Dana Holgorsen Media Conference: Baylor

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen met with members of the media earlier today to discuss Saturday’s Big 12 Conference game against Baylor.

Opening Statement

Getting into the Baylor week for this Saturday, noon, this is the third noon game that we've had. So we should accustomed to being able to play noon games. We've got a big challenge in Baylor as we all know. We've got our third top-five team in seven games that we're fortunate to be able to play. I've mentioned this a bunch just as far as this being what Big 12 football is. We've got more on the horizon. There is no difference in playing three of these top-five teams then turning around and playing the next three opponents that we have being ranked as well. I think there are six top-15 teams or something like that we're fortunate to be able to have on our schedule. It obviously makes West Virginia relevant in college football where we're fortunate to be able to be here. Looking at Baylor, I can't say enough about how much respect I have for where they're at as a program at this point in time. I've known (Baylor head coach) Art (Briles) for a long, long time. He's been successful everywhere he's been. I can't say enough about their administration for what they've done over the last seven years that he's been there. Prior to that, in my eight years at Texas Tech, we went against Baylor, and this is not the same Baylor that I went against there from 2000-2008. This deal is different. They've done a great job with their facilities. They’ve done a great job - everything on campus that they have is brand new. It has tremendously helped their recruiting. You can tell that the type of athlete that they're putting out there, the type of o-linemen and d-linemen that they're putting out there is clearly different than what I've seen from them in year’s past. They've won 21 out of 23 games. They're currently 6-0. They're playing well on all three sides of the ball.

Everybody wants to talk about Baylor and coach Briles and their offense and their success, and they're scoring at a very high rate. They're scoring quickly. They're putting a ton of points on the board. Their offense is No. 1 in the country. The biggest thing that I see with their team is what they're doing defensively. That to me is the difference in what Baylor is now and what they've been the past couple of years since he's been there. Phil Bennett is a great defensive coordinator. He's been in this game for a long time. I've gone against him a good bit. What I see right now with what he's got going at Baylor right now is what I saw in the early 2000s when he was at Kansas State, and Kansas State was making national championship runs. It's the same defense. They're aggressive. They're tough. They're physical. They're going to play man coverage. They're going to zero blitz you a bunch. They're going to put as much pressure on you as they can possibly put on you. That's what I see with Baylor right now. Their d-line is as good of a d-line as we've seen. Their secondary is all new, but you can tell that they're great athletes. They run well. They've got big-play potential. And their linebackers are extremely active. They do a great job of adding on and getting to the quarterback, stopping the run. They don't do a ton of coverage stuff. They don't have to.

Offensively, it starts with their quarterback - (Bryce) Petty is a great player. It seems like he's been there for six years, seven years, which I think he has. He understands their system. He's got great experience. He's big. He's fast. He's strong. He's smart. He runs their offense the way it needs to be run. He's got a good, physical line. I think they've got three returning starters from last year, but those guys are big, and they're physical. They're nasty. They do a great job in the run. They do a great job in protecting as well. Probably as deep of a receiving corps as I've seen in college football. They were able to develop some of their younger kids like the KD Cannon kid and the (Davion) Hall kid who are true freshmen. They're able to develop those guys early in the year, because they had so many injuries at receiver. They had three or four of their guys out. It didn't slow them down one bit. They've got plenty of backs. Shock Linwood is a quality back. You take him out and put a couple of the other guys in there, and it doesn't miss a beat as well. They're moving the ball. They're scoring. They're doing it quickly. It will be a challenge for us defensively.

Special teams are solid - more solid than I feel like they've been in the past. Again, good return guys. They have overall great team speed. It goes back to recruiting. It goes back to player development. It goes back to doing the same thing for seven years. They've got great coverage units. And then, obviously, their kicker had his best game of his career last week. He was 4-for-4 and had a game-winner against TCU. What we did last week at Texas Tech, they did against TCU. They were 21 points down and found a way to be able to come back, believing that they can win. Obviously, at the end, they found a way to win. It will be a big challenge. We're glad to be at home. We need a home field advantage. Hopefully the student section will be packed. Hopefully, the game is a sellout, everybody comes, and they come early, and they're loud and gives us a little bit of a bump which we're desperately going to need. With that, I'll take some questions.

On what characteristics a team needs to be able to come back and win games

Just believing that you can win is the main thing. You've got to have kids who are experienced who believe that they can win. You better have a tight team that sticks together when they're down. They clearly have a tight team with all of the games that they've been able to win. I can't say enough about our coaches and players. We had a great halftime (against Texas Tech). We were down, I think it was 21-10, and had a great halftime. We made a lot of adjustments, motivated, challenged each other. We went out in the second half and kept coaching. We just kept coaching. The players kept allowing themselves to be coached. They kept going out there - kept playing. Nobody gave up. Everybody stepped together and found a way to win there at the end.

On if it's strange to be using the words "run-first" and if those words have been used before

No, probably never said those before. It's just kind of what we've evolved into which has been under my direction. Baylor has been a run-first team forever. That's always the way that they've been. We've kind of transitioned a little bit more into that than obviously we have been in the past. When you have a physical o-line, our inside three are playing well. Obviously (Mark) Glowinski and (Quinton) Spain are fifth-year seniors - big, powerful guys who can move people. And (Tyler) Orlosky - his development. Having recruited some pretty good running backs, getting guys in position to be able to do some good things when they get the ball in their hands. Clint (Trickett) is a knowledgeable guy who understands the run game. We're just spending a little bit more time with it. It's helping put us in position to be successful for sure.

On if Shaquille Riddick has come along quicker than anticipated

I'm not prepared to say that he's got things figured out by any stretch of the imagination. He's got one sack in six games. He came here to sack the quarterback, and we've put in into a role to where he needs to play more because of our lack of depth on the defensive line. We'll continue to coach him up. He'll continue to get better with more snaps. He's going to get better. To say he's got things figured out is a stretch. He needs to get to the quarterback more, and he knows that. He needs to work hard on his technique and the motor that he needs to play with in order to get to the quarterback more often, which is going to help us win games.

On if there is a defense designed for Baylor

No, because nobody has stopped them. Nobody has stopped them. The way they play is unconventional, to say the least - the way it is on both sides of the ball. They've transitioned what they're doing defensively to match what they're doing offensively, which is take the air out of the defense and pressure and pressure and pressure - junk up the box and put a lot of people in there to the point to where you better score quickly. People have a hard time sustaining drives on them, because they put so many people up on the line of scrimmage. They've changed defensively to help attack what they attack offensively, which is to get the ball a bunch and play fast and to put the ball on the perimeter a bunch, run the ball a bunch and go over the top a bunch.

On what is a good defense to play against Baylor

You have to have the mentality, defensively -- and we're developing this mentality defensively. It didn't exist when I came here, because of the style of ball that was played in the Big East. I was happy with our defense (against Texas Tech), because they got stops when it counted. We gave up 565 yards, and nobody is happy about that. But we got stops at certain points in the game that were very important. We were 67 percent on third down - that's a winning percentage. We got three three-and-outs in the third and fourth quarter. We held them to field goals twice in the red zone in the second half. The second half with how we played defensively was a winning performance. With that said, we gave up a couple big plays and a lot of yards. You can't gauge defensive football on yards per play or on total yards. It's about getting stops in key situations. Our job against Baylor - they're going to get yards. They're going to make plays. They're going to score points. But getting stops when it counts is how you've got to gauge being successful against them.

On what two running backs rushing for 100 yards in the same game brings to the offense

You have to keep guys fresh. Guys have to go in there and be fresh. Tech's plan was to take away Kevin (White) and Mario (Alford). They put safeties over the top of them. I've been in that situation before in the past where they put safeties over the top of receivers to where you have a favorable box to be able to run the ball, and you can't. Now you're in trouble. We finally started getting some explosive plays in the run game, especially in the second half. In the first half, I probably got a little bit frustrated, because we weren't getting explosive plays in the run game, but we were averaging five, six yards a carry - which is successful. I have to be a little bit more patient with that. When you get that kind of coverage and take away the deep guys and you can't run the ball, you're in trouble. We're in a situation now where we're able to do that.

On Wendell Smallwood

I just haven't been happy with his big-play ability, and he knows this. He had his best week of practice last week, and he had his best game as a Mountaineer last week. He needs to build on that, and he needs to continue to improve. He's a guy who has a burst, so when he gets four or five-yard in on that safety, he's a guy who can make that guy miss and burst. Obviously, he's versatile to the point where we can play him at receiver and catch seem routes and screens and all that. He's getting better, and he needs to continue to improve.

On the status of Dontrill Hyman and Christian Brown

We'll find out today

On what was said to Josh Lambert after the game

I hope everybody understands that's just my subtle way of being fairly comical, which doesn't happen very often. He knows good and dang well that I appreciate what he does. I said the same thing to him before the kick, which was absolutely nothing. I don't coach him, and coach (Joe) DeForest is as good as anybody in the country at getting our specialists to be able to have the confidence to be able to go out there and make it. That's his job, and he does a great job with that. Once the game was over, I put my arm around him just like I did with probably 69 other players and congratulated them on a hard-fought victory. I'm thankful that he put everybody in a good mood.

On how to keep the defense mentally focused when it’s giving up a lot of yardage

I point to last week in the end of the first quarter, second quarter. We gave up three straight touchdowns and gave up plays and guys came to the sidelines and in years past, they would have been done. They would have been done. Maturity is big. We've got a lot of kids on defense who have played a lot of ball and understand, going into the third year in the Big 12, what these offenses are like. Coach (Tony) Gibson has done a great job of emphasizing key stops, three-and-outs. Believe it or not, we've been emphasizing turnovers, but that has rarely happened. We've done a good job of emphasizing this to where our guys understand what we're trying to accomplish on defense. We're not going to suffocate teams like Baylor or Texas Tech or Oklahoma State or TCU, the list goes on and on. We're just not going to suffocate them - nobody is. What you can do is you can keep playing defense, maintain a positive attitude and get excited about key stops and being able to have key stops translate into winning games.

On the defense setting the tone early in the game

Our second quarters haven't been as good (as the first quarters). We've emphasized starting fast. I think offensively we've done a good job for the most part of starting the game with successful drives and scoring points. Then, the defense goes out there with a little bit of confidence and has done a good job of stopping them initially. A start is a start. How you finish is more important. But getting off to the right track and starting quick is something that we do emphasize.

On if the Texas Tech game was what they've been expecting from Jordan Thompson

Yeah. The consistency on it - the consistency on it. He's made those plays in practice, and we've all seen it in the spring games and all that. For him to make some of those catches, especially in the fourth quarter on those last couple of drives, was rewarding to say the least. I was happy that he was able to be put in that situation and take advantage of it as well. Again, I'll mention this - when teams are taking away the outside guys, Daikiel (Shorts) had a couple of big catches, and Jordan had some catches. Those inside receivers become pretty important as well.

On what's different defensively to be able to handle spread offenses

Being built has something to do with recruiting as well. What I meant by that was where we're at as a defense. Scheme is scheme. You can come up with a bunch of different schemes and can stop a variety of offenses. We're equipped more so as in depth, more so as in experience, more so as in athleticism. To be able to have guys like Karl Joseph and KJ Dillon and Dravon Henry covering up inside receivers. Those are pretty good athletes who are corner-type bodies to be able to cover inside receivers much like Daikiel and Jordan are. Then have guys like (Daryl) Worley and Icky (Banks) - Icky played another good game. Daryl was a little rusty, but will get better. (Terrell) Chestnut is playing well. Having those guys as corners, well you can't just have two corners then slugs on the inside. What I meant by that is being able to be equipped to spread offenses, because you can cover better on the inside with those safety-type bodies.

On what the games against Alabama and Oklahoma do for the team heading into the next stretch of the schedule

Just by knowing we've played two of the best teams in the country. Who's next on the schedule, with all due respect to Baylor - they're good. They're really good - but we've been in this situation before. Not only have we been in this situation before this year, we have in years past as well. It's just we're at a point in the Big 12 now where it doesn't faze us. That same situation at Texas Tech existed two years ago, as we all know. We didn't handle that situation very well.

On if the next step is winning those games against ranked teams

There is no question. It's the third top-five team. Let's try winning one of these at some point. There is no question that's the goal, and that's what we're practicing for. That's what we're trying to get our guys to understand is, yes, we've competed and we've played, and we've been in these games. Let's practice a little harder. Let's play a little better. Let's be a little bit more motivated to where when we have a chance to win a game like this in the fourth quarter, we need to win it. I think we're getting better at that, and we're getting closer to being able to achieve that.

On what was different for Kevin White last year

I just think Kevin is improving. I think he's improving. He may think that the player that we see today was the player that he always was, but the production won't support that. The production will not support that. He continuously is getting better. I still think his best football is ahead of him. This year, I think it's ahead of him, and years to come I think it's ahead of him.

On Michael Molinari being named the Special Teams Player of the Week

He held the ball. Josh (Lambert) wouldn't have made it if the ball wasn't held appropriately. I tell you what, and I'm obviously kidding, he's a senior. He's our best student-athlete. He's got a great attitude. He's a heck of a team leader and a heck of a football player. Those kickoffs were awesome. You get swirling winds in Lubbock. And to be able to maintain focus on the kick shows a mentally tough person. We were a little bit worried about their kickoff returns. They had good skill back there. For him to be able to boom those things in the end zone, I thought was awesome. Obviously just what he does for our overall team is incredibly important. There is an element to Josh's comfort level with him that needs to exist in order for Josh to be able to do his job.

On if Baylor's pass rush is similar to Oklahoma's pass rush

At times, because they're going to zero blitz you. Oklahoma didn't zero blitz you. They just had two guys that charged up field. Baylor's is different. They're one of the leaders in the country in sacks. It's not just coming from the 6-9 guy. Their inside guys rush. It's the most complete rush that we've seen. Not only do you have two ends that rush, you have to thick, inside guys that rush. Then they bring backers and stuff in the middle, through the B gaps. They're going to do everything they can to be able to get to the quarterback.

On if Holgorsen has seen a player like 6-9 Shawn Oakman

We've got one on our scout team that's 6-9, not quite the player. It's impressive. I tell you what's impressive - he's tall but he's extremely physical. How fast and twitchy can you be as a 6-9 guy? It's tough with pads on. But he is a physical dude. He is a physical dude.

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