Two late-game decisions that Neal Brown must give an answer for following the loss to Pitt

2. Why put Rodney Gallagher on Defense during Pitt’s game-winning drive?

Rodney Gallagher III is a tremendous athlete with plenty of upside. After getting his feet wet last season, Gallagher is looking to play more of a vital role as a wide receiver in this year’s offense.

However, sophomore Gallagher has also spent time this season as a two-way player, playing in the WVU secondary. And he was in the game on defense Saturday during Pitt’s game-winning drive. But outside of a single pass breakup against Albany, Gallagher has looked rather out of place on the defensive. The same was true on Pitt’s final touchdown drive. 

Gallagher playing defense should be rightfully regarded as an experiment at this point. Sure, WVU’s secondary has been bad through 3 games, but that does not mean conducting a defensive experiment during the biggest possession of the game is the right decision.

On that drive, Holstein completed two passes, both of which were to Gallagher’s side of the field. Holstein also had 3 runs that combined for 29 yards on the drive. At the conclusion of one of the plays, Gallagher literally lifted his hands up as if to say “I don’t know what I am supposed to be doing.”

We can applaud Gallagher for even being somewhat serviceable on both sides of the ball, but Neal Brown should not have had him on the field playing defense late in the game.