Quick Hits: Brown analyzes what went wrong against No. 11 Iowa State

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia lost a home game against a ranked opponent for the second time this season Saturday night, falling 28-16 to No. 11 Iowa State at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Here are the biggest notes from WVU head coach Neal Brown’s postgame press conference.

Crucial turning point

WVU looked like it was in a good position to take an early two-score lead Saturday night in the second quarter, but a critical drop from wide receiver Rodney Gallagher III and a missed field goal on the next play stalled the Mountaineers’ momentum.

Iowa State then tied the game on the next drive.

“That was big,” Brown said. “It was 7-0 and we would have had the ball at the 10 or 11-yard
line, and then we go out, and we miss the field goal. We should have never missed that field goal, but we did.”

So close but so far

The missed-field-goal drive was one of two WVU possessions in which the Mountaineers marched deep into Iowa State territory but did not score. In the third quarter, Garrett Greene threw his fifth interception of the season at the Cyclones’ 29-yard line on a potential go-ahead drive.

“We had the ball on the fringe that we weren’t able to convert,” Brown said. “We had the interception when we were down there, and we had the missed field goal that I thought was critical. And then we got it down there again, kind of in the fringe area and had to kick a field goal. So, those hurt us.”

Greene’s interceptions

The junior quarterback threw his second interception of the game on the very next drive. Greene’s two-pick performance marked the third time this season he has thrown two interceptions in a game. Those three games are also the only three this year in which he attempted 30 or more passes.

He threw just four interceptions all of last year.

“The two turnovers hurt us,” Brown said. “I thought one of ’em was 100 percent pass interference. A hundred percent, and the second one was just a bad decision.”

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