Making Strides
April 12, 2004 11:18 AM | General
April 12, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It’s apparent to all of those witnessing West Virginia University’s football practice sessions this spring that the defense has gotten the best of the offense in its last two scrimmages.
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| Junior Mike Lorello has successfully made the move from bandit to spur this spring. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
And while junior spur safety Mike Lorello admits its nice keeping the offense out of the end zone he isn’t convinced the defense is that far ahead.
“I wouldn’t be the one to say whether we are or not,” he said diplomatically.
Lorello admits his unit has plenty of things it needs to clean up before spring work concludes following Saturday afternoon’s Gold-Blue game at Mountaineer Field.
“Obviously we’ve still got a lot of work to do but at the same time I think we’ve come a long way,” said Lorello. “A lot of the younger guys are starting to learn the defense and we’ve put in a lot more since the beginning of spring ball.”
Defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel has implemented several new blitz packages designed at getting more pressure on the quarterback. Lorello believes there are enough older players in the defense capable of understanding the additional responsibilities.
“Our defense has kind of progressed as the spring has gone on to where we can put more things in … blitzes and different blitz packages,” he said. “It turns out they’re working pretty good for us and our coaches have done a good job with that.”
Lorello, a regular last year at bandit where he finished second on the team with 13 tackles for losses and fifth in total tackles with 106, has moved to the spur safety position this spring. Whereas last year he was often left unblocked to make plays at bandit, he is now closer to the line of scrimmage where he must contend with tight ends.
“It’s a little different,” he said. “I’m in the nine technique a lot on the tight ends and that is a lot different than last year. Last year I was kind of unblocked a lot of times but this year I’m taking on a lot more blocks but the positions are pretty interchangeable. I can play both (spur and bandit) if the formation determines it.”
Because Lorello is closer to the line of scrimmage he frequently is required to tangle with much larger tight ends. Lorello says that can be a challenge for a guy weighing just 195 pounds. Yet at the same time, he believes he’s up to the task.
“I don’t want to sell myself short on anything that I can do,” he said. “I’ll do my best at it and as long as I play my position and take care of my responsibilities and everyone else takes care of theirs then everything will fall into place. I’m not really worried about the size. Obviously I’m going to get into the weight room and put on some pounds and I think I’m capable of doing that.”
Even though this is just Lorello’s second spring practice (he played as a true freshman) the coaches are counting on him becoming one of the defensive leaders. Last year that role was handled by seniors Grant Wiley, Brian King and Lance Frazier.
“I don’t know if you really can replace them but as far as leadership goes people just kind of steps into the role,” he said. “It’s not this guy is going to be a leader ... it just kind of emerges and everyone follows.
“Pac-Man (Jones) has been a leader for us and he was a leader last year,” Lorello added. “He has been a great leader this spring stepping up and making plays. He’s real vocal out there and obviously we have him back there. Jahmile (Addae) has always been vocal, too. I just try and do my part, too.”
Because Lorello has a spring practice under his belt he knows what to expect. That has enabled him to grow as a player.
“I’ve been through it before,” he said. “You’ve got to come out here and play every day because you’ve only got 15 practices. So you’ve got to get out of it everything that you can.”
After taking the weekend off for Easter, West Virginia is scheduled to resume practice on Monday afternoon.
Spring Notebook: The West Virginia offense has been hamstrung by the fact that there have only been a handful of practices where it has had all of its tailbacks available, “It’s frustrating when you can’t run your whole offense because of the tailback situation,” Rodriguez said … because so many tailbacks have been on the sidelines Rodriguez says that has slowed down some of what they have tried to install this spring, “There are a few experimental schemes that we have just not been able to do because we didn’t want to re-teach it again when all of the tailbacks are back …” the coach admitted Thursday that there have been times this spring that he’s been disappointed with the overall play of his team, “You expect more from veterans and expect better play out of the offense but I don’t want to be too critical without having the full compliment of guys being in there,” he said. “I probably got teased a little bit early in spring practice when our execution was a little better…” Rodriguez has been happy with the progress of redshirt freshman quarterback Dwayne Thompson, who took the majority of the reps with the second and third groups during last Thursday’s scrimmage while Adam Bednarik was held out with a tender shoulder, “Dwayne’s competed well; he’s still pressing a little bit,” said Rodriguez. “He’s a really good ball faker and he sees the field real well. It’s just that sometimes he gets real excited and instead of throwing the ball he’s trying to aim it and he’s coming up short but that’s part of the experience that he needs to get. But I’m really pleased with his progress. Both Dwayne and Adam are going to be really good players for us in the future; they’re just not ready right now …” Rodriguez mentioned Thursday that sophomore defensive end Pat Liebig’s rehabilitation is progressing nicely; Liebig worked his way into the defensive line rotation last year before going down with a season-ending knee injury against Pitt, “He’s able to run around and do a little bit and he should be 100 percent by this summer,” said the coach. “That’s another guy who should give us a little more depth on the d-line than we’ve had in the past.”
