Mike Gundy provides initial analysis of West Virginia

The last time we saw West Virginia was after the Mountaineers were leaving the field at Houston in defeat in a shocking, walk-off fashion. Even so, Mike Gundy knows that that doesn’t take away from the great season they’ve been having on both sides of the football.

Gundy spoke highly of West Virginia, Oklahoma State’s next opponent this weekend, in his press conference on Monday. He started with WVU’s offense as it’s similar to what they’ve done in years past under Neal Brown but also discussed the underrated rushing ability of QB Garrett Greene.

“Offensively, they’re very similar to what they’ve done, obviously, with him, his packages – close to what it was,” said Gundy.

“The quarterback runs way better than what people think he does. He’s not a burner. Like, you worry about the guy we played last week just taking off and blowing everybody’s doors off. This guy is not that but he’s more effective than you think and he runs better than you think. Then he doesn’t get caught a lot of times,” Gundy said. “He’s really effective.”

West Virginia is averaging 28.5 points per game, their second-highest average in Brown’s tenure. It’s a balanced attack that’s led by Greene who has over 1,100 yards of offense, 11 total touchdowns, and only only one interception.

However, it’s the defense that has made the difference in Morgantown this fall. It’s one of their better units in Brown’s time as they’re a Top-50 unit that’s giving up less than 23 points. Their overall scheme is what Gundy noted when he was speaking about them.

“Then, defensively, they’re in an on-front. They play a walkaround guy,” said Gundy. “He walks around, does a lot of different things. They bring him quite a bit, they like to blitz him.”

“Base coverages, not a lot of man, more of a zone team,” Gundy said.

There’s a reason that West Virginia is currently on pace for their best campaign under Brown in his fifth year with the program. That’s why, with the Mountaineers on deck for the ‘Pokes in Big 12 play, Gundy is covering all the bases with this opponent in order to pick up a third consecutive impressive win.

Gundy evaluates Alan Bowman’s performance vs. Kansas

Oklahoma State QB Alan Bowman looked the best he has all season in leading the Cowboys to a 39-32 win against Kansas on Saturday. Bowman completed 28-of-41 passes (68.3%) for a season-best 336 yards passing and two touchdowns while not throwing an interception.

Mike Gundy addressed his quarterback’s play in his press conference on Monday, saying he was “pretty good” but that he would like for him to set his feet and stay in the pocket more.

“He played pretty good,” Gundy said. “I’d like for him to set his feet more, which I’ve talked to y’all about that a few weeks. The (pass) protection in the past few weeks has been considerably better than it was in the first three games. That should allow him to sit in the pocket more and not float back. Because when he floats back at times, he’s getting himself into a little bit of a jam. But for the most part, he played pretty good.”

Gundy believes Bowman simply has to get used to waiting things out in the pocket and trusting his offensive line.

“Quarterbacks have a tendency to do that when their biological clock tells them there’s gonna be issues all the time. But we need him to sit in there,” Gundy said. “Protection’s been really good the last three games. We need him to sit and keep his weight distributed properly. That’ll help him become a more effective quarterback for our team.”