MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University football coach Dana Holgorsen addressed members of the media on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
 
Opening Statement
We're excited about this weekend; this should be a lot of fun. The good news is we're 3-0 at noon here in Morgantown, so that's going to work to our advantage. Our guys know the schedule, this is the third Top-10 team we've played – I consider them a Top-10 team, I consider TCU a Top-10 team, I consider Virginia Tech a Top-10 team or pretty close. I don't know what the rankings are and I don't care; they're all pretty good. This is the first one we've had at home, so that's good news for us. It should be a lot of fun. The atmosphere I know is going to be wild and the guys are looking forward to being here and being able to play this game. The series between us and them has been a fun one. We probably know as much about Oklahoma State as we do anybody on our schedule. Oklahoma State probably knows as much about us as anybody on their schedule, so our job as coaches is to put our guys in the best situation that we possibly can, which we will do for this Saturday at noon. They're a good team; they're an outstanding program. There have been very few teams that've won as much as they have over the last 10 years, so they're going to come in in a good place and it should be a fun Saturday.
 
Offensively, they're as good as you're going to see. I've been a part of some good offenses and this one is as good as what I've seen. They have a good, seasoned quarterback; (Mason) Rudolph throws the deep ball as good as anybody. He runs the offense, he's a big, strong, good-looking, smart guy. He's been there forever; I'm glad he's graduating. They have as good of a receiving corps that exists, some guys on the outside that scare you that can get behind you and score quick like they did against Baylor. It was like routes on air, it seemed like, with one-on-one routes on air, nobody deep, just go deep and throw it as far as you can. We have to defend that. They have good, solid inside receivers and tight ends, a lot of fullbacks that can play and a big, strong, experienced offensive line. Their (running) back is probably the best that we've faced this year as well. We saw him last year as a young kid but he has really developed, the (Justice) Hill kid, and he looks really good. So, they can run the ball, they're going to try to run the ball, they're able to run the ball and then if they have to sit there and throw it every snap, they can. They can big play you, but then they can just do the intermediate passing game as well. They take care of the ball, efficient on critical downs, finish drives with touchdowns. So, we have our work cut out for us on defense, certainly.
 
Why they're a Top-10 team is their defense is really good as well. Glenn Spencer has been there for a long time. They haven't changed schemes or anything, they've recruited well and have a $500 million facility they can recruit to. You've all seen it, it's spectacular. They're getting a lot of good players. It's probably the best safety tandem that we've seen. I said this last year against these guys, (Tre) Flowers, No. 31, and No. 13 (Jordan Sterns) was there last year and was a team captain for them. He left and they put No. 7 (Ramon Richards) there, who is a four-year starter. He played corner when we were there the last time we beat them, I think three years ago. He was a young kid that was playing corner, so he has just a ton of experience, he's mature, he's a team captain. They put him back there, so once again, they're the best safety combination that we've played up to this point.
 
They have a lot of experience at linebacker; they all look 6-foot, 6-2, 225 to 245 (pounds), all yoked up. Those guys look good. They tackle, they're physical, they can cover. Their front has a bunch of big, thick guys that stop the run and can rush the passer. If those guys get tired, then they just roll four more of them in there. So, they're good on defense and their numbers support that. They've pretty much improved on every defensive category from a year ago, which I thought they were pretty good a year ago. I thought they were really good two years ago when we played them out here. It's the same stuff, they look good and we have our work cut out for us on offense.
 
Special teams, they pay attention to it. Coach (Mike) Gundy, this is important to him. He's done a great job and I've learned a lot from him from a CEO point of view, how he installs a lot of discipline within his program. He has a great relationship with his strength coach and I respect Coach (Rob) Glass. We've done a lot of that stuff here with (strength and conditioning coach) Mike Joseph. (Gundy) kind of keeps his eye on special teams as well. They work it hard and they're good at it. It's hard to get yards on either one of their coverage units and their return units have always been extremely respectable. That stuff they pay attention to and we have our work cut out for us there as well.
 
So, it should be fun. The bottom line is we have a really good, Top-10 team coming to Morgantown. We'll be ready, we'll continue to improve and we're looking forward to a good week of work to prepare.
 
On if this is the best Oklahoma State offense he's seen
It could be. I was a part of one; they got better once I left. They've had some pretty good ones; they've had some good quarterbacks, they've had awesome running backs. Statistically, it's probably as good as it has been. They're 50-50 run-pass and they can throw it to any of these six receivers that they trot out there. They have two capable backs that they can hand it to, the quarterback runs it, they have a lot of fullbacks and good depth on the (offensive) line. It looks like it to me; the statistical aspect of it supports that.
 
On if he can keep the end of the Baylor game from carrying over to this week
It's a good question; (Texas) Tech couldn't. I think our guys are in a good place. Let's just go ahead and talk about it. That was a good learning experience for us, that's the good news. We've been on both sides of it and we're 2-0. When you're on either one of those sides, it's really easy to be 0-2. Being down after three quarters, a lot of teams will say, "That's enough, I'm done" and lose. Being up, having it in-hand and then seeing it change so quickly, a lot of teams I've been on says, "This is too hard" and they let them just score and you lose that. The good news is we've been a part of these two games, which these type games happen every weekend somewhere to somebody. For us to be on the winning side of both of them I think gives us confidence. The learning aspect of it – and it all starts with me – is to make sure that doesn't happen. So, there are some things that happened right towards the very end of the third quarter. That was probably the best third quarter that we've had since I've been here on all three sides. We dominated. They got one play on us on offense, but other than that, we were in a really good place. Everything we did offensively worked, our return units were good, our coverage units were good, defensively we were playing well, stopping the run. You go to that point up 25 to being in the situation that we were in will teach you a lot on the fact that you can never be complacent, you can never relax. I don't care what happened on the previous play, the previous series, the previous quarter, the previous game, you better keep moving forward and play how you're able to play. There are a lot of learning things from me, sideline stuff, adjustments, play calls, being on the same page with everybody involved. There are a lot of things we can learn from and the thing is, they didn't have a whole lot to lose. Baylor is a good team. You can laugh at me if you want to, I know they're 0-7 – the best one probably in the history of college football – and they're well-coached. I think Coach (Matt) Rhule has a plan for what he wants to do. They didn't give up and when you're in that situation where it really doesn't matter, you can take as many chances as you want to. That makes them dangerous and we fell into that trap and we can't. I think we'll learn from it and I think it'll make us better because of what happened.
 
On if he has spent more time with the defense this year and what he feels needs to be improved on that side of the ball
I thought we played our best three quarters of football last week, then we got gassed based on the situation that happened. They changed quarterbacks, the offense basically three-and-outed three times in a row, they gained a possession because of a special teams deal. They got gassed. We're not a team that can roll with two-deep out there and play ball. I spent on more time with everything, but still, this is (defensive coordinator Tony Gibson's) defense and he makes all the calls. We talk a lot about personnel. I was happy in that I thought we took a step in the right direction in stopping the run; they had minus-6 yards after three quarters, so that was good. But then we got tired and we weren't able to overcome a variety of things that happened. But I think we're improving.
 
On how senior running back Justin Crawford is wearing down and what he can do about it
Get him healthy. It's football. That running back spot is going to get banged up. It happens to every back, to every team, every year. There's nothing you can do about it. The way that those guys play, there's nothing you can do about it. It's called a training room. Get a lot of treatment, get healthy and practice hard and get back out there and play. That's what I expect him to do.
 
On if he plays to limit senior running back Justin Crawford's carries more going forward
I'd rather give it to him more. Whatever he can handle, he'll get. If he's sore and banged up, then I'm going to put (sophomore running back Kennedy McKoy) in there. I thought (McKoy) had his best game; he looked a lot different handing the ball to him than it did (Crawford). I wish we would have handed it more to (McKoy). Going back studying the video, I wish we would have handed it to (McKoy) more. How many times have we stood up here and talked about this, you're going to get to your No. 2 back and No. 3 back. Hopefully you don't get to your No. 4 back, but we've got to our No. 5 back, right? So, how is this any different?
 
On how he can keep his team from playing sluggish during certain spurts
I don't know, you tell me. Evidentially I don't have an answer for it.
 
On if he'll address the turnover battle more this week based on the last two games against Oklahoma State
Well, say the positives on it now. We won the turnover battle the two previous ones before that, which impacted us winning out here when they were Top 10 and when we won in Stillwater. It's been a big part of this game. I think Oklahoma State does a good job playing good, disciplined football and we certainly have as well. But that's had an impact on the game and we've talked a lot about turnovers. Two years ago out here the turnovers, I believe, were four to three. We had three and they had four. The ones we got were way back. I remember (Terrell) Chestnut had a pick and went out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Then, (Emmanuel) Ogbah got a fumble and was in the end zone. So, the field position when it comes to turnovers, to me, is probably a little bit more important than the turnovers. Last year, we turned it over three or four times and gave their offense very, very, very short fields. Turnovers, at times, can be just like punts, but turnovers can also be like big-play touchdowns, too. We have to pay particular attention to that.
 
On how he feels the coverage units on special teams are playing
We're right where we need to be on that. We're doing a good job in both of those areas; they do the same. We have to pay particular attention to that and need to work hard on them. But I'm happy with where they were last week. Hopefully, I'll be happier where they are this week.
 
On if anyone on the team has improved more than redshirt senior linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton
Probably not. (Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson) made reference to this and you guys can ask him when he comes in here, we keep track of production points and stuff, which the formula really doesn't matter, but his production points have been as high as anybody around here since I've been here. He's probably the smartest football player that I've coached on that side of the ball. There are some quarterbacks that have such a high IQ, football smart – (redshirt junior quarterback) Will Grier, (junior wide receiver) David Sills (V) are two of the smarter ones – but defensively, he is off the charts intelligent. Just from an intelligence point of view and a football point of view, he sees it. He has himself in shape; he was fat about three years ago and he has gotten himself in-shape. It matters a lot to him, he's a team captain, he's been here for five years, he's a team leader. It gets to a point where he's mad if he doesn't make every tackle. He's just always around the ball and is playing as well as anybody I've seen defensively for us in the seven years I've been here.
 
On if freshman defensive lineman Lamonte McDougle has improved in a similar way as senior linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton
I'm not ready to say that yet. He is disruptive; I think our (defensive) front played the best that they've played this year. (Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Adam Shuler II) made some plays in the backfield, (junior defensive lineman Ezekiel Rose) got to the quarterback three or four times, McDougle was disruptive and does things that probably won't show up in the stat book. (Redshirt senior linebacker) Xavier (Preston) probably played his best game since he's been here, Al and (redshirt sophomore linebacker) David (Long Jr.) are Al and David. We need some other guys to step up and do some things. (Redshirt junior defensive lineman) Jalen Harvey came in and did a few good things, (sophomore defensive lineman) Reese Donahue played hard. So, I'm not willing to say that about Lamonte at this point, not nearly anywhere close in the same sentence as Al Benton, but he's improving.
 
On if he's surprised to see freshman defensive lineman Lamonte McDougle playing so well in his first year
It doesn't happen very often. It probably helps when your dad is a 17-year vet in the NFL. He's been around it for a long time. But, yeah, I'm certainly glad we have him. He practices hard, he plays hard, he sweats a lot. It's funny, you can use this in the same sentence: (senior linebacker Al-Rasheed) Benton and Lamonte McDougle sweat more than anybody on our team. They sweat. It's because they play hard. Guys tend to sweat when they play hard.
 
On his thoughts on the offensive line
I thought we took a step in the right direction on having that mentality that I discussed last week that needs to exist to be able to run the ball the way that we want to be able to run the ball. They're still young and inexperienced, and we need to continue to improve. We're not anywhere close to where I want us to be. Hopefully, we get there quick. I thought we took a step in the right direction and we need to continue to head in that direction if we want to win here moving forward.