Mullen Happy With Communication
August 31, 2008 11:14 AM | General
Offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen’s biggest concern heading into Saturday’s game was that all five offensive coaches were on the same page. He wanted to make sure the plays he was calling were getting to Pat White in time to make on-field adjustments, and that the advice he was getting from the staff didn’t bog down the decision making process.
He thought everything went smoothly on Saturday against Villanova.
“As a staff I was real happy with our communication. Chris Beatty called the first touchdown pass and Doc Holliday called either the second or the third touchdown pass. They bring the ideas up at the right time where I’m not thinking ahead,” Mullen said. “We’ve got five guys on offense including myself and we’ve come together as a staff. They’re an absolute joy to be around.”
Mullen said Villanova’s ability to hold onto the football impacted his early play calls.
“Our first thought on offense was let’s not take any shots,” Mullen said. “We need to get a couple of first downs and let the defense get gassed up again. It was a hot day out there.”
The Mountaineers scored on eight of 11 possessions and had three sustained drives of more than 60 yards. West Virginia’s opening drive of the third quarter was its best of the day: 12 plays for 74 yards, taking 5:41 off the clock.
Of West Virginia’s 56 offensive plays 34 were passes. Mullen said he didn’t come into the game with a preconceived notion of passing the ball more - it just happened to be what the Villanova defense was giving him.
“We didn’t check off to one pass today,” said wide receiver Alric Arnett. “If it was a run we stayed with the run and if it was a pass we stayed with the pass.”
Quarterback Pat White was OK with his passing performance on Saturday but he expects more.
“There is definitely still room to grow. It’s a 12-game season and this is just the first one. I’m going to have to stay in the film room and take his coaching.”
