Behind Enemy Lines: What Neal Brown Said About Baylor

It’s been a tale of two seasons for Baylor and West Virginia. Both head coaches felt the heat early on, as neither program seemed to be making any progress. 

The Bears collapsed in Colorado, blew a tire against BYU and were boat-raced by Iowa State, while their offense was completely inconsistent. West Virginia got bullied at home by Penn State, choked against arch-rival Pitt and dropped back-to-back conference games against Iowa State and Kansas State. 

Dave Aranda adopted a bunker mentality and kept his staff's media presence at a minimum, while Neal Brown told the fans to enjoy the tailgate atmosphere and not be so angry about the outcome; they responded with attempts to fly banners over the stadium, wanting him fired, ultimately settling on billboards with that sentiment placed around Morgantown.

The irony in both situations is that each coach has found a way to salvage the season and put their teams in a position to become bowl-eligible. Baylor was able to take advantage of its first bye week of the season and put together a very impressive three-game winning streak before heading into its second bye last week.

Baylor has never won a game in Morgantown and has the perfect opportunity to put an end to that this Saturday. The Bears finally found an offensive identity under first-year offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, which has been led by good offensive line play, a strong rushing attack and the emergence of quarterback Sawyer Robertson (RJr.) as one of the best in the Big 12.

Spavital’s offense is familiar to the folks in Morgantown, as he spent two stints as the program’s offensive coordinator under former head coach Dana Holgorsen. On Saturday, he will have an opportunity to unleash that offense on the Mountaineers' defense, which ranks 13th in total defense in the Big 12. 

Brown discussed the difficult challenge his defense will face on Saturday as it tries to slow down the Bears' offense.

"Their quarterback is playing really well. He didn't begin the year as the starter, but he earned that position, and now he's throwing the ball efficiently,” Brown said. “But the biggest difference for them during this winning streak is their ability to run the football. Their offensive line has gelled, and they're balanced – 200-plus in each phase over the last two games."

Another key to Baylor’s success this season is Aranda taking over play-calling duties on defense. The secondary is still a work in progress, but their front seven has improved significantly since last season. Baylor is playing with an edge that has been missing the past couple of seasons, and they finally have guys stepping up and making plays, as nine different Bears have come away with sacks in 2024.

"Dave [Aranda] is calling the defense – one of the best defensive minds in college football,” Brown said. “They are attacking in a bunch of different ways, mixing up their coverages and mixing up their fronts with simulated pressures, so we're going to have our hands full.”

Baylor’s recent success has also been made possible by good special teams play. They finally defeated TCU with a 33-yard walk-off field goal by Isaiah Hankins (RJr.), which earned him Big 12 Specialist of the Week honors. The Bears, led by Josh Cameron (RJr.) and Jamaal Bell (5Sr.), have also been dangerous in the return game. 

"Probably the scariest aspect of Baylor right now is their return units. They hit two kickoff returns against us last year down at Baylor, and both their punt returner and their kickoff returner are really dangerous," Brown said. "They've done a nice job with their return units, and their specialists are good. Their kickers have been really efficient. They've hit a 50-yarder already this year, and that's going to be a challenge. A real key for us is our ability to maintain our high level of special teams play.”

Baylor (5-4, 3-3) and West Virginia (5-4, 4-2) will kick off at 3 p.m. from Milan-Puskar Stadium, and the game will be televised on ESPN2. Be sure to tune into the 365 Sports pregame show from 9-10:30 a.m. on YouTube or locally on KWTX.