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Players and Assistant Coaches Media Session
September 08, 2015 04:50 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University assistant coaches and select members of the West Virginia University football team met with the media on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Assistant coach (offensive line) Ron Crook
On how his coaching style changes or stays the same as the season goes on
I try to stay consistent with everything I do. I’ll say that expectations continue to rise every game, so in a way I’m expecting more, and I coach a little bit harder, but I don’t say ‘okay, I’m going to coach harder going into this game.’
On if the defense of Liberty will provide a challenging test to the WVU offensive line
I think so. They throw a lot of twists and blitz at you that are a little bit unorthodox. Its twists and blitzes that you don’t normally practice and get ready for prior to game week that can really worry you.
On how redshirt junior offensive lineman Tony Matteo and redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Kyle Bosch graded in the game against Georgia Southern
They were both in the mid to high 80’s. I’m happy with the way both of them played, and I need both of them to improve. I think reps will continue to rise for both of them, so I’m looking forward to see how that goes this week as well.
Assistant coach (running backs) Ja’Juan Seider
On distributing touches amongst his talented running backs
In a perfect world, I always like to make sure that (junior running back) Wendell (Smallwood) and (redshirt junior running back) Rushel (Shell) touch the ball a lot. It depends how much they’re on the field together, too. Last week we had a lot of big plays, so they really didn’t get tired, and it was hard to get a substitution rotation. In my mind, I want to run those two a lot. Georgia Southern did a great job of making us pass the ball by crowding the box and forcing us to have a lot of cutback runs.
On having more of a running game going forward.
We’ve shown on film that we have guys that can stretch the field. When you have those two guys stretching the field with (junior wide receiver) Daikiel (Shorts Jr.) and (senior wide receiver Jordon Thompson) Squirt working in the slot, it changes your perception of how you play us.
On being able to demonstrate the versatility of this offense
That’s what we want to do. Everything was a big unknown going into the first game. To be able to have that on field and tell people ‘hey, nothing has changed around here. They’re younger, but they’re just as talented.’ You can’t just think that if you take away one dimension of the offense that another dimension won’t get you. As a coach, that’s what you want. You want to be balanced.
Assistant coach (special teams coach/safeties) Joe DeForest
On the WVU safeties’ performance against Georgia Southern
I think they bought in. They were engaged, and they took the challenge. Georgia Southern is a great football team, and I think our kids understood that. All three safeties played well. Obviously, (senior Safety) Karl (Joseph) had a special game with three interceptions.
On preparing the WVU safeties’ to go against the pro-style offense that Liberty runs as opposed to what they prepared for against Georgia Southern
I went into my meeting room and erased everything that was on the board from last week. My message to them was ‘sit down and look at the board. What’s different? It’s blank.’ That means we have to start over. It’s a new game with a new approach. They need to understand that each week that board is going to be erased, and we need to start over. We have to be ready to mentally attack it as well as physically.
On what Liberty does well offensively
They throw the ball well. Their quarterback is a big kid that goes about 6-foot-3, 225-pounds. They have a great receiver on the outside in (senior wide receiver Darrin Peterson) No. 13. They also mix it up in the run game. It’s a power run game with some play action pass. They also do some drop back stuff. I think they are a true pro-style mix it up offense.
Senior safety Karl Joseph
On life after his outstanding performance against Georgia Southern
It’s still the same. We went back in the stadium and the weight room to get ready for the next game. That game is over with now. It’s on to the next one.
On if the performance of the WVU defense against Georgia Southern surprised him
No, not really. I think we played exactly how we expected ourselves to play. I think everybody was on the same page. We communicated well, and everybody gave one hundred percent effort every play.
On the Liberty offense
I haven’t watched a lot of film yet, but their quarterback is pretty good, and he has some good athletes around him. We’re going to have to prepare well to go against them.
On how he is viewed as being an inspirational leader and stepping up his senior year
I have to step up. I know I have to step up and fill in that leadership role, because I’ve been around here for a while now. Along with a lot of other guys on this defense, we’ve been here awhile now and know what it takes to win in this league. Stepping up and being a leader is really big for us on defense.
Redshirt senior defensive lineman Kyle Rose
On reviewing the film against Georgia Southern
We came in and watched the film on Sunday. Special teams did really well. We watched special teams as a group, so we can get a sense of where everybody is at, and it gives guys a lot of incentive to perform. Defensively, we did everything we needed to do. We had a shutout. Wed stopped the run game, and they didn’t really throw the ball too much. Defensive line wise, we played well. We got off the ball well. We used our hands well, and did everything against a team that runs the ball a lot very well.
On how the WVU defensive line effectively clogged the line of scrimmage against Georgia Southern
Something we really focused on was gap integrity and fundamental assignments, and we did that. Anytime you’re playing a triple-option team you need to do that, and we did a really good job. (Redshirt-senior linebacker) Nick Kwiatkoski did a really good job of hitting the quarterback early so that he would want to pitch the ball or hand the dive off. We made sure we were hitting the quarterback every play, so he would hand the ball off. It allowed us to make more plays. We did a good job on the outside of keeping everyone in space, and we made good tackles. That’s one thing we did really well as a defense. We attacked the hip and make good tackles which is something we have been working on.
On what he sees in the Liberty offense
I see a pretty big quarterback. I see a guy who runs the offense pretty well, and they have some decent size on their line. I haven’t had a chance to look at them too much on film, but we’ll do that on Wednesday and put in an installation for our scouts to give us some good looks. From what I’ve seen, they have a good traditional offense with a big quarterback that makes good throws with good wide receivers. It’ll be a good test for us.
Redshirt senior cornerback Terrell Chestnut
On his impression of his performance against Georgia Southern
I felt like we did really well as a team. We flew around. We tackled well, and we played assignment football. We didn’t have any mental breakdowns, and we played well as a unit.
On his view of what the Liberty offense will bring to the game
I just watched them yesterday and they have some players. Their quarterback is capable, and they have some capable wide receivers. It’ll be a good challenge for us to go against.
On the veteran and experienced nature of the Liberty offense
Their chemistry should be good because they have a lot of people back. Watching them on film against Delaware State, they made a lot of plays. They’re big and physical. I’m ready and anxious to play.
On going against a pro-style offense against Liberty as opposed to going against an option offense against Georgia Southern
It was definitely hard to be out there and not get many balls thrown against you. It’s going to be a better opportunity for us to make plays in the secondary and get better this week.
Junior quarterback Skyler Howard
On feeling like he belongs after his first start at home
I do. I didn’t play as well as I wanted, but we played well enough to win and that’s the main goal.
On what he saw on film that he needs to work on
Timing. If some of those balls were on the money they would have been uncontested catches and it makes it a lot easier on those guys. It was great to see them go up for the ball.
On feeling more comfortable and aware in the offense after the first game
I’m seeing things before they happen as far as signals. (Coach Dana) Holgorsen and I are on the same page. It’s a growing process, but I feel like I’m in a good place.
On the difference between game timing and practice timing with wide receivers
It’s different a little bit. Adrenaline is going, both mine and theirs, so it’s a little bit different. We’re going to get that down this week.
On what the Liberty defense presents on the field
It’s kind of similar to Georgia Southern in regards to what they do on the field. I’m expecting some of the same looks, but we’re still in game planning right now.
Senior Wide Receiver Jordan Thompson
On the difference between the Liberty and Georgia Southern defenses
We’re going to be prepare the same way in regards to practice and with us not knowing exactly what we’re going to see on the field. Regardless, we have to work on our timing route with the quarterbacks, and we have to take care of the ball, which we did last game. Going into this game, we have the same goals of not turning the ball over and improving in the red zone. We need to have touchdowns instead of field goals.
On his view of the younger wide receivers’ performances
(Freshman Wide Receiver) Jovon (Durante) played outstanding, and I’m glad he got the nerves out of the way. Now, it comes down to improving. He has a lot of things to improve on even though he had a great game. He has to improve on catching the ball, running routes and different releases, but other than that, he did a phenomenal job.
On the chemistry between the wide receiver group and junior quarterback Skyler Howard
It feels good. We had since January to build chemistry, and actually being able to display it in a game is a great feeling. We need to increase chemistry and timing, so that when we get into tight situations in games it feels natural to us.
On developing comfort and confidence after a convincing win over a quality opponent like Georgia Southern
We don’t feel comfortable, because there were a lot of mistakes that happened during that game that most fans don’t really see, but watching on film they were there. If we play another team such as Oklahoma or other teams in Big 12 play those little mistakes can actually turn into big mistakes and cost us the game. We’re not comfortable. We’re actually hungrier to try and get our second win underneath our belt.
Redshirt junior offensive lineman Adam Pankey
On the atmosphere of the first game
It was a great atmosphere. The students were pumped up. The coaches were pumped up, and we were pumped up. We were just ready to hit somebody else other than ourselves.
On the cohesion of the offensive line in the first game
I think we did well. There were a lot of things that we can improve on, especially in that first half when we left a lot of points out there. We didn’t like that. All-in-all, I think we improved throughout the game, and I think that’s something that’s going to happen throughout the season.
On keeping up with the mobility of junior quarterback Skyler Howard
We have put an emphasis on that since he started. We’ve been trying to extend plays, because we know both him and (redshirt freshman quarterback William Crest Jr.) are dual-threat guys.
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