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Dana Holgorsen Media Conference: Maryland
September 09, 2014 04:03 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen met with members of the media earlier today to discuss the Mountaineers’ upcoming nonconference game against Maryland.
Opening Statement
Getting started with the Maryland game - It's a game that we're looking forward to. I think our entire team is looking forward to this one. I know our fan base is looking forward to this one, as well. I remember going over to Maryland three years ago, playing at their home field, and having a great crowd. I thought we traveled well, and it was an entertaining game. It's one of the few regional games that we have left - the few regional rivalry games that we have left as you all well know. We're trying to schedule games like this for the future. Currently, this is kind of the only one that we have to hang our hat on right now. I know that's important to everyone. I know the history of this game is important to everybody. It's important to our players. Recruiting is important over in Maryland, so we have a lot of guys on the east coast who we recruit who will pay attention to this game. It's something that we're fired up about and look forward to a good week of preparation going over there and playing on their home field.
What I see with Maryland - I see the exact same team that I saw last year. I don't think there is anything different about them. (Maryland) coach (Randy) Edsall is going into his fourth year and has put his stamp on the program with the way they play. They've got a lot of returning players. The systems on all three sides of the ball - (offensive coordinator) coach (Mike) Locksley is going into his third year with the scheme offensively, (defensive coordinator) coach (Brian) Stewart is going into his third year with the scheme defensively and their special teams are really solid. (Special teams coach) Andre Powell has been with Randy (Edsall) for a long time. They were at UConn together and at Maryland the four years, as well, and it shows with how they play. It will be a huge challenge for us. It was a big challenge for us last year. We did not meet that challenge, as we all know. I would assume that our guys are going to be very motivated to get a good week of preparation in to obviously try to come out on top. I'll take questions from here, but what you saw last year out of them on all three sides of the ball, with the same players, that's exactly what we're going to see this year.
On how different of a team West Virginia is entering this game compared to last year
I think we're in a much better place. I said it two weeks ago going into our first game. I said it after the game, I said it going into our second game, and I said it after the last game. I think we're different. I think we're very different. I think our mentality is different. Although our players are the same, and our scheme is the same, I think our mentality is in a much different place. We're a more experienced team. We're a more confident team. We're playing with a lot more effort and energy, and that's going to hopefully make a big difference in the outcome of Saturday's game.
On if he wants the players to keep last season's game against Maryland in the back of their minds
No. I don't think that is going to be necessary. We'll talk about it briefly. We talked about it briefly on Sunday. But like I said, I don't need them to change anything. What really got us beat last year was the mentality, the effort, the excitement level that we didn't play with and the excitement level that they played with. They did a good job of seizing the momentum. We turned the ball over six times, and they took advantage of that. They had field position the whole day. They made more plays on third down than we did. They won on all three sides. The way we've been playing the last two weeks, I don't need them to change that. Where we're at is in a different place. I would assume that will help in the preparation, and I would assume that will help in the outcome with what the game is going to be on Saturday.
On Maryland's wide receivers
Fortunately, pretty much every team in the Big 12 has receivers who we have to cover. There are some good ones in the Big 12. Not taking anything away from Maryland's, the guys that they have coming back - (Deon) Long, (Stefon) Diggs and (Marcus) Leak - we all know who they are. They're the same guys that they played with last year. They've developed a rapport with the quarterback. C.J.Brown is going into his third year of being the guy. They're going to pose challenges. We better get used to it, because those same challenges are going to exist for the remainder of the year.
On how differently plays are called this year compared to last year
The way I called plays last year, the way we game planned last year - we're not doing the same things. We're a different team, and we're able to do different things. We're able to call plays differently. You can just look at the tape over the last two weeks and see that it's a little bit different than what it's been in the past. It comes down to obviously playing with great effort, being confident as coaches, being confident as players, playing with great effort, coaching with great effort, putting the product out there everybody is proud of. I will game plan differently, and I will call plays differently based on our players. I have a ton of confidence in our guys right now. When you have a ton of confidence in your guys, you're going to do things differently.
On the offensive line this year compared to last year
It's a big difference. If you look at our o-line last year, we had Curtis Feigt as the right tackle, Pat Eger as the right guard, Tyler Orlosky as the center - who got replaced by Pat Eger - Marquis Lucas was at left guard and Quinton Spain was the left tackle. If you look at where we're at right now, it's much, much different than that. There is a time in that game when all five of those offensive line positions are going to be different this year, based on some position changes, based on some guys maturing, based on some guys developing, like Adam Pankey. Up front, we played well the last two games, and that just needs to be the standard with how we play.
On if it benefitted Center Tyler Orlosky to be removed from the starting lineup last year
Yes. If you ask him, he's going to say heck no, because he wanted to stay out there and keep playing because he loves to play the game of football. For whatever reason, we decided - and we didn't whole heartedly bench him. We still played him for a bunch throughout the course of the season. He still took a lot of snaps periodically throughout the season. A redshirt freshman is usually not physically ready to play. It showed up against Oklahoma and Maryland last year with Tyler. He's a different dude now. When you're playing against very experienced nose guards, who are big and powerful seniors, then a redshirt freshman can struggle at times. He did. I'll tell you the other thing, he didn't have as much as help from his guards either. Right now, he's getting some help with two guards who are playing pretty good. The comfort level that those three have with each right now is completely different than at any point last year.
On if the play calling was different from the start of the Alabama game or if it changed during the first game
I don't think we've turned the page. There are still going to be a lot of challenges ahead of us. Are we better? Yes - we should be better. It's all the same guys coming back pretty much with a lot of snaps and improvement. We have a quarterback that understands what we're trying to do. His comfort level is on a different scale, obviously. Clint (Trickett) wanted to play in this game last year. I didn't think he was ready. He's pretty eager to get out there and play.
On Linebacker Wes Tonkery
He's day-to-day. He's not ruled out. He's day-to-day.
On the difficulty of shutting out a team in college football today
It's tough. It's especially tough when you play all of your backups for as many snaps as we played all of our backups. The second team and third-team guys got in there and still played hard. The effort stayed the same regardless of who was out there. It's tough regardless of who the opponent is, and it's especially tough when you play as many people as we did defensively. I'm glad that happened.
On if the Maryland game can set the tone for the rest of the season
I know how important this game is. I know how important it is to the fans. Based on what happened, I can assure it means a lot to the coaches and players. With that said, it's one game. I know we talked about it last year, and I know what the history says, but again, we're not going to change our mentality because of what the history says. After this game, we have nine Big 12 games that are all important. Each and every one of them are important. This game is important, because it's the next game. This one is important, because it is a regional rivalry game. This one is important because of what happened last year. When we sit here a week from today, I'm going to be telling you how important the next one is. I know the media makes a big deal about it. I know the history says a lot about that, but we have to stay on guard from that, because the next one is pretty important.
On if a package will be found to use freshman quarterback William Crest each week
I'd like to. He brings something to the table that's pretty good. He is dynamic, physical, mature and is still learning. There were a lot of things that happened (against Towson) that, unfortunately, he's not going to be able to get away with a lot of that stuff if the game is very close, or if the game is not decided. The good news is that we will practice him a lot. We'll have opportunities to practice him. Right now, he is listed as the number two quarterback, so if Clint's helmet comes off, then William will be running in there. Because he's the second-team quarterback right now. We will still have Paul Millard ready to go. We’ll have Skyler Howard ready to go. We will make those decisions based on what gives us the best opportunity to win.
On the possibility of redshirting quarterback Paul Millard
If we don't play him, then he will get that year back. He's a fourth-year senior. So if we don't play him, he will have another year. Like I said, it all depends on what gives us the best opportunity to win, and he's know that if he gives us the best opportunity to win, he's going in.
On if there will be any changes to the depth chart this week
I don't really think so. We didn't lose anyone to injuries. I don't think anyone that was a starter did anything to warrant being replaced. We're going to continue to evaluate our backups to see how they play. We all know (running back Andrew) Buie played well. He'll get a look for a few more snaps. (Safety) Jarrod Harper is a backup who played well. He'll get opportunities to play as a backup. (Linebacker) Shaq Petteway - he played better in what seems like the first time in three years. He will get more opportunities to get out there and play. The depth chart will stay the same. Who goes in next, I don't know yet. We'll wait and see how practice goes.
On the impact of uniform choice and how the team's uniforms are picked each week
I don't (pick them). The players pick what we wear. Everybody thinks that we're cutting edge because we changed our uniforms last year, but there are more alternative uniforms out there right now that exist, that don't exist here, I can assure you that. I like the ones we've got, and we'll let them pick the combinations. I can't speak for Maryland and all that. I know it affects recruiting. I know it's all about recruiting, and the more uniforms that you can have, the more fired up the recruits get. What they wear is not going to affect us one bit.
On the importance of wearing team colors so the audience doesn't have to check the score to see who's playing
Well, no, to answer your question. TV is going to let you know who's playing. With that said, when you play on the road, you have to wear white. Why do we have white uniforms? Because you have to wear white. We're a road team this week that Maryland put in a petition to be able to wear white, because they unveiled some new, fancy uniforms. We said 'fine, we don't care. That's good for you.' And we're going to wear the darker colors. We'll wear a combination of blue and gold because we have to. The next time we play a road game - guess what? We're going to wear white, because that's what you have to do. I can't change the rule.
Here we go again - the uniform talk.
On if cornerback Daryl Worley will be moved around to cover the best receiver or if he will stick to one side of the field
He moves around some. He primarily lines up on the left side, but that doesn't mean he can't line up on the right side. He's right now playing pretty good - I'm not going to tell you exactly what our plan is with him this week - but we will move him around based on him being one of our better players. Wherever we feel like he gives us the best position to be successful, that's where he will go.
On if there is a concern with the lack of big plays in the first two games
A little bit. We had a little talk offensively about that. We've had 14 or 15 explosive plays per game, but we haven't had explosive plays to the point where we score. An explosive play in our definition is a 12-yard rush, 14-yard screen and 16-yard pass. That's an explosive play. We keep track of that. I would like some of those explosive plays to turn into touchdowns, and right now they're not. Part of what Towson's plan was to keep everything in front of them. And they did a better job of rallying and blocking then we did making guys on the very last level miss and going and scoring. Yes, I'm a little concerned about it, and we're going to work on it and try to get better.
On how much of the lack of big plays is quarterback Clint Trickett getting rid of the ball quickly
Him hanging on to the ball more last week was not possible, because of how deep they were. We'll see what Maryland's plan is going to be defensively. If we have opportunities to go over the top of them, I can assure you that we're going to. With that said, we've got to be able to complete a curl route or a screen pass, and they've got to be able to go score at times. That's what great offenses do.
On Kevin White getting into the end zone
I don't mean to be beating a dead horse on this, but he's caught how many balls - about 20 balls? And he's gotten into the end zone one time. He's had opportunities to get in there before. He's playing great. He's really playing good - night and day compared to what he was last year. Where he is at right now statistically is where he was at about game six or seven last year. He's clearly just a different guy. The next step in his evolution of being great player is getting into the end zone.
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