Offensive Versatility
December 29, 2003 04:56 PM | General
December 29, 2003
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – West Virginia senior linebacker Grant Wiley believes Maryland’s offensive versatility is its biggest asset.
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| Linebacker Grant Wiley believes West Virginia is going to have to find a way to get pressure on quarterback Scott McBrien. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) | |
The Terps come into this year’s Toyota Gator Bowl with the nation’s 34th ranked offense. Maryland has been more of a running team this year, but it can throw the football effectively. Quarterback Scott McBrien’s six interceptions thrown this year is the lowest total by any starting quarterback in the ACC.
According to West Virginia’s latest consensus All-American, if the Mountaineers have any shot of holding down Maryland’s offense they are going to have to find a way to put some pressure on McBrien.
“You’ve got to. That’s the key,” he said. “If he can sit back there and throw the ball he’s going to pick you apart. But if we can get after him he might have some problems.”
McBrien wasn’t awe inspiring in Maryland’s 34-7 victory over West Virginia earlier this year in College Park, throwing for 220 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but he was effective. More importantly, he wasn’t touched.
Wiley is also convinced West Virginia is going to have to try and force the Terps to become more one dimensional, “They can throw the ball and run ball on any given down. It keeps a defense off balance and keeps them guessing,” he said. “If we can limit their run game then they’re going to have to throw the ball so that’s what we’ve got to try and do.”
West Virginia unsuccessfully tried to do that the first time against Maryland. But the Terps possessed the football seven more minutes than West Virginia and ran 24 more offensive plays. Wiley says the Mountaineers were plagued by missed assignments and poor execution.
“We had guys in the wrong places,” said Wiley. “We had guys doing other people’s jobs which exposed what they were supposed to be taking care of and that’s how Maryland is; they’re a good team and if they see something they’ll take advantage of it so we’ve got to cut down on our mistakes.”
Wiley knows that a rematch can be a double-edged sword.
“It helps a lot because everything is real familiar but then again, Coach Friedgen is no dummy and he’s going to come out with a bunch of different wrinkles so we have to be prepared and disciplined,” he said.
The senior has studied the tapes of Maryland’s three losses to Northern Illinois, Florida State and Georgia Tech and he believes the Terps’ downfall was their inability to get their offense going.
“In the Florida State game (FSU) did a great job of stopping the run and they were putting points up on the board real well,” he said. “In our game we’ve got to come out on all cylinders – offense, defense and special teams – and take advantage of what we can.”
Wiley doesn’t believe West Virginia has to implement new defensive looks in order to stop Maryland’s offense, just do what they do much better.
“We’ve got to stick to what we do best and that’s play hard and execute what we’ve been coached all year,” he said. “Hopefully we can carry our seven-game winning streak and what we did well in those games over to the first.
“The fewer mistakes we make the fewer big plays come out of it,” Wiley added.
Briefly ...
“The fans are here for a different agenda: they’re here to enjoy themselves -- which they should -- and they don’t have to work. Our players have to remember that the main thing is to come down here to work and try and win a ballgame. We’ve got to maintain our focus.
“The few hours before the game I’m not worried about,” he added. “They have a few hours this afternoon and they’ll have a couple hours tomorrow. They need to really relax and get off their feet; be nice and courteous to fans but don’t get caught up in all the hoopla.”
“He’s tried it and the trainers were cautiously optimistic that he might be able to come along to the point where he might be able to do something but it doesn’t look like it to me,” Rodriguez said. “He hasn’t taken any reps so I can’t see how he is going to play.”
“They did a good job of boxing him in and keeping him inside the tackles,” he said. “He hasn’t had as many rushing opportunities this year as last year. That being said, if we can force them to play a little bit more inside with their ends with our inside running game that will help. But that is going to be a big if.”
The coach says Thompson being a lefthander like McBrien is an added benefit. “It’s a little different coming off a lefthander and putting your eyes on his throwing motion,” he said.
