Lake's Take
August 15, 2003 09:47 AM | General
August 15, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University sophomore linebacker Alex Lake has never harbored any false illusions about his role on this year’s team.
He knows it’s his job to back up senior Adam Lehnortt at middle linebacker. Even now after he’s gotten some reps with the first group because Lehnortt has been slowed by a tender hamstring, Lake knows it’s just a temporary thing.
“Adam’s a great player and he’ll be out there,” said Lake. “He’s a proven player and I just have to accept my role and play as hard as I can when I get the chance.”
Lake is still battling redshirt freshman Jay Henry for the backup position behind Lehnortt and he knows he’s got to continue to impress the coaches to secure a spot near the top of the depth chart.
“I’m trying to work hard and trying to get in everything that I can,” he said.
“He’s coming along,” added Mountaineer coach Rich Rodriguez. “Lehnortt’s been banged up a little with a slight hamstring so Alex has gotten a whole lot of reps, which he’s needed. He’s had a pretty solid camp.”
Last season, Lake spent most of his time on special teams. The Morgantown resident played in all 13 games as a redshirt freshman, making 17 total tackles. Lake was also credited with a pass deflection.
This year, he is excited about the prospect of also adding some regular defensive duty to his playing resume.
“It’s a different world and it’s a little bit more exciting for me this year,” said Lake, who also expects to play on the punt, kickoff and kickoff return teams this season.
Locally, Lake is probably one of the more recognized and followed players on the Mountaineer roster. He was the top player on Morgantown High’s state championship team in 2000. The linebacker recorded 129 tackles, 11 sacks and forced two fumbles his senior season to earn first team all-state honors.
Lake also rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored 15 touchdowns as a running back. Those accomplishments made him one of the state’s top football prospects in 2000, and he accepted West Virginia University’s scholarship offer as soon as he received it.
“I take a lot of pride being from Morgantown,” he said. “I’ve been here since first grade and I love it here. I’ve watched the Mountaineers since I was a kid.”
Because Lake is a local boy who has done well, he realizes that people around town are watching him closely. And while he’s appreciative, he doesn’t let the extra attention go to his head.
“It’s good that people play attention and worry about you but you just can’t let it hold you down,” he said. “You’ve just got to keep going.”
Lake believes the best way for him to get going in the right direction is by continuing to develop his overall game. He says the two biggest things he needs to improve upon are his speed and his general knowledge of the defense.
“I need to watch more film, understand our defense and understand everything that’s going on … why one guy is doing this and why the other guy is not doing it,” said Lake.
The business and economics major says that being in Coach Jeff Casteel’s defense for a second year has been a big help.
“I think for the most part, the guys who have been here have a pretty good understanding of what’s going on,” he said. “I think the freshmen have had a little bit more of an overload than us older guys. We changed a little bit of the terminology and we’ve put some more things into our blitz packages but it hasn’t been that tough.”
According to Lake, getting pressure on the quarterback has been one of the biggest areas of emphasis this fall.
“It hurt us last year against Wisconsin,” Lake said. “We just couldn’t get to the quarterback and our coaches have done a real good job of putting emphasis on it and we’ve done extra work trying to get better at that.
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| Sophomore Alex Lake is moving his way up the defensive depth chart. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
“This year the quarterback is really going to have to understand what he’s doing,” Lake added. “We just have to keep disguising our coverages – that’s one of our big things.”
With classes starting Monday, Lake believes its coming close to the time for the defense to start settling in on a regular rotation and developing some cohesiveness.
“I think slowly we’re starting to get that way now,” he said. “By the beginning of next week everyone should be clicking the way we should be.”
Lake says playing middle linebacker in this defense has been a lot of fun.
“I love it. You kind of control all of the calls and help a lot,” he said. “You kind of have a little more freedom than most of the guys.”
There may be a little more freedom, but Lake also understands that it is his responsibility to play off the defensive linemen in front of him.
“You have to know what’s going on in front of you the whole time,” he said. “(Defensive linemen) have responsibilities that we have to know. If they have to move, we’ve got to know where they’re moving so we’re not behind them taking up one gap with two guys.”
And when that happens?
“You’ll know about it,” Lake laughed. “Everyone will see the running back going down field for a touchdown.”
Briefly ...
