Neal Brown Talks Iowa State, Looks to Keep Momentum Going

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – West Virginia finally broke the streak. They have breathing room.

“Much-needed win on Saturday,” WVU HC Neal Brown said on Tuesday.

The Mountaineers 29-17 victory over TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, last Saturday broke a three-game losing streak. The last win that WVU had was against Virginia Tech, back on Sept. 18.

WVU also snapped a two-year drought without a road win.

Now, they feel like they have something to go off of for the remainder of the season.

Head coach Neal Brown met with the media to discuss hosting No. 22 Iowa State on Saturday. The team is glad to be back playing in Morgantown, after three weeks away from Milan Puskar Stadium.

During the three weeks away from home, Brown hopes that the fans haven’t lost hope, despite the rough last few weeks the team has had. Against the Cyclones, it will be another big weekend in Morgantown for a home football game.

The pressure is on.

“Hopefully our fans will show up in big numbers and have a good Halloween. That’s the plan, we need them [fans],” Brown said. “There’s plenty of reasons to be here, it’s a great college football game, hall of fame inductions. My hope is that they show up and support our guys.”

Brown wants to take full advantage of playing a great team at home, and needs all of the support from the fans that he can get. He needs it because of what lays ahead of his team this week.

Iowa State is coming off of their biggest win of the year, over No. 8 Oklahoma State, winning 24-21. The Cyclones will head to West Virginia on a three-game winning streak.

“I think we’re catching them playing their best football over the year,” Brown said.

ISU will bring experienced veterans on both sides of the ball, especially on offense. The Cyclone’s offense is led by QB Brock Purdy and RB Breece Hall but Brown is focused on something else with their team.

Last season, the Mountaineers traveled to Ames, Iowa, getting dominated 42-6. Brown had many reasons on Tuesday why his team was not ready last December, but he admitted that ISU executed on plays, while WVU did not.

“I could list a bunch of reasons why but the bottom line is they really physically dominated both lines of scrimmages. When it comes down to it, that’s what happened,” Brown said.

There was a different energy inside the WVU football program on Tuesday, and a sense of excitement from Brown to try and turn the season around, winning the fanbase back.