Neal Brown Rants About Officiating in West Virginia’s Loss to Iowa State

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With West Virginia’s 28-16 loss to Iowa State still fresh on his mind, Neal Brown couldn’t hold back his frustration over the officiating.

Even though Brown made sure to recognize that the Cyclones deserved the win, he made sure his feelings about a few key calls were known during his postgame press conference on Saturday night.

“All I know is we were the least penalized team in the country in yards per game, and they had one penalty and we had seven. I’m so confused what defensive pass interference is, what defensive holding is,” said Brown.

There were two key moments Brown brought up that he believes impacted the game. Brown said one of Greene’s interceptions should have been a pass interference. And as expected, Brown does not agree with the defensive holding call that awarded Iowa State a new set of downs at the goal line.

WVU HC Neal Brown rants on the defensive holding and other calls. He says the refs weren’t why they lost but he’s clearly upset about officiating.

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) October 13, 2024

While Brown continuously reiterated Iowa State played better football and WVU squandered the game with fourth quarter turnovers, the difference in penalties supports his argument.

West Virginia was penalized seven times for 47 yards in comparison to only one penalty for 10 yards that went against the Cyclones.

At the end of the day, or night, or morning in all actuality for when dust actually settled on this game, Brown and West Virginia once again failed to capitalize on a big opportunity against a quality opponent. The now 3-3 (2-1, Big 12) Mountaineers head into another night game against another quality conference opponent next week with fans left unenthusiastic once again.