Football Notebook
September 13, 2009 11:51 AM | General
September 13, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Count East Carolina coach Skip Holtz among the believers. Holtz said he was really impressed with the way Jarrett Brown performed on Saturday in helping West Virginia to a 35-20 victory over the Pirates Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium.
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| Skip Holtz had high praise for West Virginia quarterback Jarrett Brown after Saturday's performance.
Dale Sparks/All-Pro Photography photo |
Brown was 24 of 31 for 334 yards and four touchdowns passing while also running 10 times for 73 yards. Brown's 407 yards of total offense tied Mike Sherwood (Pitt 1968) for the third-best single-game performance in school history.
The senior is now averaging 359.5 yards of total offense per game.
"I thought Brown was the difference in this game. He was pretty special today and I told him that after the game," Holtz said. "I made the point to go up and grab him. I told him that I've seen a lot of quarterbacks play but I was impressed with the way he handled himself.
"He's a big quarterback; he's hard to bring down. He made great decisions. He stands tall in the pocket back there. He threw the ball well today," Holtz said.
The coach continued with his praise.
"I thought he threw the deep ball extremely well today and then a couple of times when you think you have him it's like, 'Hey we've got to tackle him.' But that's what he does. He's a big, athletic quarterback and I think he's got the full package," Holtz said. "There was one play when I think we had him for a one-yard loss and all of the sudden he comes plowing out of the pile like Larry Csonka or something."
Impressive Arm
I was sitting next to a couple of pro scouts in the press box during Saturday's game and one of them just shook his head and smiled after twice watching Jarrett Brown unleash perfectly thrown long touchdown passes. Both throws were made off of his back foot.
"That's not the way we'd teach it, but that shows what an impressive arm he has," said the scout.
Brown has already completed passes of 33, 38, 46, 55 and 58 yards in two games this season. In 2008, the Mountaineers had only four pass plays covering 40 yards or longer for the entire season.
Exorcizing a Demon?
Last year's loss at East Carolina stung. Just how much did it sting?
"We have been living with something for 365 days and it has not been pleasant," said Bill Stewart after the game. "I didn't like getting whipped as a kid, and we are just so lucky to have a chance to get back and play 'em.
"But it wasn't about revenge," he quickly added.
A few minutes later, Stewart briefly returned to last year's game.
"Nobody believed in us except for those lads sitting in that locker room after last year's debacle," Stewart said.
300-Yard Passing Games
West Virginia did not have a single 300-yard passing game during an 86-game stretch from 2001-07. After Jarrett Brown's 334-yard passing performance against East Carolina, the Mountaineers have now had two in their last three games.
In last year's Meineke Car Care Bowl, Pat White threw for a career-high 332 yards in West Virginia's 31-30 victory.
"What (Jarrett) has is an awareness of the coverage. Jarrett and Jeff Mullen have really bonded and have a unique relationship," said Stewart. "They know exactly what is going on at the precise time.
"When they brought down cover zero and they blitzed us and went straight across man, we had a plan. When they went quarter, quarter halves, we had a plan. When they went like the pros, that NFL soft two, we had a plan. Jarrett was on top of it and he knows what to do with the ball. He knows where to go and where the breakdowns are," Stewart said.
"If you drop three linebackers into coverage on Jarrett Brown then your front four better get him."
Hang With Me!
Stewart said he remained positive with his players even after two botched punt returns resulted in 10 East Carolina points. "I told them, 'Pound the rock, pound the rock, pound the rock - just hang with me. We've got the plan. Just hang with me and don't get discouraged.'
"I can't ever fault a guy for making a play, we've just got to be a little more sound with our thinking when the ball is back there rolling around on the ground," said Stewart.
Closer to Balance
Stewart said repeatedly last year that his team needed to become a more balanced run-pass offense in order to keep teams from loading up the box to stop the running game. This year that philosophy is finally beginning to take hold. In wins against Liberty and East Carolina, the Mountaineers have had a 71-57 run-to-pass ratio.
Against East Carolina it was 37 runs and 31 passes.
"I thought our offensive coaches did not want to play the game close to the vest and I can only compliment this offensive staff and the play calling for the way we distributed the ball around," said Stewart.
Compare that to former coach Rich Rodriguez's final year at WVU in 2007 when the Mountaineers had a 70.3 percent run ratio (Keep in mind, some of those runs could have been passes that Pat White chose to run the ball). During Rodriguez's seven seasons at West Virginia, the Mountaineers ran the football 69.7 percent of the time (4,222 rushing attempts to 1,838 passing attempts).
In the 15 games offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen has called, WVU is running 62 percent of the time (588 rushing attempts to 362 passing attempts), coming much closer to a 50-50 balance.
A more balanced offense will also help open up running lanes for Noel Devine as defenses are forced to play West Virginia more honestly.
Third-Down Improvement
One of the objectives heading into this season was third down improvement, and that has been the case on both sides of the ball so far in 2009. After two games last year, the Mountaineers were only 9 of 21 on third down while permitting teams to convert 16-of-30 third-down tries. This year, West Virginia is 13 of 25 on third down while holding teams to 9 of 30, a 30-percent success rate.
No Sacks
Brown has attempted 57 passes this year and not once has he been sacked. The offensive line has done a solid job pass protecting their quarterback … and their quarterback has done a fantastic job of avoiding pressure when the protection breaks down.
"I think we've found our five (up front)," Stewart said. "I was really pleased with the way our tackles played today. (East Carolina) knocked Appalachian State's guys back into the quarterback and our guys … Jarrett Brown kept stepping up and it was neat to see."
Halftime Adjustments
A second half shutout of East Carolina on Saturday is on par with what Jeff Casteel's defense has done in its last 15 games dating back to 2008. During that span of games, 181 of the 261 points West Virginia's defense has allowed has come in the first half.
"We blitzed them, we dropped off, we twisted them - it was just a tremendous game plan against a great quarterback (Patrick Pinkney)," said Stewart.
This year, opponents have scored 30 first-half points and only 10 points in the second half.
Getting Out of Its Own Way
How often is it that a team wins by 15 points despite committing four critical turnovers and being penalized 11 times for 104 yards? Two of West Virginia's four turnovers directly led to East Carolina points and the other two - a fumble by Brown when the ball slipped out of his hand and a red-zone interception - kept West Virginia from scoring more points.
"He just saw the hole late," Stewart said of Brown's interception down the middle. "I said, 'Touchdown!' But we're beating ourselves. We overcame a 10-point deficit and then we gave them 13 points on punt returns. We looked like school boys out there."
Stewart thought some of West Virginia's early difficulties were a result of his players wanting to perform so well against an East Carolina team that had embarrassed them last year.
"We were so psyched up," Stewart said. "We had one guy who wasn't out on the field goal team because he forgot. Actually he didn't forget, his helmet was busted but I don't have mental telepathy. We've got to get that corrected … and it got corrected."
Nice Flip Flop
West Virginia chose to move center-turned-guard Eric Jobe back to center with guard-turned-center Joey Madsen returning to right guard for the East Carolina game.
"We wanted Joey Madsen to come off on the three-technique when the guy is moving," said Stewart. "We wanted Josh Jenkins and Joey Madsen to come off the ball. They came out of their stance and they snapped into the guy. They are pretty good at that."
