Neal Brown on hot seat at West Virginia ahead of UCF homecoming matchup

• Nickname: Mountaineers

• Location: Morgantown, W.Va.

• Enrollment: 27,367

• Home field: Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (Capacity: 60,000)

• Conference: Big 12

• 2022 record: 5-7, 3-6 Big 12

• All-time series record vs. UCF: 2-0

• Last meeting: Sept. 11, 2004 (West Virginia won 45-20)

Editor's note: This is the eighth installment in a 12-part series highlighting UCF's 2023 football opponents.

UCF envisions a relatively seamless Power Five football transition in the years ahead, and head coach Gus Malzahn has reiterated his belief that the Knights will contend for national championships as the College Football Playoff expands.

After all, that's what TCU accomplished this past year — its 11th as a Big 12 member. The Horned Frogs ran the regular-season gauntlet, overcame an overtime slip-up to Kansas State in the conference's championship game and outgunned Michigan in a memorable Fiesta Bowl to advance to the CFP final.

That marked TCU's fourth campaign of double-digit victories. But college football realignment has not resulted in such kind outcomes for all.

WEEK 7 PREVIEW: Knights get one crack at Oklahoma, Dillon Gabriel in Big 12 play

Take West Virginia, UCF's Oct. 28 homecoming opponent, for example.

The Mountaineers have posted just four winning records in Big 12 play since joining the league alongside TCU back in 2012. And while West Virginia has cracked the AP top-10 three times in that time span, it has yet to finish a season inside the top-15.

Rather, West Virginia fittingly has experienced plenty of Power Five peaks and valleys. And it enters 2023 with minimal expectations, picked to finish dead last of the conference's 14 teams in the preseason media poll — a fact certainly not lost on embattled head coach Neal Brown.

"It really pisses me off," Brown told SiriusXM during last week's Big 12 Media Days. "There is some solace in the fact that the people that vote on the Big 12 media poll have never gotten it right. Never's a harsh word, but it's been a really long time since they got it right."

So, what will West Virginia's fate be this fall? Can the Mountaineers similarly shock the system, and knock back the Knights along the way, or will they indeed serve as the league's doormat? Here is a deep dive on the Mountaineers.

"Now or never" for Neal Brown despite brutal schedule

Brown faces a truly pivotal year to turn the West Virginia program around. In his four years in charge since arriving from Troy, the 43-year-old Louisville native holds a pedestrian 22-25 record with two bowl appearances.

Last year marked a step backward as the Mountaineers went 5-7 with a 3-6 mark in Big 12 play, and joined Iowa State as the conference's only representatives to watch bowl season from home

Brown's contract, extended after his second season, runs through 2026. Wren Baker took over as the university's athletic director last November, and will face a significant decision in the coming months. If Brown is fired before Dec. 31, 2024, he would be due a buyout equal to 100% of his current deal.

CBS Sports senior writer Dennis Dodd believes Brown's situation is simple entering 2023: "win or be fired."

"Brown has to win — now," Dodd wrote last week. "While the Big 12 is getting hipper, cooler, sexier under commissioner Brett Yormark, WVU would merely settle for a winning season. The program is coming off consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1978-79. A third straight would mark the first trend since a four-year bender from 1976-79. WVU is better than this. For some reason, this Mike Leach disciple has only one winning season across four tries. Former AD Shane Lyons lost his job, in part, because he didn't get rid of Brown. New AD Wren Baker has elected to keep Brown — for now. The buyout is a reported $16.7 million."

Easier said than done.

West Virginia opens on the road at Penn State, hosts blood rival Pittsburgh and league dark horse Texas Tech before September ends, battles all four of the Big 12's hungry newcomers — including a renewal of acquaintances with former head coach Dana Holgorsen and Houston — and has away dates against Oklahoma and Baylor in the November stretch run.

West Virginia's opponents combined to go 98-59 last year, good for a winning percentage of 62.4% — the third-toughest schedule in the country based on record.

West Virginia rests hopes on running game

Top Offensive Returners: RB CJ Donaldson, OL Zach Frazier, QB Garrett Greene, OL Ja'Quay Hubbard, OL Wyatt Milum, OL Doug Nester, OL Tomas Rimac

Top Defensive Returners: DB Aubrey Burks, DB Marcis Floyd, LB Lee Kpogba, DL Mike Lockhart, DL Sean Martin, DB Jacolby Spells

West Virginia's chances for success largely depend upon its running game. It was 5-0 in contests last season in which it rushed for at least 200 yards, and 0-7 when it failed to hit that benchmark.

Top rusher Tony Mathis Jr. departed for Houston, but CJ Donaldson offered plenty of promise in his seven-game freshman campaign. The Miami native, a 6-foot-2, 237-pound converted wide receiver, averaged 6.0 yards per attempt and scored a team-high eight touchdowns on the ground before undergoing surgery on his lower leg.

Preseason All-Big 12 first-team selection Zach Frazier has made 25 consecutive starts at center, and the Mountaineers return all five starters from the offensive line unit that finished last season. Tallahassee native Garrett Greene supplanted J.T. Daniels — now at Rice — at quarterback, and he's a dangerous runner (6.3 career YPC, nine TDs).

Competition behind center will continue into fall camp, Brown said, as Greene battles with redshirt freshman Nicco Marchiol for the right to lead the Mountaineers into Happy Valley.

Defensively, the Mountaineers ranked 116th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring, allowing 32.9 points per game. They generated just 10 takeaways, finishing with a minus-8 turnover ratio and a minus-0.67 differential per game that tied for 119th nationally.

Top tackler Lee Kpogba (92 total tackles, 5.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, six QB hurries) is back, as is the starting safety tandem of Aubrey Banks and Marcis Floyd that contributed a further 129 tackles. Sean Martin, who had a two-sack game against Oklahoma, could be poised for a breakout after making 30 appearances in his first three college seasons.

Devin Carter, Ja'Shaun Poke improve receiving corps through portal

Transfer Portal Additions: DB Beanie Bishop (Minnesota), EDGE Tyrin Bradley (Abilene Christian), WR Devin Carter (N.C. State), DB Keyshawn Cobb (Buffalo), DL Tomiwa Durojaiye (Kentucky), DL Davoan Hawkins (Tennessee State), P Michael Hayes (Georgia State), WR EJ Horton (Marshall), WR Noah Massey (Angelo State), DB Montre Miller (Kent State), DB Naim Muhammad (Kent State), DL Fatorma Mulbah (Penn State), WR Ja'Shaun Poke (Kent State), IOL Chase Rodriguez (Louisiana-Monroe), TE Kole Taylor (LSU), DB Anthony Wilson (Georgia Southern)

Transfer Portal Losses: EDGE Taijh Alston (Colorado), DB Mumu Bin-Wahad (Connecticut), DB Aric Burton (Southern Utah), DB Lanell Carr (Indiana), QB Will Crowder (Troy), DB Caleb Coleman (Texas State), QB JT Daniels (Rice), WR Mike Evans, DL Jordan Jefferson (LSU), RB Tony Mathis (Houston), OL Chris Mayo (Eastern Michigan), DB Saint McLeod, TE Mike O'Laughlin (Houston), TE Corbin Page, WR Kaden Prather (Maryland), IOL Dylan Ray (Kentucky), DB Jaylon Shelton (Texas State), WR Reese Smith (Liberty), IOL Jordan White (Liberty), DB Tyrin Woodby (Morgan State), DB Charles Woods (SMU)

West Virginia addressed immediate needs at wide receiver via the NCAA transfer portal. No returner surpassed 150 yards last season nor caught more than a single touchdown pass.

Devin Carter projects as a potential No. 1 option. Across parts of five seasons at North Carolina State, the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder secured 118 receptions for 1,906 yards and 10 TDs. Ja'Shaun Poke started Kent State's final five games and should give some extra juice in the return game, while EJ Horton and D-II grad transfer Noah Massey should compete for reps.

Montre Miller, another Kent State defector, will be an impact addition at cornerback. He started all 25 games the previous two seasons for the Golden Flashes, recording 99 tackles, six interceptions and 17 pass breakups.

Jordan Jefferson's loss is most impactful, considering he played 42 games at nose tackle and made 17 starts over four years. Kaden Prather snagged 52 passes for 501 yards and three scores last season, but he returned to his home state of Maryland.

The aforementioned Daniels, a former five-star QB recruit, is with his fourth program after heading to Rice. Daniels, formerly of USC and Georgia, averaged 210.7 passing yards per game in his single season as a Mountaineer with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Rodney Gallagher, James Heard pushing for early playing time

Top Incoming Freshman: WR Rodney Gallagher (Uniontown, Pa.), LB James Heard (Camden, N.J.), ATH Jordan Jackson (Fairfield, Ohio), DB Josiah Jackson (Fairfield, Ohio), LB Josiah Trotter (Philadelphia, Pa.), RB Jahiem White (York, Pa.)

West Virginia signed the No. 48 recruiting class in the nation for the 2023 cycle, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Rodney Gallagher, an explosive two-sport athlete from Laurel Highlands in Pennsylvania, is the lone consensus four-star signee from the high school ranks. Given the Mountaineers' relative lack of options at wide receiver, it might not be long before the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Gallagher is given his chance to contribute.

Josiah Trotter, son of former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, suffered a likely season-ending injury during spring camp. James Heard, Brown said, is "the most natural pass rusher that we've recruited" after tallying 18 sacks as a senior at Camden High in New Jersey.

Linebacker Ben Cutter (Denver, N.C.) is expected to fulfill an immediate role on special teams, and running back Jahiem White flashed what he's capable of with a 53-yard touchdown run in the Mountaineers' spring game.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF opponent previews: Neal Brown, West Virginia visit for homecoming