DOGgone Good
December 29, 2005 05:24 PM | General
December 29, 2005
ATLANTA – West Virginia University defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel believes Georgia’s tailback trio of Thomas Brown, Danny Ware and Kregg Lumpkin has to lead the country in 7- and 8-yard runs.
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| West Virginia defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel talks to reporters Thursday morning at the Atlanta Westin.
AP photo |
“It looks to me on film that every time you turn around its second and three,” said Casteel. “Their running game is obviously their strength and their passing game is based off their running game.”
Brown, a 5-foot-8-inch, 183-pound sophomore, leads the Bulldogs with 658 yards and three touchdowns on just 138 carries. Ware and Lumpkin, also sophomores and much bigger weighing more than 210 pounds each, have combined to run for 754 yards and three touchdowns. All three are averaging better than 4.7 yards per carry.
“They all have a similar style in that they all run very physical and they’re very well coached in terms of not turning the ball over,” said Casteel. “They always have great pad level and they’re really tough to get a shot on.”
Making Georgia’s run game so effective is an offensive line that goes 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 and 6-9 across its front.
“They’re very, very big and well coached,” said Casteel. “That is going to be a big challenge for our kids. We’ve obviously seen big people before but their tackles are 6-7, 6-8, 6-9 – our basketball team’s not that big.”
Casteel says West Virginia’s defensive linemen are going to have to use great leverage and exert extra effort to get off blocks.
“We have to be a physical football team Monday night to have a chance,” Casteel said. “Our guys know that and I know Georgia also prides themselves on being physical. Hopefully we can do what we need to do to control their running game and get after their quarterback a little bit. It’s a huge, huge challenge because they have talent throughout their lineup anywhere you look.”
According to Casteel, Georgia have NFL-caliber players at almost every offensive position.
“Whether it’s on the edge with their wide receivers, or if it’s up front, or even their tight ends are bulky,” he said. “We have a huge challenge to play well and keep us in the game.”
Casteel has been pleased with his team’s preparation up to this point.
“I think everything is going smooth,” he said. “Our kids have had a good bowl preparation to this point and it’s carried down to Atlanta. We went full gear the last couple days after giving them a few days off during the holidays.
“It’s almost like an opening game … they’re so tired of battling on each other the last couple of weeks that they’re excited about playing on Monday night.”
Briefly:
“The difference between this year and two years ago in the Gator Bowl (41-7 loss to Maryland) is then we had four healthy defensive linemen and that’s it … nobody else. Now we’re playing really six or seven kids on a consistent basis and those guys are getting anywhere from 20-40 snaps, which is helping us in the long run stay so strong.”
Casteel admits that in previous season his defensive line was wearing down toward the end of the year due to a lack of depth.
“We had the same 3-4 kids on the field at the same time,” he said. “Now that there’s some depth up there, it’s been critical to our success this year. Matching up with Georgia, they’re talented everywhere. I know they’re excited to get an opportunity to test themselves against an outstanding offensive line and outstanding offense such as Georgia.”
“I have to be careful in meetings because Jay (Henry) will correct me,” Casteel said. “The makeup of our football team – the Jay Henrys, the Mike Lorellos, the Jahmile Addaes, the Jeff Noechels, the Ernest Hunters – all of them are in the same mold. They’re smart kids and are very unselfish.”
In Henry, Casteel has a player on the field that he can count on to consistently make the right calls.
“(Jay) is a guy who we feel very, very comfortable with as a coaching staff making decisions for us defensively, and he does a great job adjusting during the game and helping the other kids adjust during the game,” Casteel said. “He brings a lot to the table for us and all the unsung things in the meeting room and on the practice field that you need.”
“Jeff came here as a walk-on and built himself really into a Division I player in the weight room,” Casteel said. “He came in about 190, 195 pounds and now is playing at 235. He’s been very consistent and is going to do what the defense asks him to do.”
Like Noechel, senior defensive tackle Ernest Hunter is another WVU player that has been able to build himself up in the weight room.
“He came in at about 250 or so – but he’s grown to about a 300 or 305-pound nose guard,” said Casteel of Hunter. “He has been a huge, huge key for us. When we lost him in the Rutgers game with an ankle injury our production dropped off a little bit for 2-3 games until we got him back. He’s a very important part of our defense because you have to be really strong in the middle in our scheme and when we lost him, we weren’t quite as effective.”
“We competed against each other for five or six years while he was there and formed a relationship that way,” Casteel said. “He got a chance to go to Tulane and then got the opportunity at West Virginia. I got a chance to come on his staff and was excited to do that.”
