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Neal Brown on the hot seat as Twitter reacts to West Virginia’s tough loss to Pitt
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Neal Brown can’t be feeling too comfortable with his job security following West Virginia’s 38-31 loss at Pitt in the Backyard Brawl on Thursday night.
Yes, the Panthers are the No. 17 team in the country and were playing at home in front of a city-record attendance, but the Mountaineers had plenty of opportunities to steal a huge rivalry win and start the year 1-0.
Instead, a questionable punt drew the ire of West Virginia fans (and fans, in general) on Twitter. The situation? West Virginia faced a 4th and 1 at the Pitt 48-yard line with 6:17 remaining in the fourth quarter, leading 31-24.
Brown ordered a punt following a deliberate delay of game penalty. The Panthers scored to tie the game on the ensuing drive and eventually took a 38-31 lead.
As you can see below, no one liked the decision to punt from Brown:
Leave Neal Brown in Pittsburgh. https://t.co/r80MGL3Zoz
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 2, 2022
Neal Brown playing not to lose costs us again… you never punt on 4th and less than 1 in that spot in a game like this.
— Gold And Blue Zone (@GoldAndBlueZone) September 2, 2022
@NealBrown_WVU. Why?! Why do you not go for it on 4th and inches? I mean your RB is only averaging 20 yards a carry. He could trip and fall forward for a yard.
— Matt Sisson (@MattSisson13) September 2, 2022
Neal Brown is a clown. Dude single-handedly lost that game and then has the audacity to bitch and moan at the refs after the game is over
— Justin (@wx_just) September 2, 2022
Neal brown. Great recruiter. Bad game manager…
— JaredMcDaniel (@J_RED_mCdANiel) September 2, 2022
neal brown's coward punt when cj donaldson was average roughly 80 yards per touch was certainly something
— The Smoking Musket (@smokingmusket) September 2, 2022
Neal Brown punting was one of the worst coaching decisions I’ve ever seen.
— Rob O'Neill (@BobbyJR888) September 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/ChuckJames919/status/1565539192880467968
Neal Brown’s plus territory punt cost West Virginia the game, but I love the pettiness of calling an extra timeout while your opponent is kneeling the game out.
— Ethan Kassel (@KasselMedia) September 2, 2022
Fire Neal Brown.
— Trae Schuller (@TraeSchuller) September 2, 2022
Hands down worst #WVU loss in my 9 years as a fan. CJ Donaldson only getting 7 touches was criminal @NealBrown_WVU
— jordan (@jmac_611) September 2, 2022
Can Brown turn things around in Morgantown? Or will his seat get hotter as the year goes on?
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
