Football Notebook
September 22, 2014 01:51 PM | General
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| Kevin White's projected 2014 numbers include 126 catches for 1,896 yards and nine touchdowns over a 12-game regular season. | |
| All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Now a third of the of the way through the regular season, West Virginia will take this weekend off before resuming Big 12 action against Kansas on Saturday, October 4, at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Big 12 Conference announced earlier today the homecoming contest will kick off at 4 p.m. and will be televised on Fox Sports Net.
In the meantime, West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen and his coaching staff will use the idle week to self-scout and get their team healthy before facing a Jayhawk squad that is action this weekend against Texas.
West Virginia is now 2-2 following its 45-33 loss to fourth-ranked Oklahoma last Saturday night at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Mountaineers were tied with the Sooners 24-24 at halftime before Oklahoma came out in the second half and took control of the game behind a big and physical offensive line that opened up holes from the stadium all the way over to Westover.
“Oklahoma’s offensive line, and I’m talking about all five of them and a couple of reserve guys as well, really came off the ball,” said Holgorsen. “They were coming up on linebackers and knocking our linebackers five yards past where they were.”
Oklahoma’s superior blocking enabled 245-pound freshman running back Samaje Perine to rush for a career-high 242 yards and score four touchdowns.
“He sustained what he brings to the table for four quarters, which was really impressive to me because he hasn’t been asked to do that and he’s a freshman,” said Holgorsen of Perine.
Holgorsen was also impressed with the Sooners as a team, just as he was impressed with season-opening opponent Alabama. Those two teams are No. 1 and No. 2 in the week’s ESPN Power Rankings.
“Two best defenses in the country, there is no question about that,” Holgorsen said. “They are probably a little bit different offensively. Alabama, believe it or not, is doing a great job of throwing the ball. They’ve got one of the best receivers in the country (Amari Cooper). And they’ve got a couple of other guys who are not a whole lot different than (Cooper) for them.
“Oklahoma’s run game right now is something that is really impressive the way their O-line is coming off the ball and just mashing people,” Holgorsen continued. “That was something that we anticipated against Oklahoma and it was as good as advertised.”
Holgorsen noted that Alabama’s change in offensive philosophy with new coordinator Lane Kiffin has made the Crimson Tide a little bit more dynamic with their passing game than what college football fans have come to expect from Nick Saban-coached teams.
“Alabama kind of attacks you a little bit differently right now just because of their skill sets, but that’s not to say they can’t run the ball because they can do that as well,” he said. “They are two very similar teams that are as good as I’ve seen. It would not surprise me to see those two teams keep winning.”
It would also not be surprising to see West Virginia start winning, too, especially after the way the Mountaineers performed against arguably the two toughest teams on their schedule.
The outcome of the Alabama game was still in doubt going into the fourth quarter and Oklahoma needed a couple of long, sustained drives in the second half to put away West Virginia last Saturday.
The Mountaineers had nearly 400 yards of offense against the Crimson Tide in the season opener and produced 513 yards of offense against the Sooners last Saturday night.
“In both games our guys were disappointed that we were not able to finish the game,” said Holgorsen. “We were in a good spot in both of those games at halftime. We came out and competed but were unable to sustain that for four quarters. You’ve got to give Alabama and Oklahoma credit for being able to have the depth and physical (play) to continue to play at that kind of level for four quarters.
“I don’t know, maybe we’re the third-best team in the country?” Holgorsen concluded.
Briefly:
* It looks like West Virginia’s passing game is back to where it was in 2011 and 2012 when quarterback Geno Smith was at the controls throwing the football to Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin.
Although the skill sets are somewhat different, this year’s pass-game combination of quarterback Clint Trickett and wide receivers Kevin White and Mario Alford are putting up similar numbers.
Through four games, the Mountaineers are now fifth in the country in passing yardage averaging 401.8 yards per game and eighth in total offense averaging 552 yards per game.
White and Alford became the first receiver tandem since Bailey and Austin to have consecutive dual 100-yard receiving games against Maryland and Oklahoma, and White has now managed to produce at least 100 yards receiving in all four games so far this season.
White caught nine passes for 143 yards and a touchdown against Alabama in the season opener, had a 13-catch, 216-yard performance at Maryland and had 10 catches for 173 yards and a touchdown last Saturday against the Sooners.
For the year, the senior shows 42 catches for 633 yards and three touchdowns, which already exceeds his pass-catching totals for all of 2013. If you project White’s receiving totals over a 12-game regular season it amounts to 126 receptions for 1,896 yards and nine touchdowns – All-America-type numbers, for sure.
Alford’s projected total over a 12-game season is not bad, either: 91 catches for 920 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Hopefully those two guys can remain healthy and continue to maintain the level of production that they’ve had during the first third of the season.
If they can, it’s safe to say West Virginia’s win total will swell because of it.
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