Neal Brown addresses West Virginia fans' frustrations with results

With its 28-16 loss to Iowa State on Saturday, West Virginia‘s record dropped to 3-3 on the season. On Monday, Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown responded to fans who have voiced their frustration.

“I get that they want to win, but what I would say is, did they have a good time? You know what I mean? Like, did they enjoy it?” Brown said. “It was a pretty good atmosphere. I’m assuming they probably had a pretty good time tailgating.

“If they’re in the deal for enjoyment, then I would come back because I looked at the weather. It’s going to be nice again. It’s a night game. And so, and we need them to provide a home-field advantage. We need them.”

West Virginia’s performance against Iowa State was lackluster. Mountaineers quarterback Garrett Greene particularly struggled, only completing 18-of-his-32 passes and throwing two interceptions.

Of course, Greene’s performance was far from the only reason WVU lost. The Mountaineers’ defense allowed the Cyclones to rack up 394 total yards and failed to force a turnover. Moreover, West Virginia committed seven penalties compared to Iowa State’s one.

The loss ended a two-game win streak for the Mountaineers. Their two other losses this season came against Penn State and Pittsburgh, both of which are undefeated. While Brown understands fans’ anger, he implored them to stick with the team.

“I get they’re frustrated that we didn’t win,” Brown said. “We’ve played a tough schedule. Everybody that’s beat us hasn’t lost. All right. That’s no excuse. That’s just the truth. And the games in our league are going to come down to the fourth quarter. And I don’t think this one on Saturday is going to be any different. So, we need them to help us. 

“Our kids play hard. That was a really physical football game on Saturday. There’s a lot of West Virginia kids out there spilling it out. And so there was clear strain, clear physicality. It was an entertaining football game. If you’re a football fan, you’re just watching that. It’s pretty entertaining. We just didn’t play well enough to win. And so, I hope with that in mind, they would come back for another entertaining game that hopefully we can play better at the end and win.”

West Virginia will need its fans on Saturday as it squares off against No. 17 Kansas State at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on FOX.