figure what's going to work out and if if IID ask you this right now how do you think they can fix it what would your answer be or do you just honestly not know yeah you I mean you're gonna have to make it comes a secondary I mean you just got to make plays uh sometimes these guys weren't they just weren't getting their head back to the football you know they weren't they weren't making plays you got to find the ball sometimes and they had a couple pass interferences and plays where guys are being a little aggressive but weren't looking for the football you know that that that'll happen sometimes and sometimes sometimes guys make plays you know they made some nice throws some nice catches but you know that that over the long haul that shouldn't happen against an FCS team over and over over I mean I understand that they're a good FCS team but it's a concern and it's going to continue to be a concern I think that another concern now is Eddie Eddie Vester Edan I mean he he's played well for West Virginia for a long time he's kind of that guy that you depend on and Neil he kind of let he left the game with an injury Neil said they had an MRI he's probably goingon to miss a few weeks who steps up there you know I do think that they have some confidence in those younger defensive lineman but you've already kind of struggled to get a pass rush you did get two sacks today but again there was time where you could throw the football or they weren't they weren't able to get him down so I think that's going to continue to be a concern especially those quarterbacks can move and uh kind of extend plays and that they're going to face them the next two weeks definitely and I think it I think it's the next three or four so it's going to be a concern of mine until it's addressed you know how how do they replace him and how does the secondary make some plays and I think that there's no question watching them you know athletically they should be able to do the job you know they're bigger they're longer we've heard that they had a lot of confidence in them and they still probably do uh it's just about about correcting some issues they've got to though I mean you're not going to be able to get away with allowing some of this stuff as the games get closer and things are much more high stakes yeah I I think on the defensive line that's going to be a really big thing to monitor going forward one just because of the reliability which Eddie V brought to that room and just kind of he's that senior that you can just know is there right like he it's it's it's just he's there and everyone can count on him to be productive he's never going to kind of pop all the time but he's he's like consistent and I think that's what you want from a guy like him but yeah as you said there's there's going to be some searching to do on the front end and on the back end of who's who can step up who can consistently make plays because as you said this schedule does not ease up it's only going to get harder you're only going to face better and better quarterbacks you're only going to face quarterbacks that can run and move and do different things and be dynamic with their legs and so that adds another layer into it all as well uh for me though going to the offense Garrick green the completion percentage was there 74% which I think we both were looking for just not even tonight but just this season in general to see Improvement there he also got moving a lot on the ground which I know that was a point of emphasis for this coaching staff in this offense last week he obviously had the big touchdown run and he just felt more comfortable he looked more comfortable he just felt like he kind of belonged last week at times it just never felt like he kind of really got into this snc of the game and into the flow of things and so for me defensively like we both said like they've got to find guys who can do it on the on the on the line and also on the back end but and then offensively for me it was good to see qb1 kind of feel like he was actually qb1 tonight yeah they they need Garrett green to play well he knows that everyone around the program knows that and when he does he does you know I think it it heightens the panic I guess a little bit from the fan base that you laid an egg week one and then Penn State goes out and kind of lays an egg today you know that do I think that you know Bowling Green is as good as Penn State no but that's football and I know you can compare week to week and B and green played much better than West Virginia did again against Penn State but every game's different and I think that clearly Penn State was uh did not bring their aame today at all so I understand there's frustration and this is a big week for West Virginia you know we can sit here and go over the numbers for an FCS school but let's be honest the fan base you know they're that's not going to move the needle they don't care uh yes glad you won move on to the next one this this week coming is going to be absolutely huge for West Virginia um not just the program itself but for the fan base you know they're already getting a little Restless again they want to see West Virginia win what what quote unquote big game and pits two and0 now they rallied today down 27 to6 and and won a game that Cincinnati tried everything they could do to give it and they finally did give it away to them but I think you got a credit pit too for going on the road and winning that game so it's going to be a fun game it's gonna be a fun week you talking about that game will have a lot of coverage uh but it you it's it's one of the best weeks of the year for for West Virginia pit fans it's always fun uh it's always it's a good rivalry it's one of the best ones in college sports in my opinion and it's been there for a long time I'm glad I'm glad it's back on the schedule at least consistently back yes uh it needs to be I'd like it to be played more later in the season the November style but I you know take take what we can get right yeah but yeah no on that note West Virginia pit uh it's it's next and I think from the outside of the Season we both said that this is a must win for West Virginia right we they have to go on the road they have to get this one and so obviously there's a lot of storylines going into it obviously Garrett didn't really get to play last year obviously this West Virginia team won last year's game after we all know what happened two years ago when they went to this venue and played pit to open the 2022 season so we will have a lot that we get into and we will also have a lot more wrapup and Analysis from the Albany game on our website at West virginas sports.com ESPN 2 the game will be on ESPN 2 for all those out there and at 3:30 PM but I think that was announced back in June hey if you're going good luck get in a parking spot I've heard that will be a nightmare but we will get into more and more pit stuff as the week goes on it is late we are trying to get some work done but if you made it this far we do appreciate you listening be sure to keep it locked on our website on our social media channels and for myself Wesley Shoemaker joined by Keeny Cummings this is the West Virginia sports.com podcast