Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Holgorsen: Grier's Surgery Successful
November 20, 2017 01:12 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Dana Holgorsen, on Monday's Big 12 coaches' teleconference, confirmed that Chad Grier's tweet about his son Will Grier's surgery to repair the damaged middle finger on his throwing hand went successfully.
The surgery was performed in Charlotte yesterday.
"They got him to Charlotte after the game," Holgorsen said. "It's where they're from and they know a lot of people there so we supported that 100 percent. (Sunday) they went through surgery and everything went as planned. They said that's probably a couple of weeks, so he's obviously out for a while."
The play occurred midway into the first quarter of Saturday's loss to Texas when West Virginia was facing third and goal at the Longhorn 1. Instead of running the ball again with running back Justin Crawford, the Mountaineers called a run-pass option with Grier rolling out to his left.
Grier choose to dive at the pylon and when he stuck his hand out to place the football over the pylon, it struck the ground with his fingers pointed down. He lost possession of the ball as he was trying to extend it beyond the pylon and the play was ruled a fumble by the replay officials upstairs, taking away a potential touchdown and giving Texas the ball at its own 20.
"That was a pretty devastating play," Holgorsen said Monday.
Not only was it devastating in terms of Saturday's outcome, but it also puts the rest of Grier's season in jeopardy. Holgorsen said Monday he is not sure if Grier will be ready to play in the Mountaineers' yet-to-be determined bowl game.
"It's probably like a four-week, six-week deal so that puts you right at the timetable of 'is he going to be ready for the bowl game or is he not going to be ready for the bowl game?'" Holgorsen said. "I don't know and we're not going to know until we probably start game prepping the week of the game.
"With the middle finger on the throwing hand, that's going to be kind of tough, but he's a tough kid, is in good spirits, and is going to be back here (Monday afternoon) and we'll start talking about what's ahead."
Holgorsen admitted he's not a fan of his players diving for the pylon and extending the football to score touchdowns. He said his players are coached not to do that because the risks far outweigh the rewards.
We clearly saw that on Saturday, multiple times.
"We don't coach diving for the pylon and it happened two out of three plays so we're obviously not very good coaches right now because (Justin) Crawford did it two plays prior to that," Holgorsen said. "He hung on to it, but his foot was out of bounds. The official ruled Grier's was a touchdown, but it was pretty clear that he lost possession prior to the ball hitting the pylon so the refs got it right both times."
Holgorsen admitted he feared the worse as soon as he saw Grier grimacing in pain and holding his hand as he ran over to the sideline.
Images posted on social media showed his middle finger pointed in almost a 90-degree angle from his hand.
"It's unfortunate. It's one of those deals and the defender had nothing to do with it," Holgorsen said. "It had everything to do with him losing control of the ball and fingers that were going straight into the ground. It's something we've talked about with him a lot. You've got to keep those guys out of harm's way, and we didn't do a very good job of that. My initial reaction was right-hand, left-hand, obviously, and when I saw it was his right hand and his middle finger I knew we were in a bad spot."
Now, Holgorsen has to get backup quarterback Chris Chugunov ready to face Oklahoma, the No. 3-ranked team in the country, this Saturday in Norman.
Chugunov came in against arguably the best defense in the Big 12 this year and played admirably against a vicious pass rush. He completed 14 of his 26 pass attempts for 189 yards and a touchdown.
He also fumbled twice while facing Longhorn blitzes, one that led to Texas' fourth touchdown and the other in which teammate Colton McKivitz recovered.
At least this week Chugunov will get nearly all of the first-team reps in preparation for the Sooners on Saturday.
"Having all of the reps with the first team will get anyone more comfortable with the game plan," Holgorsen said. "We feel good about Chugs. He went in there, and I thought he played hard and he battled hard. That was a heck of a defense we had to play against. They were putting a lot of pressure on the quarterbacks.
"We tried our best to try and help him manage things, but I thought he went in there and managed things well and he has been here for three years. He understands the offense and with a few more reps, we will probably be able to do a few more things."
The team will be able to solely concentrate on football with the University observing Thanksgiving recess this week, which should also help.
The surgery was performed in Charlotte yesterday.
"They got him to Charlotte after the game," Holgorsen said. "It's where they're from and they know a lot of people there so we supported that 100 percent. (Sunday) they went through surgery and everything went as planned. They said that's probably a couple of weeks, so he's obviously out for a while."
The play occurred midway into the first quarter of Saturday's loss to Texas when West Virginia was facing third and goal at the Longhorn 1. Instead of running the ball again with running back Justin Crawford, the Mountaineers called a run-pass option with Grier rolling out to his left.
Grier choose to dive at the pylon and when he stuck his hand out to place the football over the pylon, it struck the ground with his fingers pointed down. He lost possession of the ball as he was trying to extend it beyond the pylon and the play was ruled a fumble by the replay officials upstairs, taking away a potential touchdown and giving Texas the ball at its own 20.
"That was a pretty devastating play," Holgorsen said Monday.
Not only was it devastating in terms of Saturday's outcome, but it also puts the rest of Grier's season in jeopardy. Holgorsen said Monday he is not sure if Grier will be ready to play in the Mountaineers' yet-to-be determined bowl game.
"It's probably like a four-week, six-week deal so that puts you right at the timetable of 'is he going to be ready for the bowl game or is he not going to be ready for the bowl game?'" Holgorsen said. "I don't know and we're not going to know until we probably start game prepping the week of the game.
"With the middle finger on the throwing hand, that's going to be kind of tough, but he's a tough kid, is in good spirits, and is going to be back here (Monday afternoon) and we'll start talking about what's ahead."
Holgorsen admitted he's not a fan of his players diving for the pylon and extending the football to score touchdowns. He said his players are coached not to do that because the risks far outweigh the rewards.
We clearly saw that on Saturday, multiple times.
"We don't coach diving for the pylon and it happened two out of three plays so we're obviously not very good coaches right now because (Justin) Crawford did it two plays prior to that," Holgorsen said. "He hung on to it, but his foot was out of bounds. The official ruled Grier's was a touchdown, but it was pretty clear that he lost possession prior to the ball hitting the pylon so the refs got it right both times."
Holgorsen admitted he feared the worse as soon as he saw Grier grimacing in pain and holding his hand as he ran over to the sideline.
Images posted on social media showed his middle finger pointed in almost a 90-degree angle from his hand.
"It's unfortunate. It's one of those deals and the defender had nothing to do with it," Holgorsen said. "It had everything to do with him losing control of the ball and fingers that were going straight into the ground. It's something we've talked about with him a lot. You've got to keep those guys out of harm's way, and we didn't do a very good job of that. My initial reaction was right-hand, left-hand, obviously, and when I saw it was his right hand and his middle finger I knew we were in a bad spot."
Now, Holgorsen has to get backup quarterback Chris Chugunov ready to face Oklahoma, the No. 3-ranked team in the country, this Saturday in Norman.
Chugunov came in against arguably the best defense in the Big 12 this year and played admirably against a vicious pass rush. He completed 14 of his 26 pass attempts for 189 yards and a touchdown.
He also fumbled twice while facing Longhorn blitzes, one that led to Texas' fourth touchdown and the other in which teammate Colton McKivitz recovered.
At least this week Chugunov will get nearly all of the first-team reps in preparation for the Sooners on Saturday.
"Having all of the reps with the first team will get anyone more comfortable with the game plan," Holgorsen said. "We feel good about Chugs. He went in there, and I thought he played hard and he battled hard. That was a heck of a defense we had to play against. They were putting a lot of pressure on the quarterbacks.
"We tried our best to try and help him manage things, but I thought he went in there and managed things well and he has been here for three years. He understands the offense and with a few more reps, we will probably be able to do a few more things."
The team will be able to solely concentrate on football with the University observing Thanksgiving recess this week, which should also help.
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
OL
/ FootballJaden Bray | April 13
Monday, April 13
Coach Travis Trickett | April 13
Monday, April 13
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 13
Monday, April 13
Nate Gabriel | April 8
Wednesday, April 08
