Mozes: Bulldogs Impressive
December 26, 2005 05:07 PM | General
December 26, 2005
ATLANTA – West Virginia University junior center Dan Mozes admits he’s got a healthy respect for Georgia’s nationally ranked defense. The Bulldogs come into the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl giving up an average of just 297.8 yards and 14.6 points per game.
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| West Virginia junior center Dan Mozes says Georgia's speed and strength are impressive.
WVU Sports Communications |
“What they do on defense is spectacular. They’re really good,” said West Virginia’s All-American center. “They’re a top-10 team in the nation. The speed that they have, the size that they have and the way they move with it says a lot about their team. You can tell why they’re SEC champions.”
Mozes says establishing a tempo on offense is one way West Virginia will try and neutralize Georgia’s great speed.
“Just try to pound the ball and go 110 percent all the time and hopefully they may get tired,” he said. “With a great team like that it’s a proven fact that they’ve got better athletes than we do on both sides of the ball. When you are playing a team of that caliber we have to do everything possible to take advantage of the game.”
According to Mozes, facing a team with Georgia’s athletic ability will probably be West Virginia’s biggest offensive challenge.
“You can see the kind of athletes they have on the team and all of the All-Americans that they have. That just says a lot right there to have that many All-Americans on a team,” he said. “That means you’ve had a lot of success as a team and they you’ve had individuals that have had success as well. We’ve faced great teams in past bowl games but from watching film I’ve never seen anything like what we’re about to face.”
Georgia is not only fast but the Bulldogs will also be one of the strongest defenses Mozes says West Virginia fill face this season.
“When you have a guy like (defensive tackle Darrius Swain) he seems like he’s a pretty big load. And then when you see him move the way he moves that’s really impressive,” Mozes said.
In order to move the football against Georgia, Mozes believes it will be a combination of good game-planning and outstanding execution.
“The coaches make the modifications that they have to make. They see the other teams having success against Georgia in certain aspects of the game and they try to mold the way we play to that a little bit. Besides that we rely more on ourselves and the techniques that we have to do: just playing an A-plus game,” Mozes said.
Even though West Virginia has a pair of fast backs in quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton, Mozes says their speed alone won’t get them past the line of scrimmage against the Bulldogs.
“You have to hold that block for the extra second so Stevie or Pat or whoever is back there can get past the line of scrimmage,” Mozes admitted. “Some other teams we face you can get by for blocking for a half-second and they can get four yards down the field. This team if you don’t block for a good two seconds they guy you were blocking is going to make a tackle in the backfield with the speed that they possess.”
Being an unorthodox no-huddle, spread offense doesn’t really offer any advantages either.
“I think with the offense we run it’s a little unorthodox but it’s the same things that a lot of other teams run like the zone plays, the power, the options and stuff like that,” Mozes said.
So what it really boils down to, according to Mozes, is that West Virginia is probably going to have to play a near-flawless game on offense in the Sugar Bowl to score enough points to beat Georgia.
“If you don’t (play a near-flawless game) against a great team like this then you’re going to lose the game,” Mozes said.
West Virginia is looking to snap a three-game bowl losing streak having lost a pair of Gator Bowls to Florida State and Maryland and a Continental Tire Bowl game against Virginia in 2002. Mozes believes the common thread in each of those losses is the fact that West Virginia has gone up against better teams.
“We have played better teams but we got to come in with a hungrier attitude,” he said. “Even when you’re facing a great team you’ve still got to have the expectations to win. I’m not saying we haven’t had that in the past, but coming out with that mentality of we can play with anybody and that’s the type of mentality we have to have going into this game.”
Mozes says the entire team feels a sense of urgency wanting to get Coach Rich Rodriguez his first bowl victory at West Virginia in four tries.
“My roommate Mike Lorello has been here the past four years and every year he’s been here we’ve been to a bowl game and we’ve lost every one of them. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you’re still going to have that hunger (to win one),” Mozes said. “Since Coach Rod has been here he’s never won a bowl game and we want to be that first team to do that.”
Briefly: West Virginia arrived in Atlanta late Monday afternoon in time for a team dinner and meeting. The Mountaineers will begin practicing in Atlanta for the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 27, at Westminster School. Practices are closed to the general public. Be sure to stop back at MSNsportsNET.com and CSTV All-Access for daily Sugar Bowl updates.
