Neal Brown calls out officiating after WVU's loss to Iowa State

The West Virginia Mountaineers lost their first Big 12 Conference game of the season when the Iowa State Cyclones took one from them 28-16. It was a game in which head coach Neal Brown clearly grew frustrated with the officiating.

After the game, Brown called out the officiating when he was asked about the team’s defensive effort in the game. In particular, he called out what he saw to be mistakes in how the secondaries were officiated during the game.

CLICK HERE to go to PrizePicks and use code ON3 to receive a guaranteed $50 once you play $5 in lineups!

“I thought, especially in the second half, I thought we fought and competed,” Neal Brown said. “A couple turning points in the game. I thought the non-interception call when we threw the first pick and I thought the defensive holding call, which to me the ball was not even close. It was a give up throw. He threw it away and I don’t know. All I know is we were the least penalized team coming in in the country, yards per game, I believe… and they had one penalty and we had seven.”

For the game, West Virginia was called for seven penalties totaling in 47 yards while Iowa State was only called for one 10-yard penalty. With this game taken into account, for the season, Iowa State is second in the country in penalties, averaging just 3.5 penalties and 27.7 penalty yards per game. West Virginia is fifth, averaging 4.2 penalties and 31.3 yards.

Save $30 on your first month of Fubo by CLICKING HERE NOW!

For a limited time, you can get your first month of Fubo for as low as $49.99. Stream ESPN, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and 200+ top channels of live TV and sports without cable. (Participating plans only. Taxes and fees may apply.)

“Seven, and I’m so confused about what defensive pass interference, what defensive holding because I would encourage you to go watch the game and watch how our 87 was played. He’s 6-7. He’s not hard to find. He’s not hard to find and we worked the middle of the field and for no defensive holding, no PI, is beyond me,” Brown said.

“I don’t understand it and what I feel like is — I’ll be careful what I say because we lost the game. The officials didn’t lose the game by any means. We lost the game. We had opportunities to win but it wasn’t very good.”

In the end, it was a loss for West Virginia. The penalty and turnover differential, with West Virginia turning it over twice, ended up being major factors in the game. Now, the Mountaineers need to bounce back from it and find a way to avoid a second conference loss. With Kansas State making the trip to Morgantown next week, it won’t be easy.