Neal Brown on the hot seat as Twitter reacts to West Virginia's tough loss to Pitt
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?