I thought his comments about Thanksgiving were really cool. It seems as though Lincoln and Co. will be joining him for dinner tomorrow.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (November 20, 2018) – West Virginia University football coach Dana Holgorsen addressed members of the media on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
Well, this is the best week of the year for a lot of reasons. This is my favorite holiday, like every coach is going to say in his press conference. It’s the best week of the year – Thanksgiving, food, family, football, it doesn’t get any better than this. It’s always been a fun week, and then you add the element of this game and it’s going to be an awesome week. We’ve already started it out on a good note, and we’re already fully prepared to play this game. So, we’re in a good spot.
I have all my buddies in Oklahoma coming up to visit for the game on Friday. I’ll probably have Lincoln (Riley) and his wife, Caitlin, and (Bill) Bedenbaugh and Ruffin (McNeill) and Dennis (Simmons) and all those guys that I’m very familiar with and was with at Texas Tech for years and years and years, I’ll probably have them over for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, and we’ll hang out, watch some NFL games together and talk about the good old days. So, it’ll be a fun week, it should be a fun week for everybody. I know they’re excited about it as well.
We do our best as coaches not to look ahead. Obviously when this schedule came out over a year ago, our hopes were for this game to mean something. This is the first time in our Big 12 tenure that this game means something. I know we’ve only had the championship game for two years, but we knew we were going to have to go through OU to be able to get there. So, here it is; we have to go through OU to be able to get to the championship game, and that’s right where we wanted to be. This game is going to be exciting, and we’re looking forward to what’s as good of a matchup as you could possibly get. It’s Friday night, Thanksgiving weekend, primetime, 8 o’clock, ESPN, a couple of pretty good football teams linking up and the winner goes to the championship game. So, explain to me how that gets better. We’re really fired up about it, and to add to it, it’s on our field, in front of our fans, Senior Night, which the 17 of them, you guys know how, especially 12 or 15 of these guys, my thoughts on those guys as far as what they’ve done for me and the program. It doesn’t get any better than this. Oklahoma is used to being in this game, so not only are they a really, really, really good, talent, well-coached football team, they’ve been in this game as well. It should be fun. Here we go.
Offensively, obviously Lincoln has been there for, I guess, five years now and the head coach twice. He’s been calling the same offense there for five years and this is the best one they’ve had. I didn’t think there was any chance that I would say that after last year. Last year, they were as good as what I’ve seen in college football, and as well-rounded as any team I’ve gone against. With a Heisman Trophy quarterback, NFL guys across the board at running back and (offensive) line, receiver, tight end, fullback, I think they averaged around 8 yards per play last year. Then, they come back with a new quarterback and have to replace a couple of linemen, an NFL tight end, a fullback and what not, and they’re better. Now, they’re at 8.8 yards per play. The quarterback is hard to tackle, I don’t know if you guys know that or not. He’s really, really, really quick, he’s fast, I hear he’s a good baseball player. If he’s better at baseball than he is at football, then it’s unreal. He’s really a good player, and we’ve known about him for a long time. Obviously, (assistant coach – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Coach (Jake) Spavital recruited him at (Texas) A&M, and I always followed that and watched him play at A&M. I was really upset when he transferred to Oklahoma because now he had to play against him. So, he’s really a good player and fun to watch, hard to tackle. You have to contain him; you’re not going to stop him, you’re not going to get hits on him, you just have to contain him.
So, it starts there, but the thing about Oklahoma, and Bedenbaugh is doing a good job with those guys, they have five-star (offensive) linemen, and they play like it. They play hard, they’re physical, they’re nasty, they’re big. They do a good job up front just with the schemes that they do in the run game and in the pass game as well. You lose the (Rodney) Anderson kid, who, I thought, was awesome last year and really a good player. Obviously, he’s an NFL guy, he’s already declared. You lose him, and they put another five-star running back in there, the (Trey) Sermon kid, that I think is a really good player. He went down, I don’t know if he’s playing or not, I haven’t heard anything. But if he is, he is. If he’s not, then they’ll just plug another guy in. In comes (Kennedy) Brooks, who is a redshirt freshman, who just goes in there and rushes for 175 yards against Kansas. So, if it isn’t him, then they’ll going to put the next guy in – I don’t know if (T.J.) Pledger is healthy and ready to go. If he is, then he’ll be a guy that can rush for 200 yards.
Then, there’s wideouts. No. 2 and No. 5, (CeeDee) Lamb and (Marquise) Brown are special. They’re fast, they’re coached well, they’re talented, they can get behind you, they can catch it underneath, they can make a bunch of guys miss and go the distance. The third receiver is (Grant) Calcaterra, No. 80, 6-4, 220. They list him as a tight end but he’s not a tight end, he’s a receiver. He plays slot receiver 100 percent of the time. He’s a big-bodied guy, big target, very talented. He can run, he gets out into the open field and he can go. Then, they have some tight ends and stuff that they do put in there that give them different looks and make them extremely multiple on offense. I can keep going on this offense if you want me to, they’re as good as I’ve seen, and we have our work cut out for us. They run the ball, they throw the ball, they screen you, they scramble, when things break down, the quarterback makes them right, have guys that can score any time they snap it. It’s going to be one of those games. We have to try to stop them at some point.
Defensively, I’m familiar with what they’re doing. Coach (Mike) Stoops had been there for a long time and has over the course of his career at Oklahoma, obviously, working for his brother, Bob, was a staple for what they were doing defensively. He had been there a long time and had a lot of great defenses, and he’s a great defensive mind. I don’t know what happened, things run its course or whatever it is, but I was a part of Ruffin taking over a defense at Texas Tech back in 2003, or maybe 2004 or 2005. I’ve known Ruffin since 2000; we were together for a long time at Tech for eight, nine years. We recruited together; he’s one of my best friends ever. I saw him take over that defense that was struggling that year at Tech, and I know how the guys responded to him. They got better and better and better. So, that’s what I’m anticipating is going to happen with their defense; they have really good players.
Schematically, it’s pretty similar to what they’ve been doing – Mike was pretty multiple. It’ll be a four-down team but would kick to three-down and play a lot of odd on third down and have a lot of different things with coverages and players. Their schemes are transitioning a little bit from what I notice. It’s going to be interesting to see what their plan is, but in the four games that Ruffin has been there, he took over and got a bye week, so how much defense are you going to put in in one bye week? You’re just not going to be able to schematically change a whole lot of stuff. Over the course of the four games that he’s been in charge, they’ve been doing more and more things and reducing some things, but also trying some different things as well. I’m not quite sure what the plan is going to be when it comes to these guys coming in, but I do know one thing: they will play hard. They’ll continue to get them lined up, and they’ll continue to get them ready to make plays. Now, they’ve had some injuries, but that’s the one thing you can’t count on too much, from my point of view, on how many of these guys are going to be back and how many are not going to be back. We have to prepare for only what we’ve seen and who we’ve seen do it.
They have a good front, No. 55, the (Kenneth) Mann guy, is one of their captains. He’s long, and you have to understand where he’s at. Their linebackers, to me, is where all of the experience is. The MIKE, (Kenneth) Murray kid, No. 9, he’s a good-looking dude, he’s 6-2, 230. His range, I think he had 100 tackles against a specific team earlier in the year. They have really good experience with those linebackers. Their corners are guys that can run, and safety-wise, they’ve been rotating guys just based on injuries and stuff. So, they are playing a lot of bodies, and we’ll have to recognize what their plan is early and be able to adjust from there.
Special teams, they’re as good of an outfit as we’ve seen all year, not only with the specialists – they have one of them, the (Austin) Seibert kid, is as good as I’ve seen. He’s about 90 percent touchbacks, he’s their punter, gets the thing off quick and is a good hand when it comes to getting the ball off and getting the thing downfield, and then he’s the all-time leading scorer, I guess. He’s kicked more extra points and has made more field goals than anybody in like the history of college football. Their return game is really good. No. 2, Lamb, as far as a punt returner, is averaging 15 yards per return. He takes chances and has gotten out two or three times. It’s a huge week for us when it comes to coverage. And then kickoff returns, they have five back there. One of the corners has real speed; he’s like a 10.2, 10.3 guy, out of Union (High School) there in Tulsa, and he’s averaging 25, 26 yards per return. So, there are real issues when it comes to their returns. We have to be really good. We have to cover hard, we have to get them on the ground and hope to break stride special teams-wise.
They’re obviously a complete team. They are 10-1 for however many years in a row, but, bottom line, we’ll be ready. It should be a fun night here in Morgantown.
On the team’s ability to bounce back after a loss
We’ll be fine. I don’t want to talk about last week or disappointment or any of that crap. We’re 8-2, and we’re a good football team. That was Big 12 football last week. We have to learn from it. The one thing I’ll say as far as learning from it, you have to keep playing no matter what. I don’t care if you’re up 21, or down 21, or whatever it is, keep playing. That’s a good message in this game moving forward. I think Oklahoma State probably did a little bit better of a job of just keep playing. No matter what happens, good or bad, just keep playing. That’s a message that we’ve preached around here for a long time. I thought that message was probably heard on their sidelines better than ours.
On the head-to-head quarterback matchup of redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier and Kyler Murray
Well, that head-to-head quarterback matchup last week was pretty good, too. That guy is a good football player. There was a question on my conference call on Monday about transfer quarterbacks. I understand why quarterbacks transfer at times. Will needed a fresh start, and it has obviously worked out for Will, right? We’re happy as all get out to have him here, and he’s played well, and it’s worked out great. Murray goes to Oklahoma for whatever reasons he felt like he needed to leave and get a fresh start, and he waited his turn, and it’s really working out well for him, too. Maybe he went there for the baseball program, too, I don’t know. I guess that worked out as well. He’s just a great player, and it has worked out. Then, you have this (Taylor) Cornelius kid that just sits there and waits his turn for four years. Quarterbacks typically transfer if they’re not the guy. But he just sat there and waited his turn for four years and is making the absolute most out of his one opportunity. He was a little shaky earlier in the year and got a bad rap – we all heard what Coach (Mike) Gundy said. He was right, because that guy played lights out. He has the last two weeks. What he did against Oklahoma two weeks ago and what he did against us, he’s a heck of a football player. But as far as this matchup, yeah, it doesn’t get a whole lot better. Two really good players, similar past, and it should be fun. It doesn’t get any better than that. Both have had a lot of success and are obviously two of the best quarterbacks in the country. We get to watch them play here one last time on Friday night.
On the criticism of Big 12 defenses and how it compared to the Chiefs-Rams Monday Night Football game
I don’t care if they criticize Big 12 defense or not. It’s reality, it’s what it is. I’ll tell you one thing that’s really interesting, and we talked about it a little bit ago, there are three teams that are alive in the Big 12 – West Virginia, Texas and Oklahoma. You can really add Oklahoma State into this conversation as well. Look at the scores of those four teams; they’re all 40’s. We beat Texas, 42-41, Texas beat Oklahoma, 48-45, Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, 48-47. It’s what it is. It’s the style of play that exists. It’s really good offensive football, it’s really good offensive football coaches. It’s the style of play, it’s fun to watch, and I don’t want to take anything away from (associate head coach – defensive coordinator/linebackers) (Tony) Gibby (Gibson) or our defense at all because there are a lot of other opponents that we played in the Big 12 as well, and we were sitting there at No. 1 in the Big 12 in scoring defense at like 19.5 per game. But we saw what happened last week, and we know what we have to expect this week. That’s just the style of play with really, really good football players. That’s going to be points, and that’s what we saw last night is the style of play that those two teams are doing is Big 12 football. What I saw defensively, I saw defenses that didn’t just sit there and pout and get their dauber down, they made plays and the defenses score, too. How many defensive touchdowns or in that game? Three? So, the defenses understand what it is and that’s the style of ball that’s going to be played, and it’s happening in the NFL. It was fun to watch. I think you’re going to see more of it, I really do. I think teams are going to continue to go in that direction in the NFL as well.
On WVU receivers battling against physical defensive backs
They have to do a better job of using their hands and technique. I thought we were very average at that last week against, what I thought, was the best cornerback tandem, maybe, in the country. They were good. I don’t know what you guys think of Oklahoma State’s corners, but they’re 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds and long and have real speed, good players. We faced two kids that were not quite as big but are every bit as fast. We have to use better technique, I think our technique was spotty, and when people are going to get up in our face and play us man coverage like Oklahoma State did, we have to do a better job of technique. I would anticipate Oklahoma is going to watch that and probably put their guys in our face and play man coverage. If we don’t use technique because we think we’re just that much better than people, then we’ll get covered all day like we did last week.
On if past struggles against Oklahoma have weighed on him and what a win would mean this year
Not at all. It would mean a lot. This is a big game, and our guys feel like we’re ready for it. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with these guys in the past, and there’s been fun games, and they’ve whipped us before as well. They’ve been low-scoring games, high-scoring games, and they’ve whipped us. But I feel like this is the best team that we’ve had – they are every bit as good as they always are – but it comes down to this, and I think we’ll be up for the challenge. I think we’ll be ready to go. It would mean a lot, but I will say, it isn’t the end-all-be-all now. I think we’ve improved our program and our recruiting and our talent and our overall body of work, I think it’s continuously getting better. As much as I love our seniors and will miss them, once this season is over, we’ll reload and keep moving forward. And all of these experiences, I think, will be good for the younger guys as far as just learning on how it’s supposed to be and what the expectations are and how we practice and how we play. The recruiting aspect of it is continuously getting better, so this isn’t a do-or-die situation for me or this program. I will refute that until I can’t refute it anymore. But it would be big, we know it would be big. Our goal has been the Big 12 Championship Game, everybody’s goal is the Big 12 Championship Game. We get an opportunity to play for it on Friday night. That’s all I can ask for.
On Oklahoma’s depth at running back is due to talent or scheme
It’s everything that you just said. They have a passing-game element to them that scares you and makes them play back. They have a quarterback that can get involved in the run game, which makes you account for them. They have five-star running backs that they get the pick of the litter every year, and they have a great (offensive) line. That means they are going to have 100-yard rushers consistently. It’s as simple as that. Last time we played them here, they had a couple of pretty good one in (Joe) Mixon and (Samaje) Perine, and you’re like, ‘Oh, thank God they’re not coming back.’ Well, how does it really matter? They just keep plugging in the next ones. They’re good players; they recruit well. It’s a special place, we all know that. We know how they recruit and what kind of players they get.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (November 20, 2018) – West Virginia University football coach Dana Holgorsen addressed members of the media on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
Well, this is the best week of the year for a lot of reasons. This is my favorite holiday, like every coach is going to say in his press conference. It’s the best week of the year – Thanksgiving, food, family, football, it doesn’t get any better than this. It’s always been a fun week, and then you add the element of this game and it’s going to be an awesome week. We’ve already started it out on a good note, and we’re already fully prepared to play this game. So, we’re in a good spot.
I have all my buddies in Oklahoma coming up to visit for the game on Friday. I’ll probably have Lincoln (Riley) and his wife, Caitlin, and (Bill) Bedenbaugh and Ruffin (McNeill) and Dennis (Simmons) and all those guys that I’m very familiar with and was with at Texas Tech for years and years and years, I’ll probably have them over for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, and we’ll hang out, watch some NFL games together and talk about the good old days. So, it’ll be a fun week, it should be a fun week for everybody. I know they’re excited about it as well.
We do our best as coaches not to look ahead. Obviously when this schedule came out over a year ago, our hopes were for this game to mean something. This is the first time in our Big 12 tenure that this game means something. I know we’ve only had the championship game for two years, but we knew we were going to have to go through OU to be able to get there. So, here it is; we have to go through OU to be able to get to the championship game, and that’s right where we wanted to be. This game is going to be exciting, and we’re looking forward to what’s as good of a matchup as you could possibly get. It’s Friday night, Thanksgiving weekend, primetime, 8 o’clock, ESPN, a couple of pretty good football teams linking up and the winner goes to the championship game. So, explain to me how that gets better. We’re really fired up about it, and to add to it, it’s on our field, in front of our fans, Senior Night, which the 17 of them, you guys know how, especially 12 or 15 of these guys, my thoughts on those guys as far as what they’ve done for me and the program. It doesn’t get any better than this. Oklahoma is used to being in this game, so not only are they a really, really, really good, talent, well-coached football team, they’ve been in this game as well. It should be fun. Here we go.
Offensively, obviously Lincoln has been there for, I guess, five years now and the head coach twice. He’s been calling the same offense there for five years and this is the best one they’ve had. I didn’t think there was any chance that I would say that after last year. Last year, they were as good as what I’ve seen in college football, and as well-rounded as any team I’ve gone against. With a Heisman Trophy quarterback, NFL guys across the board at running back and (offensive) line, receiver, tight end, fullback, I think they averaged around 8 yards per play last year. Then, they come back with a new quarterback and have to replace a couple of linemen, an NFL tight end, a fullback and what not, and they’re better. Now, they’re at 8.8 yards per play. The quarterback is hard to tackle, I don’t know if you guys know that or not. He’s really, really, really quick, he’s fast, I hear he’s a good baseball player. If he’s better at baseball than he is at football, then it’s unreal. He’s really a good player, and we’ve known about him for a long time. Obviously, (assistant coach – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Coach (Jake) Spavital recruited him at (Texas) A&M, and I always followed that and watched him play at A&M. I was really upset when he transferred to Oklahoma because now he had to play against him. So, he’s really a good player and fun to watch, hard to tackle. You have to contain him; you’re not going to stop him, you’re not going to get hits on him, you just have to contain him.
So, it starts there, but the thing about Oklahoma, and Bedenbaugh is doing a good job with those guys, they have five-star (offensive) linemen, and they play like it. They play hard, they’re physical, they’re nasty, they’re big. They do a good job up front just with the schemes that they do in the run game and in the pass game as well. You lose the (Rodney) Anderson kid, who, I thought, was awesome last year and really a good player. Obviously, he’s an NFL guy, he’s already declared. You lose him, and they put another five-star running back in there, the (Trey) Sermon kid, that I think is a really good player. He went down, I don’t know if he’s playing or not, I haven’t heard anything. But if he is, he is. If he’s not, then they’ll just plug another guy in. In comes (Kennedy) Brooks, who is a redshirt freshman, who just goes in there and rushes for 175 yards against Kansas. So, if it isn’t him, then they’ll going to put the next guy in – I don’t know if (T.J.) Pledger is healthy and ready to go. If he is, then he’ll be a guy that can rush for 200 yards.
Then, there’s wideouts. No. 2 and No. 5, (CeeDee) Lamb and (Marquise) Brown are special. They’re fast, they’re coached well, they’re talented, they can get behind you, they can catch it underneath, they can make a bunch of guys miss and go the distance. The third receiver is (Grant) Calcaterra, No. 80, 6-4, 220. They list him as a tight end but he’s not a tight end, he’s a receiver. He plays slot receiver 100 percent of the time. He’s a big-bodied guy, big target, very talented. He can run, he gets out into the open field and he can go. Then, they have some tight ends and stuff that they do put in there that give them different looks and make them extremely multiple on offense. I can keep going on this offense if you want me to, they’re as good as I’ve seen, and we have our work cut out for us. They run the ball, they throw the ball, they screen you, they scramble, when things break down, the quarterback makes them right, have guys that can score any time they snap it. It’s going to be one of those games. We have to try to stop them at some point.
Defensively, I’m familiar with what they’re doing. Coach (Mike) Stoops had been there for a long time and has over the course of his career at Oklahoma, obviously, working for his brother, Bob, was a staple for what they were doing defensively. He had been there a long time and had a lot of great defenses, and he’s a great defensive mind. I don’t know what happened, things run its course or whatever it is, but I was a part of Ruffin taking over a defense at Texas Tech back in 2003, or maybe 2004 or 2005. I’ve known Ruffin since 2000; we were together for a long time at Tech for eight, nine years. We recruited together; he’s one of my best friends ever. I saw him take over that defense that was struggling that year at Tech, and I know how the guys responded to him. They got better and better and better. So, that’s what I’m anticipating is going to happen with their defense; they have really good players.
Schematically, it’s pretty similar to what they’ve been doing – Mike was pretty multiple. It’ll be a four-down team but would kick to three-down and play a lot of odd on third down and have a lot of different things with coverages and players. Their schemes are transitioning a little bit from what I notice. It’s going to be interesting to see what their plan is, but in the four games that Ruffin has been there, he took over and got a bye week, so how much defense are you going to put in in one bye week? You’re just not going to be able to schematically change a whole lot of stuff. Over the course of the four games that he’s been in charge, they’ve been doing more and more things and reducing some things, but also trying some different things as well. I’m not quite sure what the plan is going to be when it comes to these guys coming in, but I do know one thing: they will play hard. They’ll continue to get them lined up, and they’ll continue to get them ready to make plays. Now, they’ve had some injuries, but that’s the one thing you can’t count on too much, from my point of view, on how many of these guys are going to be back and how many are not going to be back. We have to prepare for only what we’ve seen and who we’ve seen do it.
They have a good front, No. 55, the (Kenneth) Mann guy, is one of their captains. He’s long, and you have to understand where he’s at. Their linebackers, to me, is where all of the experience is. The MIKE, (Kenneth) Murray kid, No. 9, he’s a good-looking dude, he’s 6-2, 230. His range, I think he had 100 tackles against a specific team earlier in the year. They have really good experience with those linebackers. Their corners are guys that can run, and safety-wise, they’ve been rotating guys just based on injuries and stuff. So, they are playing a lot of bodies, and we’ll have to recognize what their plan is early and be able to adjust from there.
Special teams, they’re as good of an outfit as we’ve seen all year, not only with the specialists – they have one of them, the (Austin) Seibert kid, is as good as I’ve seen. He’s about 90 percent touchbacks, he’s their punter, gets the thing off quick and is a good hand when it comes to getting the ball off and getting the thing downfield, and then he’s the all-time leading scorer, I guess. He’s kicked more extra points and has made more field goals than anybody in like the history of college football. Their return game is really good. No. 2, Lamb, as far as a punt returner, is averaging 15 yards per return. He takes chances and has gotten out two or three times. It’s a huge week for us when it comes to coverage. And then kickoff returns, they have five back there. One of the corners has real speed; he’s like a 10.2, 10.3 guy, out of Union (High School) there in Tulsa, and he’s averaging 25, 26 yards per return. So, there are real issues when it comes to their returns. We have to be really good. We have to cover hard, we have to get them on the ground and hope to break stride special teams-wise.
They’re obviously a complete team. They are 10-1 for however many years in a row, but, bottom line, we’ll be ready. It should be a fun night here in Morgantown.
On the team’s ability to bounce back after a loss
We’ll be fine. I don’t want to talk about last week or disappointment or any of that crap. We’re 8-2, and we’re a good football team. That was Big 12 football last week. We have to learn from it. The one thing I’ll say as far as learning from it, you have to keep playing no matter what. I don’t care if you’re up 21, or down 21, or whatever it is, keep playing. That’s a good message in this game moving forward. I think Oklahoma State probably did a little bit better of a job of just keep playing. No matter what happens, good or bad, just keep playing. That’s a message that we’ve preached around here for a long time. I thought that message was probably heard on their sidelines better than ours.
On the head-to-head quarterback matchup of redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier and Kyler Murray
Well, that head-to-head quarterback matchup last week was pretty good, too. That guy is a good football player. There was a question on my conference call on Monday about transfer quarterbacks. I understand why quarterbacks transfer at times. Will needed a fresh start, and it has obviously worked out for Will, right? We’re happy as all get out to have him here, and he’s played well, and it’s worked out great. Murray goes to Oklahoma for whatever reasons he felt like he needed to leave and get a fresh start, and he waited his turn, and it’s really working out well for him, too. Maybe he went there for the baseball program, too, I don’t know. I guess that worked out as well. He’s just a great player, and it has worked out. Then, you have this (Taylor) Cornelius kid that just sits there and waits his turn for four years. Quarterbacks typically transfer if they’re not the guy. But he just sat there and waited his turn for four years and is making the absolute most out of his one opportunity. He was a little shaky earlier in the year and got a bad rap – we all heard what Coach (Mike) Gundy said. He was right, because that guy played lights out. He has the last two weeks. What he did against Oklahoma two weeks ago and what he did against us, he’s a heck of a football player. But as far as this matchup, yeah, it doesn’t get a whole lot better. Two really good players, similar past, and it should be fun. It doesn’t get any better than that. Both have had a lot of success and are obviously two of the best quarterbacks in the country. We get to watch them play here one last time on Friday night.
On the criticism of Big 12 defenses and how it compared to the Chiefs-Rams Monday Night Football game
I don’t care if they criticize Big 12 defense or not. It’s reality, it’s what it is. I’ll tell you one thing that’s really interesting, and we talked about it a little bit ago, there are three teams that are alive in the Big 12 – West Virginia, Texas and Oklahoma. You can really add Oklahoma State into this conversation as well. Look at the scores of those four teams; they’re all 40’s. We beat Texas, 42-41, Texas beat Oklahoma, 48-45, Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, 48-47. It’s what it is. It’s the style of play that exists. It’s really good offensive football, it’s really good offensive football coaches. It’s the style of play, it’s fun to watch, and I don’t want to take anything away from (associate head coach – defensive coordinator/linebackers) (Tony) Gibby (Gibson) or our defense at all because there are a lot of other opponents that we played in the Big 12 as well, and we were sitting there at No. 1 in the Big 12 in scoring defense at like 19.5 per game. But we saw what happened last week, and we know what we have to expect this week. That’s just the style of play with really, really good football players. That’s going to be points, and that’s what we saw last night is the style of play that those two teams are doing is Big 12 football. What I saw defensively, I saw defenses that didn’t just sit there and pout and get their dauber down, they made plays and the defenses score, too. How many defensive touchdowns or in that game? Three? So, the defenses understand what it is and that’s the style of ball that’s going to be played, and it’s happening in the NFL. It was fun to watch. I think you’re going to see more of it, I really do. I think teams are going to continue to go in that direction in the NFL as well.
On WVU receivers battling against physical defensive backs
They have to do a better job of using their hands and technique. I thought we were very average at that last week against, what I thought, was the best cornerback tandem, maybe, in the country. They were good. I don’t know what you guys think of Oklahoma State’s corners, but they’re 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds and long and have real speed, good players. We faced two kids that were not quite as big but are every bit as fast. We have to use better technique, I think our technique was spotty, and when people are going to get up in our face and play us man coverage like Oklahoma State did, we have to do a better job of technique. I would anticipate Oklahoma is going to watch that and probably put their guys in our face and play man coverage. If we don’t use technique because we think we’re just that much better than people, then we’ll get covered all day like we did last week.
On if past struggles against Oklahoma have weighed on him and what a win would mean this year
Not at all. It would mean a lot. This is a big game, and our guys feel like we’re ready for it. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with these guys in the past, and there’s been fun games, and they’ve whipped us before as well. They’ve been low-scoring games, high-scoring games, and they’ve whipped us. But I feel like this is the best team that we’ve had – they are every bit as good as they always are – but it comes down to this, and I think we’ll be up for the challenge. I think we’ll be ready to go. It would mean a lot, but I will say, it isn’t the end-all-be-all now. I think we’ve improved our program and our recruiting and our talent and our overall body of work, I think it’s continuously getting better. As much as I love our seniors and will miss them, once this season is over, we’ll reload and keep moving forward. And all of these experiences, I think, will be good for the younger guys as far as just learning on how it’s supposed to be and what the expectations are and how we practice and how we play. The recruiting aspect of it is continuously getting better, so this isn’t a do-or-die situation for me or this program. I will refute that until I can’t refute it anymore. But it would be big, we know it would be big. Our goal has been the Big 12 Championship Game, everybody’s goal is the Big 12 Championship Game. We get an opportunity to play for it on Friday night. That’s all I can ask for.
On Oklahoma’s depth at running back is due to talent or scheme
It’s everything that you just said. They have a passing-game element to them that scares you and makes them play back. They have a quarterback that can get involved in the run game, which makes you account for them. They have five-star running backs that they get the pick of the litter every year, and they have a great (offensive) line. That means they are going to have 100-yard rushers consistently. It’s as simple as that. Last time we played them here, they had a couple of pretty good one in (Joe) Mixon and (Samaje) Perine, and you’re like, ‘Oh, thank God they’re not coming back.’ Well, how does it really matter? They just keep plugging in the next ones. They’re good players; they recruit well. It’s a special place, we all know that. We know how they recruit and what kind of players they get.
