“Neal Brown offers 'good time' to frustrated West Virginia fans”.

West Virginia coach Neal Brown is facing criticism for his recent comments aimed at the Mountaineers' frustrated fan base. He urged them to continue supporting the team because they were having “a good time” at home games.

West Virginia dropped to 3-3 with its nationally televised home loss to No. 9 Iowa State on Saturday night. It was the Mountaineers' eighth straight loss against a ranked opponent, as they squandered an early lead against the undefeated Cyclones and failed to capitalize on the raucous atmosphere at Milan Puskar Stadium.

With another prime-time home game set for Saturday night – this time against No. 17 Kansas State, Brown was asked Monday if he had a message for fans upset with West Virginia's uneven performance this season.

“I understand they want to win,” Brown said. “But what I would say is, did they have a good time? Did you like it? It was a pretty good atmosphere. You know, I’m assuming they probably had a pretty good time being hot on their heels.”

“So if they were into the deal for fun, I would come back. I looked at the weather and it's getting nice again. It’s a night game and we need them to create a home advantage.”

Fans have since reacted angrily to Brown's comments, prompting the reporter who asked the question on Monday to post on social media that he “honestly didn't plan on stirring anything up.” I thought it was a simple question.”

Brown is 34-32 in his five-plus seasons at West Virginia. The Mountaineers were a popular pick in the preseason to win the Big 12 this season after going 9-4 last year – their highest single-season win total since 2016. But West Virginia was defeated in the season opener and also by Penn No. 3 State suffered a 38-34 loss at rival Pittsburgh last month.

Brown said Monday that the Mountaineers have a “tough schedule” ahead of them, noting that the three teams that beat West Virginia all remain undefeated.

“That’s not an excuse; it’s just the truth,” Brown said. “The games in our league will be limited to the fourth quarter and I don’t think that will be any different on a Saturday.”

“So we need (the fans) to help us. I understand your frustration. But if you look at our product, I don't think the product is something they should be – apart from the result.” ..it was an entertaining football game. If you're a football fan and you just watch it, it's just not good enough to win. So I hope they come back for another entertaining game where hopefully we can play better and win in the end.”