KEEPING 'EM HONEST
September 12, 2011 02:28 PM | General
Do you remember the days when West Virginia used to run right into the teeth of eight-man fronts and still gain more than 300 yards per game on the ground?
Well, the Mountaineers are still seeing those eight-man combos, except now it’s because defenses are frequently dropping eight into coverage to try and slow down West Virginia’s passing game.
Dana Holgorsen said earlier today that he doesn’t expect his run game to frequently produce big numbers like it did when Rich Rodriguez was running the zone read with Pat White, Steve Slaton and Owen Schmitt, but he would like to develop it to the point where linebackers are not automatically flying out into the passing lanes when the ball is snapped.
That has happened quite a bit in the Mountaineers’ first two games against Marshall and Norfolk State. In the opener West Virginia’s run game managed just 42 yards and last week against Norfolk State, it showed some improvement with 102 yards, but WVU’s backs were unable to punch it in from the 1 on six tries during one first-half goal line sequence against the Spartans.
Holgorsen says a variety of things have kept his offense from gaining more yards on the ground so far this year.
“We are targeted right, and I thought the effort was good, but you have to finish people,” Holgorsen pointed out. “We are just not good at that. Running backs and receivers, the guys with the ball in their hands, we are asking them to make guys miss and there were several times that they didn’t even make the guy miss who was being blocked.”
For this offense to take advantage of the entire football field and make defenses play honest, Holgorsen said the running game has got to produce more than it has.
“How many yards you rush for is not nearly as important as the defense respecting the fact that you are able to run the ball,” Holgorsen explained. “If they come into the game saying, you know what, they can’t run the ball and we’re going to drop eight all the time, that’s going to be a challenge for us offensively. I don’t care about the numbers, I just want the defense to know that we can do both.”
Freshmen Vernard Roberts and Andrew Buie have gotten the bulk of the carries, Roberts leading the team with 76 yards on 24 totes. Buie, slowed by an upper extremity injury in the Marshall game, shows 37 yards on 19 carries while a third freshman runner, Dustin Garrison, has three carries for 19 yards. WVU’s longest run from scrimmage was a 15-yard scramble by quarterback Geno Smith in the Marshall game.
And where the running game has really struggled is first and second down, WVU’s backs averaging just 1.9 yards per carry in those two obvious run-down situations. The team’s inability to win first and second down by running the ball is putting additional pressure on the passing game to keep the sticks moving against defenses that are anticipating the pass anyway.
Holgorsen is hopeful the run offense can at least keep those Maryland backers a little bit closer to the line of scrimmage this Saturday.
“This next week will tell a lot, obviously, when you go up against a good team on the road they are going to expose some things, and we are going to continue to adjust to those things that get exposed,” said Holgorsen.
Well, the Mountaineers are still seeing those eight-man combos, except now it’s because defenses are frequently dropping eight into coverage to try and slow down West Virginia’s passing game.
Dana Holgorsen said earlier today that he doesn’t expect his run game to frequently produce big numbers like it did when Rich Rodriguez was running the zone read with Pat White, Steve Slaton and Owen Schmitt, but he would like to develop it to the point where linebackers are not automatically flying out into the passing lanes when the ball is snapped.
That has happened quite a bit in the Mountaineers’ first two games against Marshall and Norfolk State. In the opener West Virginia’s run game managed just 42 yards and last week against Norfolk State, it showed some improvement with 102 yards, but WVU’s backs were unable to punch it in from the 1 on six tries during one first-half goal line sequence against the Spartans.
Holgorsen says a variety of things have kept his offense from gaining more yards on the ground so far this year.
“We are targeted right, and I thought the effort was good, but you have to finish people,” Holgorsen pointed out. “We are just not good at that. Running backs and receivers, the guys with the ball in their hands, we are asking them to make guys miss and there were several times that they didn’t even make the guy miss who was being blocked.”
For this offense to take advantage of the entire football field and make defenses play honest, Holgorsen said the running game has got to produce more than it has.
“How many yards you rush for is not nearly as important as the defense respecting the fact that you are able to run the ball,” Holgorsen explained. “If they come into the game saying, you know what, they can’t run the ball and we’re going to drop eight all the time, that’s going to be a challenge for us offensively. I don’t care about the numbers, I just want the defense to know that we can do both.”
Freshmen Vernard Roberts and Andrew Buie have gotten the bulk of the carries, Roberts leading the team with 76 yards on 24 totes. Buie, slowed by an upper extremity injury in the Marshall game, shows 37 yards on 19 carries while a third freshman runner, Dustin Garrison, has three carries for 19 yards. WVU’s longest run from scrimmage was a 15-yard scramble by quarterback Geno Smith in the Marshall game.
And where the running game has really struggled is first and second down, WVU’s backs averaging just 1.9 yards per carry in those two obvious run-down situations. The team’s inability to win first and second down by running the ball is putting additional pressure on the passing game to keep the sticks moving against defenses that are anticipating the pass anyway.
Holgorsen is hopeful the run offense can at least keep those Maryland backers a little bit closer to the line of scrimmage this Saturday.
“This next week will tell a lot, obviously, when you go up against a good team on the road they are going to expose some things, and we are going to continue to adjust to those things that get exposed,” said Holgorsen.
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