Holgorsen-91515.jpg
Football: Dana Holgorsen Media Conference
September 15, 2015 12:37 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses members of the media on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
We are heading into the bye week, and I will fill you all in on what the plan is moving forward. We started game prep for Maryland yesterday. We all know how important the Maryland game is. Every game is important. We know this one is pretty important. Going on my fifth year, I have been fortunate enough to go against them. I know what this game means to our team, our school and our fan base. It’s the same thing for them. Fortunately for us, we get two weeks to deal with it, opposed to where they only get one week to deal with it. It’s the schedule. We are going to be on the flip side of that two weeks from now. Oklahoma has a bye week when we play Maryland. It all evens out in the end.
We started game prep for them yesterday, and we will focus on those guys pretty exclusively here today and tomorrow to get ahead. On Thursday, we will have a big team lift and get after them a good bit in the weight room with conditioning. Then we will give them two days off on Friday and Saturday to be normal. You don’t have too many opportunities to be able to do that when you’re in the weekly grind of game week, so we have an opportunity to be able to do that. This is really our only traditionally bye week, because the next one is sandwiched in with the Thursday game at TCU, so it’s going to be a bit of a different structure when it comes to that week. We will let them get away. Our coaches need to get out on the road and recruit. We will send coaches all over the country. There is 10 of us going out, myself and the other nine coaches will be out and about. We will see as many games as we possibly can on Thursday and Friday, and talk to as many coaches as we can on Thursday and Friday.
We will go back to work on Sunday for a normal day. Then it’s game week after that. Yes, we have watched Maryland, and we started focusing on them a little bit, but with that said, there is no game here this week. We will focus on ourselves and getting healthy. Ideally, I would like four games prior to a bye week, but again there is nothing we can do about the schedule. We should be in a good place when Maryland comes to town a week from this Saturday. That is kind of where we are at. I will open it up for some questions if you have any.
On what he knows at this point in time that he didn’t know two weeks ago
I think you constantly keep figuring things out about your team. It’s not just week one to week two. You are going to find out some things about how these guys develop in week 10 and week 11 as well. I am happy with where we are at.
Defensively, we know we are going to be pretty good. We have to live up to the expectations that we put upon ourselves defensively. That’s what I told the team. I am not disappointed in our defense whatsoever. I am just reminding them that they are the ones that set the bar pretty high. That’s how we need to play. That’s how we need to prepare. That’s how we need to play defensively. We need to play better then we played the week before based on the fact that we as coaches and we as players have set the bar pretty high.
Offensively, we need to keep getting better. I do think that we made improvements this past week. I think we did in both the run game and pass game. We are still doing some things right. We did a much better job of finishing on offense. Our third down percentage was a lot higher. Our red zone was perfect. We did a much better job at finishing, and we continue to do a better job at taking care of the ball.
I am happy with where we are at on special teams. Our coverage units have been good. Our specialists have been outstanding with (senior punter) Nick (O’Toole) and (redshirt sophomore kicker) Josh (Lambert) doing the job that they do. We know that the return aspect needs to continue to evolve and get better, but I think we are all happy with where we are at from that point of view as well. I want to make reference to (redshirt sophomore long snapper) Nick Meadows going in there and being about as nervous as I seen in quite some time in pregame. He got there and had his opportunity to play for the first time with (senior long snapper John) DePalma having some back issues at this point. He played well. Same thing with (redshirt sophomore linebacker) Al (Rasheed) Benton. Those are two perfect examples of what needs to exist if you want to win a lot of games, because as the season goes on you’re going to have guys go down. If you able to let guys go into the game for their first-time starts in their respective units early on then you are in good shape.
On if timing is his biggest concern when the opposing team is playing and he has a bye
Yes, probably. We played so much ball for the last two months. We will practice today and tomorrow just like we would any other week, but then we would start backing off anyways. We will practice Sunday, where we normally wouldn’t practice. We will do some full speed stuff on Sunday evening to make sure that our timing is not off at all. That is a little bit of a concern anytime that you take two or three days off. There are a lot positives that go along with it as well.
On redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shelton Gibson’s next step
Consistency. I was excited to see the play that he made, because that’s something that I haven’t seen out of him. I haven’t seen him catch hard balls. The one he scored on was down at his knees, and then he had to come back and catch one behind him on a post route. I was excited to see him make what appears to be a non-routine catch for him. Catching the ball over his shoulders is pretty routine for him. He still fights to come back to the ball, which we saw it happen in the end zone where he should’ve scored a touchdown on Saturday. He needs to continue to relax. He needs to continue to gain comfort and confidence in his ability to make the routine play. He’s on a par with where I want him to be.
On if it is execution or effort when the defense doesn’t live up to expectations
They go hand-in-hand. If you are not giving maximum effort, then you are not going to execute the way that we need you to execute. I stood here and talked about how well we tackled two weeks ago, and then we turned around and missed twice as many tackles this next week. That is a mindset. Being locked in and playing with effort has a direct correlation with how many missed tackles you have. We were just a little sluggish, and for whatever reason, I don’t know. They are a little bit too comfortable, but they were just a little bit slow and a little bit sluggish. Those guys will be the first to admit that. It went hand-in-hand with what the entire day was compared to what it was the previous week. I don’t care what the conditions are. I don’t care what time of the day it is or whether it is home or away. It doesn’t matter. You have to be able to have enough mental toughness to play the same every week.
On if Maryland’s quarterback decision to start redshirt junior quarterback Caleb Rowe over junior quarterback Perry Hills changes his game preparation
I don’t know as much as (assistant coach/defensive coordinator/linebackers Tony Gibson) Gibby does at this point. I haven’t studied it enough to know about it or talked to him about it, where normally, I would have done that. Everything I watched was more special teams and what they are doing defensively. I don’t know. I doubt it, and talking with (assistant coach/defensive coordinator/linebackers) Tony (Gibson) as far as what (junior quarterback Perry) Hills did as opposed to (graduate quarterback C.J.) Brown did the year before is that it’s a very similar offense. It’s not quite as explosive, because two of their receivers are in the NFL that we had fits with the last three years. It will be interesting to see this Saturday. The one benefit that we have that they don’t have is that we can turn the TV on, on Saturday at Noon, to watch the game against South Florida. Sunday, we will come in and break down that game just like we do each and every week. We will see what the progress is from week one to week two and then from week two to week three. We will figure that out.
On if the game plan can really change in a week’s time
They can’t change that much, and they won’t with the type of quarterbacks that they have. They may change a little bit, but I doubt they will be able to change a whole lot. I don’t know why they would change either. (Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) coach Locksley has been there for four years now, so I’m sure they have the same plan now that they had before.
On if his coverage unit is where he wants them to be on special teams
I am excited to watch it because we are going to face some pretty good returners throughout the course of the year. He got us once last year. I think he got us twice, I can’t remember. He is good now. He will take some changes, but we need to rise to the occasion. I don’t think we are just going to tell (senior punter) Nick (O’Toole) to kick it out of bounds 10-yards down field. We may have to go for it a few more times, but I think we’ve covered pretty good. Like I said, we have faced some NFL caliber return players in the past, and we need to be able to deal with that. It’s part of the game. I am happy with our kickoff team right now. They haven’t got it past the 25 (yard line) this year. We are going to continue to get more speed on that field. We need to get guys like (redshirt senior linebacker Edward) Muldrow and (junior cornerback) Rasul (Douglas). (Junior cornerback) Rasul (Douglas) is ready to go now. (Freshman wide receiver) Gary Jennings is a guy that is coming along. (Redshirt sophomore linebacker) Marvin Gross has done well. We will probably get (redshirt freshman safety DaeJuan) Funderburk out there. We have some guys that we can put out there to have some more speed on the field. We probably need to do that a little bit more with the punt aspect of it, but I’m happy with where it’s at. I’m happy with the ball placement. We have a true task ahead of us, and it will be fun to watch that and see how we do.
On if he is happy with the reads that redshirt junior running back Rushel Shell’s makes
I think right now he’s trying too hard. He needs the ball more, because the more he gets the ball the more rhythm he gets and the stronger he gets. He needs to perform a little better. He knows that, and we are going to give him the ball as much as we can. We are talking about a guy that was close to a 1,000-yards last year. He’s trying hard, and he wants to be good. He is probably just trying a little bit too hard. He is second guessing himself a little bit, and you can’t do that at running back. You have to hit it.
On how much the team focused on the zone read in the offseason
If you don’t keep working on that, you will get exposed pretty quickly. We lost yards on a couple of them. Offensively, we haven’t had a tremendous amount of negative plays. A handful of them have been on pulling it (the ball) when we shouldn’t pull it and handing it when we should’ve kept it. That’s something we have to work on every day, and we made the decision to do it in the offseason. We worked on it hard, and we will continue to work on it to where we are efficient with it.
On what makes junior quarterback Skyler Howard a good candidate
Hand strength because there is a hand-off aspect to it where the ball is either in there or it’s not in there. If you don’t work it, that’s how the ball ends up on the ground a lot. We work it a good bit. We are making good decisions on what the edge looks like. Some of it is on me on what aspect of the play call that I actually make. Some of it are keeps around the edge, and then we have blockers out there for them on some of it. There is a scheme aspect of it where I have to continue to do a better job at it, and they have to do a better job at it. It’s just a day-to-day aspect of working it, and when they keep it in there and when they pull it out of there. It’s been fun for me to learn a lot about it and work it. It’s become pretty valuable. I know it’s helping out our backside.
On if junior wide receiver Daikiel Shorts Jr. is a security blanket for junior quarterback Skyler Howard with the way their chemistry is
That’s some of the timing that I have been talking about with (junior quarterback) Skyler (Howard) and the new guys. With (freshman wide receiver) Gary (Jennings), (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Ka’Raun (White), (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Shelton (Gibson) and (freshman wide receiver) Jovon (Durante) on the outside, it (chemistry) doesn’t exist on the inside. There is a disconnect. They have been together here for only three semesters. (Senior wide receiver) Jordan Thompson is in that same boat. (Junior wide receiver) Daikiel (Shorts Jr.) is probably playing a little bit better, and he is a bigger target right now. He’s playing well. He needs to get more yards after the catch. There are a lot of times where he catches it and falls down, so we’ve been working on him not falling down. His routes are good. He has great ball skills. His blocking ability is really good. He made a lot of blocks on the perimeter for the run and pass game in order to get yards. I am happy with the way he has been playing right now.
On if the receiver core is good at blocking on the outside overall
(Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shelton Gibson) he’s soft. (Freshman wide receiver) Jovon (Durante) is soft. (Freshman wide receiver) Gary (Jennings) is big and physical. He brings a little bit of physical nature to the perimeter, as does (junior wide receiver) Daikiel (Shorts Jr.). I am not saying that about (freshman wide receiver) Jovon (Durante) and (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Shelton (Gibson) yet. They are trying. They need a few more cheeseburgers.
On the offensive line
(Redshirt junior offensive lineman) Tyler Orlosky played really well last week. He was the player of the game. It’s tough for a lineman to get player of the game. It’s hard for an o-lineman to get player of the game, because there is not many opportunities for the spotlight to be on those guys. (Redshirt junior offensive lineman) Tyler (Orlosky) is what makes us go offensively. He is the smartest guy I have been around up front. He understands the schemes, and what we are trying to do. It was funny, I gave him the player of the game, because we called a bunch of run plays this last game. We threw a lot, but a lot of times he was blocking for nobody. I could probably block for nobody, because the spotlight is not on you. Who knows if you actually did a good job or not? He’s doing really well. (Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Kyle) Bosch had a better game. (Redshirt senior offensive lineman) Marquis Lucas is playing well. I was kidding. I don’t remember who asked the question about (redshirt freshman offensive lineman) Yodny (Cajuste), obviously, I was kidding. He graded out at 95 percent two weeks ago, which is great. He was exposed one time for the first time and he lost his mind. He didn’t play well for about two or three plays after that, so it was good for him. Then he bounced back and played well. It’s coming. The depth is not what we wanted at this point. We are playing a lot of guys, because we are able to get the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th guy playing time in the fourth quarter. Those guys are not progressing as much as I want them to at this point. Our second team guys need to keep coming.
On if he has been happy with the play calls and junior quarterback Skyler Howard’s decision making
For the most part. There is always going to be some bad decisions. There is a couple of times last week where he should’ve kept it, and he should’ve handed it off, but when you have 0.5 seconds to make a decision, you are not going to make the right one all the time. I can promise you that much. We are going to keep putting him in the best position we can play call wise, but I said that a bunch, too. I can assure you that it is impossible to call perfect plays all the time, too. You don’t know what they are doing defensively. They are going to keep changing that up.
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
Saturday, April 18
