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Players and Assistant Coaches Media Session
September 20, 2016 05:36 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, September 20, 2016, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/ Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On BYU’s Senior Quarterback Taysom Hill
He’s a good looking kid on the film. He’s big, strong and runs well. Right now, that’s the thing everyone says they aren’t scoring a lot of points, well they are having some misfortunes. Tip balls for interceptions, fumbling at the wrong time, whatever it may be, penalty here or there, so they’re not that far off. They’ve played three pretty good teams and obviously have been competitive all the way down to the end.
On if BYU looks like a Pac-12 team
No, not really. If I had to watch and guess what league they’re coming out of, I would say more Big 10. They’re big, strong, and really big up front. They play that brand of football. They want to hurt you when they run the ball. They finish blocks and their backs are big.
On how WVU will prepare for any BYU quarterback used in the upcoming game
(Senior quarterback) (Tanner) Mangum, he’s a thrower, so I went back and watched about four or five games from a year ago with him, they look totally different when he’s in the game. He’s not much of a runner, they don’t try to run him, and I’m not saying he can’t, but he’s more of a pocket-passer.
Assistant Coach (Cornerbacks) Blue Adams
On if BYU is close to where they need to be offensively
They are really close. They are a team that you have to account for. You have to really prepare for them, because they are not far off.
On the physicality of BYU’s wide receivers
They are big guys. They stretch the field. They are strong, they play big, they run routes really well, and they can catch. I think they will be a really good test for us this year.
On the cornerbacks returning the ball after they intercept it
We start practice off with a drill that emphasizes getting your hands on the ball and returning it. The emphasis has always been high, it’s just a matter of getting it done in the game.
On if the cornerbacks have been out of position
We’ve have some good and some bad. I would have liked for us to have our hands on more balls, but it’s just how it shakes out.
On where he has seen the most growth at the cornerback position
I think the focus, their attention to detail continues to rise. The guys are ready to play another game, it has been awhile.
Assistant Coach (Safeties) Matt Caponi
On defending physical-mature receivers compared to fast guys
The bigger bodies are kind of harder to deal with, just as far as being aggressive on them, because with how big and physical they are, they can create some separation. Not necessarily with their speed, but by just being able to body up and leverage and box you out and do certain things like that. It’ll pose another challenge for us. The first couple weeks of the season we saw more speed guys, and now they’ve got bigger. They have a couple of guys who can run through who are smaller, but they’re bigger wideouts, so we have to try to out physical them at the line of scrimmage and battle for the ball and compete and try to make plays.
On our safeties
So far, knock on wood, I thought we’ve done a pretty good job. We played really well against Missouri, especially in space with them, trying to spread us out and up-tempo and everything. I think we took a step back against Youngstown, as far as just from a tackling standpoint; I don’t think we did very well. With the bye week and this week we’ve just been harping on how we have to get better at tackling and doing some things in practice to make sure that we get back to where we were during the Missouri game. We still have to clean up a few things, and I think the effort has been good, but there’s always room for improvement.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Fullbacks-Tight Ends) Joe Wickline
On how he likes coaching the games from the press box
It’s been good. It worked out well. Each game it seems like we are ironing out things in regard to communication, in regards to information that we need to get in and how it all ties together. The whole offensive staff is doing a nice job at communicating well.
On head coach Dana Holgorsen talking about his in-game suggestions
I’m glad he mentioned it. I hope something pays off, so I can earn my keep. It’s just a natural flow and it starts on Sunday and Monday, what we practice, what we see on film and what we need to get to, if this happens we need to come back with this. It’s just a checks and balances deal as the game flows. Hopefully there is some data and some information based on what we are seeing that we can communicate and make some changes and adjustments that will help the overall football team.
On benefits of coming in and already having knowledge of the offense
It removes the learning curve, when you have experienced the offense. You kind of get a feel for what you are looking for and what we need to tell the players from a communication standpoint. It’s not always easy, it’s still a learning process. Things have changed since we have both been involved in it, so we are changing up still to this date. I get as games go on and as times go on and you go through your mistakes and what have you, you start to learn more and more and how to apply what you do know.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Line) Ron Crook
On negative yard play statistics by BYU
A lot of it is one-on-one matchups. I haven’t seen that number, so I wasn’t aware of that number, but that’s not surprising. They do some things where they get some linebackers through off the edge or through the middle, but the thing that their players do this is a team that the effort these guys play with, is not going to be matched my anyone. You can tell how important football is to them. They play hard, they believe in themselves, they are well coached in their scheme, and when you put all those things together, you have guys coming through and guys continuing to fight until the end of the play. If a play gets stretched out, sometimes you might see a guy running back and stick his foot in the ground and get back in the line of scrimmage. If it gets stretched out, they’re going to keep coming, and they’re going to make the play in the background or in the back field. They don’t miss a lot of tackles, so all of that put together means you’re seeing some plays made in the backfield.
On any experience with BYU while at Stanford
No. You have to, and it’s not something new, it’s something you do every week. One of the things I talk to them a lot about is to not allow themselves to get caught up in anything. A lot of times players will try to beat you in something toward the end of the play and try to get you to retaliate. Once a person retaliates they get caught, so I don’t see different things from these guys that I see from most teams, but of course that’s something we talk about on a regular basis.
Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) Tyron Carrier
On if he is happy with the progression of the receiver group
It’s almost there. We still have a lot of bad habits that we’re trying to break. You’re not going to fix bad habits as fast, but they’re improving on it. They’re putting in effort, but they’re nowhere where they need to be right now.
On what needs to be rectified
Just little things. Foot placement, pad level, sharpening their routes, attacking the ball, coming back to the ball when the ball is thrown, those types of things. They’re getting better at it, but I’m not satisfied with it at all.
On if the group has bought in to the physicality that he tries to teach
They’re putting forth the effort. Sometimes they feel like they’ve put in enough when it’s not enough. It’s more than what they did before, but my standards are pretty high in that category, there’s no compromising with that. I can compromise with a couple other things, but not that. They have improved a little bit, but like I said, there is still a long way to go.
Senior Quarterback Skyler Howard
On his comfortability when throwing the ball on Sunday
I felt alright, so I just went out there and practiced, that’s it.
On what he sees in BYU’s defense
They like to junk up the box a lot. They are a little different on the back end, but as far as just junking the box. They play extremely hard. They fly around, they do a lot of stuff that you don’t see every day. We’ll take what they give us.
On BYU’s pass rush and how the line is going to protect it
We’ll be prepared for that. We already have game plans set in stone. We’ll be prepared for that.
On if he watched the BYU-UCLA game on Saturday night
Yeah, I flipped back and forth. There were a bunch of good games going on but yeah, I was watching.
On if he was taking notes while watching the BYU-UCLA game on Saturday night
No, that’s for the film room. I was just watching the game. The flow of the game, the way they react, and just getting a feel for their team.
On if it is difficult to pick up BYU blitzes when they stand up pass rushers
They have some tendencies. If they are too out of position, then they are not going to be sound. There are some tendencies that you can see, so you know that this look is coming. We’ll be ready.
Redshirt Senior Offensive Lineman Tyler Orlosky
On whether WVU can beat BYU with speed
Probably, we have speed; we have (redshirt junior wide receiver) Shelton (Gibson) and (sophomore wide receiver) Jovon (Durante). We have fast guys on our team, and I think we can take advantage of that and their secondary. I think we can beat them with speed.
On whether WVU can go strength against strength with BYU
I think so. I think we can go strength against strength against any team in the country. I think up front especially. I think that’s our main part of our team; our backbone of our offense is our offensive line, so I think if it’s a challenge, I think we can beat that challenge.
On BYUs defense against the run and pass
I think the most (they gave up) was 169 against Utah, but then obviously they didn’t stop the pass against Utah. They’re either one or the other. They either do really good against the run or really good against the pass. Obviously, being the balanced offense that we are, I think we’re both really good at running man and passing the ball. Obviously, we’re a run first offense, so I think if we’re able to establish the run, I think our pass game will open up and make it so that both our pass game and run game will be good.
Sophomore Wide Receiver Gary Jennings
On the value of catching punts as opposed to letting the ball bounce
It sure saves a lot of yards, and I try to do my best to save those yards.
On if he will fair catch punts this year
Oh yeah, definitely. I will. It’s just about wanting to make a play and being smart about it.
On if he looked at the tape and thought he should have fair caught any punts
There were quite a few, actually.
On if it was hard to get used to the speed of punt returns in the game as opposed to practice
In practice, guys are running past you. It’s not like a full contact thing, so there’s sort of a difference. As far as the speed goes, it’s fairly the same.
Redshirt Senior Linebacker Justin Arndt
On what he thought needed the work on the most after the last game
Tackling. It’s just that simple, tackling. We did a lot of tackling drills which helped, so I think we will improve in that phase.
On how to get better at tackling
Simply just practicing, being under control, trusting your technique, head up, eyes up, all that sort of stuff, stuff you’ve been taught since little league. Just repetition, simple.
On how he thought his performance was in the game against Youngstown State
I thought it was just average, like everybody else. Nothing stood out as a big play or anything or a big difference in the game, just an average performance, at best.
On if it is a big deal playing in an NFL stadium this weekend against BYU.
Yeah, I think it’s going to be pretty cool. It’s a stadium I have been around. I grew up around the area, so I’ve been to a couple games there. One of my buddies used to take me there a lot. It’s going to be a really surreal experience to play in a stadium that you’ve grown up watching NFL players play in.
Redshirt Senior Defensive Lineman Christian Brown
On how he feels the season is going
I feel perfect. I feel like we need to just get wins and lead as a defense to get us to control the game.
On if the team has had to prepare for both of BYU’s possible starting Quarterbacks
We prepare for any situation, whoever is going to be the quarterback. Right now we’re preparing for both of them to be on it. We pretty much have been preparing more for number seven (senior quarterback Taysom Hill), but we don’t know who is going to be the quarterback now. We have to stay tuned to the situation.
On if he sees a difference in the two BYU quarterbacks, senior quarterback Taysom Hill and sophomore quarterback Tanner Mangum on film
To be honest, I haven’t watched film on the backup yet, so I don’t really know what he does. As far as number seven (Taysom Hill) goes, we pretty much know his windows.
Redshirt senior safety Jarrod Harper
On being careful with BYU because of vertical shots
Yes you do, but at times different personalities like to take shots, so you just have to be able to see their formation, personnel, see how they are coming out and study film. Just like the coaches preach, study film all week and know the personnel, know the situations, know what they like to do on first, second and third downs. If you do that you’ll be alright, but you do have to be careful because they don’t take a lot of shots.
On if he ever competed at FedEx Field
I did not, that was my redshirt year.
On thoughts about playing at FedEx Field
Definitely looking forward to it. NFL stadium, it doesn’t get any bigger than that, so I’m looking forward to it.
On if redshirt senior safety Jordan Harper is a Washington Redskins fan
No, I’m a Raven’s fan.
On facing the BYU senior quarterback Taysom Hill
It’s definitely exciting. Every time we step on the field we want the best from the opposite teams. He’s definitely a playmaker and a good athlete and quarterback. He can make some plays in the air and on the ground, so I am looking forward to that.
Redshirt Sophomore Kicker/Punter Billy Kinney
On what he’s been working on
Mostly consistency with my drop and my leg swing. I’m just trying to get a lot of repetition with my drops and just try to get it consistent with my spot every time. Sometimes I’m kind of rushed back there and kind of just put the ball out there. If I can get more consistent with my drop and the full motion of the punt, then I can get more consistent kicks.
On the quality of the snaps he has received from redshirt sophomore long snapper Nick Meadows
Nick is doing really well. I’ve worked with him the whole time I’ve been here. We’ve really been in sync the whole time. He’s one of the best snappers I’ve ever punted with. He does really well with field goals too, every one of his snaps is perfect. He’s really good. I give him a lot of credit.
On if he talks to former WVU punter Nick O’Toole
Every once in a while, I’ll just run some things by him, not too much, but every once in a while.
On what he did to earn his spot as starting punter
Probably just work hard in the weight room. I was in there every day, trying to get better and be more athletic in every way I can. I’m out there practicing a lot, getting extra reps every time I can and trying to stay consistent.
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