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Players and Assistant Coaches Media Session
October 25, 2016 06:31 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University football coaching staff and members of the WVU football team met with the media on Tuesday, October 25, 2016, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/ Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On how he feels the defense is playing
It’s good, still we’re not where we need to be. Still made some mistakes. We could have had another couple turnovers the other day and we dropped some, but we still have a lot of stuff to clean up. We’re not close to where we need to be, our kids aren’t satisfied, and we’re not satisfied. Obviously we’ve got to continue to keep getting better.
On being able to hold offenses to a certain amount of yards
I credit it to the kids, they’re the ones going out and playing and making plays at crucial times. Again, the other day in the third quarter we played four snaps, so we were on the field for one minute and 15 seconds in the third quarter. Anytime we limit snaps, that’s going to help out with all of that as well.
On leaders of the defense, specifically redshirt senior safety Jarrod Harper, and what he has to bring to the table
Jarrod kind of defines what our program is. He’s an overachiever, a hard worker, a kid that never gives up and just keeps working every day. He’s a blue-collar worker, a great kid on and off the field, a great student. He is West Virginia. That’s what we look for. If we had a blueprint on what kind of kid we want to play with it is him.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Line) Bruce Tall
On playing more guys to keep the players fresh
There is no question, the goal is always to play anywhere from five to six guys, and we’ve been fortunate to even get seven in a game and not just to get them into the game but getting these guys in at important times of the game. We want to keep our guys fresh. Rotation is critical.
On freshman defensive lineman Reese Donahue and redshirt freshman defensive lineman Alec Shriner
I think they have a role to play right now. It’s like anything else, you’re developing young guys and because of the physical nature of the game you’re going to progress at a certain level or speed for them and the more you can throw them into certain situations the better they are going to get. I feel very confident playing Reese at any time, he is very intuitive, he is doing great in the game and he is just prepared to play.
On the option of putting in different players
With no question, I think that it helps us and it gives us that depth and it gives us a comfort zone if something should go wrong and someone should get banged up that they could go in in a heartbeat and rotate right in. We’re excited, we’d love to play them more, and I know they want to play more but we’re fortunate enough to have some old enough guys that you have a hard time taking off the field.
On playing pass heavy teams
No, that’s our conference, we’re used to that. Our offense prepares us, we expect it and our guys are geared for that.
Assistant Coach (Defense/Special Teams) Mark Scott
On Redshirt Junior Safety Shane Commodore’s play against TCU
We sit in here every Sunday and every single player on the team and every coach, we watch all the special teams’ plays. All I said was, ‘if you want to get in on one of these units, play like this.’ He did a great job avoiding a block, making a tackle, forcing a fumble, he could’ve gotten up and started celebrating but he got right up, chased after the ball, after it was fumbled around one or two more times he ends up getting the recovery. That’s what special teams is all about, that effort, that non-stop getting after the ball, especially on the coverage units. That’s what we want out of all 10 of our guys running down the field.
On how he has seen Redshirt Junior Safety Shane Commodore grow as a player
I just think he’s more comfortable. I think it took a little bit of time with different things we’ve done scheme wise for our guys to feel more comfortable. We’ve changed guys’ positions on the kickoff team, so being able to recognize certain blocks and how to react to them. We’ve pointed it out all week and I think it’s starting to click for him. I think he’s getting more confidence. He’s a guy who came up to me during camp and said ‘Coach, kickoff and punts is where I need to be, I want to be on both coverage units.’ We’ve got more and more guys, whether it’s on offense or defense, (freshman wide receiver) Marcus Sims, we went to him and said ‘hey, you’re going to be on kickoff team’, ate it up. These guys are really embracing their roles, spending extra time coming in and watching film. The energy and excitement is great during practice. I think they’re just really embracing how much of an impact that we can have on the game week in and week out, and I don’t think that was any more apparent than last week.
On if the atmosphere on special teams is contagious
Absolutely, just in the past week there have been two or three other guys who said ‘Coach, you need somebody on kickoff let me know.’ I had guys come in last night and say ‘Coach, I have to be on those cover units, I want to help the team, fly around and make plays.’ A guy like (redshirt junior safety) Shane Commodore, who hasn’t always been a starter on our kickoff team, he seizes an opportunity like that, other guys say ‘hey if I can just get one opportunity, I can take advantage of that and that can be my way in.’ I don’t think there’s any doubt that it’s contagious, but that’s what you want. (Head) Coach Holgorsen does a great job at emphasizing special teams each and every day. We’ve got guys coming to me, asking ‘Coach, where can I help, what can I do on special teams, where can you put me?’ It hasn’t always been that way, but it continues to get better each week. I think that starts from the head coach down, but again, it tells the mood of our team, kind of the attitude. Everybody wants to pull their own weight and help out where they can.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Fullbacks-Tight Ends) Joe Wickline
On going back to play against OSU
It’s kind of a mixed emotion thing. My family has a house there; my wife and daughter, and they grew up there. Oklahoma State is a great state. They have a bunch of great people. Again, it’s one of my top places. It’s a great place, the administration has done a nice job, and (OSU Head Coach) coach (Mike) Gundy and Holder (Mike) have done a great job. It all started back then when they kind of took reign, and since then from the overall aspect of the facilities, I’m impressed.
On how he feels to be playing against Oklahoma State
It’s a classic place to play. Boone Pickens Stadium and Stillwater, it’s one of the all-time classics. The fans are great, the people there are livid about their program, much like West Virginia. It’s very similar, to our guys and their guys, and the ride with the brand. But it’s another game, we’re all professionals, its business and we take care of the student-athletes. We take care of what’s at hand, where we’re at and we kind of dismiss that and move on to the next thing.
On how OSU has changed defensively from the first game to now, execution wise
A lot of it’s the same. You look back to last year and you look at some this year, and (OSU Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) coach (Glenn) Spencer, (OSU Cornerback Coach) coach (Tim) Duffie and (OSU Defensive Line Coach) coach Joe Bob Clements and those guys on defense are really good, much like our guys. Some of the best in the business, and they get tough on you. They’re top ranked in the score zone, the red zone, they’re top ranked in third downs and they’re top ranked in taking the ball away. So, we have our hands full. They have a bunch of good players. They’re athletic, sharp guys, and they know the schemes. They’re doing a good job.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Line) Ron Crook
On the offensive line’s performance against TCU
I thought we played well, there were some things we could have done better. I think we played against a pretty talented group who we said all week was very well coached, very good at their scheme. I felt like we played very well and good enough for us to go out and get a victory. There’s some stuff I thought we could do better, I thought we could have finished blocks better at times, better footwork to get better targets, things like that. I felt like we played physical, we played tough, played the game we needed to play.
On if he thought that TCU blitzed more than usual against WVU
I can’t say I paid too much attention to the percentages. I still believe they did more than I expected.
On redshirt freshman offensive lineman Colton McKivitz development
He’s getting better every single day, you can see him improve and we have continued to bounce guys around during practice and we’ll continue to do so. I’m just excited about how he’s starting to see things before they happen, starting to react quicker to things, using better technique. It’s good to see him doing that on a weekly basis and improving every day.
On giving up five sacks against TCU
A couple times (senior quarterback) Skyler (Howard) tried to escape the pocket, and I think the way the stats work that if you throw a grounding penalty it counts as a sack. I didn’t realize that but I came to understand that after the game. They did a good job, and the thing about playing a group like that, you’re not going to have that very much. I said it earlier in the week last week, they’re pretty relentless with their rush so you have to be ready to get rid of the ball, and when things break down he has to get out of there and go with it and that’s what he tried to do. One time he stepped up, and when you step up pass rush lanes change so it’s hard for your offensive lineman to react to that. We missed a couple things that we’ve been pretty good at getting so we have to get back to basics on some of our blitz pickup as well.
Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) Tyron Carrier
On senior wide receiver Daikiel Shorts Jr.
He accepted what I believe in which is, making routine plays, catching everything that comes your way and standing on your feet after you catch the ball. He is doing a great job with it. The great thing about these guys is that now they see the big picture. We went in film room and I asked them, “How do you think you all did this game,” and they said, “Well besides the good catches coach, we didn’t do much,” which is right on. Those guys are not satisfied with what they have been doing, they know there is a lot more football to be played and a lot more opportunities to prove that they are really good.
On what he wants to see the wide receivers improve on
Just executing routes. Working back to the ball, taking the ball out of the air, catching the ball, those things. It’s little things but it is really big to me, it’s what makes everything work. As long as they are attacking the ball. They improved in blocking, which is one of the biggest things, but we have to catch the ball, we have to. We have to stick to the top of our routes, that’s things I won’t bend on.
On his opinion of Oklahoma State defensively
They are really good, those guys are really good. I think everyone came back except one person from last year, and the guys that are playing now have a lot of the games they played in. We have our work cut out for us. It is going to be a physical game on that back end with our guys, and we have to come out ready to swing.
Senior Quarterback Skyler Howard
On the difference between the teams we have played so far this year
Yeah everyone is a little different. Everyone is different in their schemes and their personnel. It doesn’t change anything that we’re doing week in and week out. We are just coming in and seeing their personnel, see the way they do things and take what they give us.
On if facing big challenges every week is life in the Big 12
I’m just taking it one week at a time and for everyone else it’s the same thing, but to have those big teams I feel like it makes you do that, it makes you take it one week at a time because if you sleep on one team and you’re looking one week ahead it can bite you in the tail.
On Oklahoma State’s defense
It’s still early in the game plan but they do a lot of different things and they’re good at what they do and with the personnel they have. They are really good up front just like every other team in the Big 12, so we’re still evaluating that.
On last year’s game against Oklahoma State
Starting the process of a new week, I watched the game from last year. Whether the defensive coordinator is still there or not, which obviously it’s the same in this case, but that game was bad overall the first half but we fought back and we just have to play our game. I don’t think it plays into anything though.
On if he could have done anything differently to avoid the sacks against TCU
I could’ve made something happen on a few of them, I’d like to think I could’ve made something happen on all of them. In hindsight, it’s easy to look back and say I should’ve done this, I should’ve done that but when the bullets are flying I guess you just continue to move in the pocket and continue to extend plays like you said.
Redshirt Senior Offensive Lineman Tyler Orlosky
On Oklahoma State’s Defense
They’re a bunch of good guys, they have a good defense. I think their coaches do a good job getting them prepared and they’ll be ready to play us and I think we’ll be ready to play them.
On giving up five sacks against TCU
I think we were recorded for having five, I think giving up five sacks, and I think two of them were intentional grounding. As an offensive line I think we were responsible for giving up two or three of them. Those are things we have to limit and things we have to work on, things we’ll address this week at practice.
On the difference between pass blocking and run blocking
Run blocking is definitely more aggressive than pass protection. Pass protection is more of a finesse type of deal. I say finesse but put that in air quotes I guess because you still have to be tough and aggressive in pass protection, but it’s a little more finesse, a little more communication goes into it, and there’s things we slacked on last Saturday and things we have to address this week to limit those sacks from happening.
Sophomore Wide Receiver Gary Jennings Jr.
On if he knew he was so wide open when he caught the touchdown pass against TCU
I certainly did not, I turned around and it was just open space.
On Senior Quarterback Skyler Howard
He gets in first every week. He is a smart guy, he is a very heady guy, so he tells us what’s going to be open and what he wants us to do on each play so that helps out a lot as well.
On the support that he gets from the other wide receivers
Everyone kind of works together and gives each other tips on what to do so that helps us as a group as well. We keep each other encouraged and it just helps group morale
On what the wide receivers have to work on as a group
We certainly haven’t lived up to our complete potential. We have so many things that we can work on and so many things that we can improve upon to make ourselves a better receiving corps. It’s just fine tuning our routes and just being 100 percent on assignments.
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton
On Oklahoma State freshman running back Justice Hill compared to other running backs WVU has faced
Yeah, I think he’s pretty good. I’d say he’s pretty good in my opinion. That’s one of the biggest things that those guys do, they establish the run game a little more than some of the other teams in the Big 12, so he’ll be a key factor for them. I think he’s pretty good, but we’ll do what we have to do to stop that.
On tackling
Yeah, that’s the biggest thing in the Big 12. One of the biggest things is just being able to tackle in space. Guys like that, they can make you miss and end up getting five or six extra yards out of the play and put their offense in better positions. So the biggest thing would be making those tackles in space and containing these guys. They’re pretty shifty and can make a few pretty good moves and get downfield, so that’s one thing you want to minimize.
On Oklahoma State’s quarterback Mason Rudolph not making a lot of mistakes back in the pocket
Yeah, that’s one thing about him, he’s pretty efficient. I think he’s better throwing the ball than maybe some of the quarterbacks we’ve played. Where he may not have as much athleticism and mobility as those guys do, he has a little more confidence standing back there in the pocket and throwing the ball deep. So that will be one of the biggest things with him, he is, in my opinion, one of the best guys passing the ball that we will see this year.
Redshirt Freshman Linebacker David Long
On how he felt the team played last week against TCU
We did ok. We let a couple sacks get away from us. 10 points I really think it should have been zero because we have the type of players that can go out there and do that. We’re just going to have to get back in the film room and go over some things and get better.
On what areas of the defense needs improvement
Just staying consistent, open field tackles, getting pressure on the quarterback, just little things like that.
On how to stay focused on taking the season one game at a time
Just to stay in the film room, not to pay attention to the outside. Just to stay cool, not to pay attention to the rankings, nothing like that. Just take it one-by-one.
On how Oklahoma State’s offense compares to that of Texas Tech and TCU.
They have a good pair of running backs, just like the last two weeks. They have a solid quarterback, he can throw the ball, but we’re going to get pressure on him and make him feel uncomfortable in the pocket.
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