Neal Brown Offers Good, Bad from Mountaineers in Recent Scrimmage

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Without preseason games at his disposal, the only way for WVU head coach Neal Brown can see his team perform outside of practice is to scrimmage. Even though scrimmages are closed to the media, Brown offered a recap about what happened on Saturday night.

Based on what Brown had to say, it sounds like the defense was really good and was able to force turnovers. That then obviously means the offense had issues and was “not good” at taking care of the football, according to Brown.

Competition wise, Brown, who announced that West Virginia’s quarterback competition has a winner, made sure to note that the scrimmage did not do anything to change his mind and one player has been steadily showing more signs of being ready. “It’s been clear who’s ahead at this point,” said Brown.

WVU HC Neal Brown on QB Battle: ‘I Know Who’s Going to Start’

The other key position battles like WILL linebacker and on special teams with who will be handling kickoffs and serving as the lead returner are still ongoing, although he has an idea of which players will likely get the start to open the season.

“We worked every special teams phase. I think we went 46 snaps with the ones, and went just under that with the twos,” said Brown about what he saw from special teams.

As far as some key players who stood out, Brown mentioned Beanie Bishop, Lance Dixon had big days and Hershey McLaurin had an interception. Defensive leaders Sean Martin and Aubrey Burks did not participate in the scrimmage. Martin has been limited in recent weeks and Burks was just out as a coaches descried to preserve him.

WVU DB Beanie Bishop Plans to End College Career with Big Season

On offense, Brown brought up Kole Taylor looked impressive against the defense and freshman Traylon Ray made a highlight catch. Brown went as far as to say Ray, Rodney Gallagher and running back Jahiem White have earned the chance to play some against Penn State. Much like on defense, some notable starters like CJ Donaldson, Devin Carter and Cortez Braham did not suit up.

Freshman at work.#HailWV | @TraylonRay6 pic.twitter.com/eri5XLHM1c

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) August 20, 2023

Click here for a refresher about Neal Brown’s takeaways from WVU’s scrimmage before this one.

Neal Brown Details Progress of WVU Football After First Scrimmage