The Wide World of Dirt

I really didn’t want to write this piece.*

*Editor’s note: I didn’t make him write this, to be clear.

In fact, I debated if I was going to write a triumphant victory piece and victory gloating on Twitter (will never call it X) do all of the talking. This was halfway through the fourth quarter.

I found myself on cloud nine after Garrett Greene threw a pretty nice ball to wide receiver Justin Robinson who made a stellar catch with the defender all over him to propel WVU to a 34-24 lead with just over five minutes left to play.

I thought that was going to be the play of the game. 

I had already thought about calling this “The Robinson Catch Game” or something similar; I looked forward to reminiscing about this years and years down the line. 

I imagined conversations with my hypothetical kids where they’d say, “Dad, do you remember the Robinson catch when WVU beat Pitt?” “Yeah, I do son. It was a heavenly experience.”

While I was daydreaming under the belief that the game was put on ice, I awoke to what was a horrendous nightmare.

Somehow, someway, the defense that held Pitt to FOUR YARDS in the second half surrendered a 5 play 75-yard-TD drive to cut the lead to 34-31.

The WVU offense proceeded to go three and out and took a mere 28 seconds off the clock. The defense then promptly gave up a 6-play, 77-yard drive to allow Pitt to take a 38-34 lead to end the game. Absolute nightmare fuel.

After yelling, cursing, slamming my hands down, and feeling light-headed, I sat in my room shrouded in total darkness.

After a while, I watched Couz’s Corner on YouTube for a game debrief, so I could share my sorrow with other dejected Mountaineers.

My close family friend and the man who got me into the WVU fandom FaceTimed me to do an hour-long therapy session.

He later apologized for getting me into this fandom. While I accepted his apology, seriously, why couldn’t he have been an Alabama or Georgia fan, so I could have decided to go to school there?

After everything washed over me, I came to the sound conclusion: The Climb is OVER. We have fallen off The Mountain, and there’s no way to save us.

I wrote how losing to Pitt can doom the season; with the way WVU lost, I would be surprised if they end the year bowl-eligible.

It is the same story every season under the man in charge.

The team is underprepared, out of position, and earn too many penalties. Neal Brown has still not figured out he is a coach of a Power 4 school. He still hasn’t figured out that he should coach to WIN instead of coaching to NOT LOSE. 

Brown owns a 32-31 record over six seasons. Take out wins against FCS and Group of 5 opponents, his records drops down to 25-31. That is inexcusable.

The Mountaineers should be 3-0 against Pitt since the 2022 revival; instead, they are 1-2. It’s indefensible at this point. 

It is time to end this unceremonious era.

Who replaces him? I don’t know. I really don’t care. All I know is that it’s time to move forward with a new voice, a new culture, and hopefully, newfound life in the football department.

You can erase these six years rather quickly in the world of the transfer portal and NIL opportunities.

I want a fun, competitive team that every couple years gets a good team together and makes a run at the BIG XII title. 

Is that too much to ask for? For this coaching staff, it appears so.

(Top Photo Credit: Dale Sparks/Times West Virginian)