Saturday, November 25
Norman, Okla.
3:45 p.m.
West Virginia University
at
Oklahoma
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
United Bank Playbook: Oklahoma
November 22, 2017 03:43 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - So, with starting quarterback Will Grier standing on the sidelines with his throwing hand in a cast and the team's preseason goal of playing in the Big 12 Championship game out of the picture, what will the motivation be for West Virginia when it faces third-ranked Oklahoma this Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma?
Is it to ruin the Sooners' season by knocking them out of the College Football Playoff picture?
Some football teams thrive in that role. Some have even gone as far as building the identity of their program around ruining the seasons of their rivals. The problem with that approach, however, is what happens during those other games that they can't seem to win, which puts them in the role of spoiler in the first place?
West Virginia has experienced lots of success through the years, so upsetting Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon just to knock the Sooners out of playoff contention is not a major point of emphasis for the WVU players this week.
What is a major point of emphasis is rallying around backup quarterback Chris Chugunov and giving the Mountaineers' 20-player senior class a proper sendoff in a game that will be televised in homes from coast to coast on national television.
"It's about us," junior wide receiver Gary Jennings Jr. said. "We're worrying about what we have to do to win this game."
And to win this game, they are going to have to step up and play well for their young quarterback in all three phases of play.
"Just try and get on the same page," senior wide receiver Ka'Raun White said. "Talk to him a little bit and when the ball comes our way just make a play on the ball. That will help him out a lot."
"The majority of us we definitely believe that Chugs can do some things," Jennings added. "He definitely has a strong arm. He is going to throw it so that's a good thing."
While Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield will be Saturday's top storyline - when he gets into the game, of course - how Chugunov performs against the high-powered Sooners will determine what type of game it is going to be.
Oklahoma (10-1) has the best offense in the country and its 8.3 yards per play rank among the best in NCAA history, so that gives you an idea of what the Mountaineers are facing.
But Chugunov doesn't have to go out there and try and match that or try and win the game for 7-4 West Virginia. He's just got to execute the plan the coaching staff puts together for him this week and trust his teammates.
Trying to keep up with Oklahoma's offense is a trap West Virginia's offense simply can't afford to fall into.
Isn't that what Kyle Kempt did for Iowa State out in Norman earlier this year when the Cyclones gave Oklahoma its only loss this season?
Chugunov is not Will Grier. He's not an ad-libber on the field like Grier, and he is not going to make a bunch of plays with his feet. But he is very smart and his arm is probably a little bit stronger than Will's.
"The kid can spin it now, and he's not the type of guy who likes to check it down," offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said. "He likes to take those shots."
He can also take some shots, too, something we learned last Saturday when one Longhorn linebacker was thrown out of the game for targeting Chugunov and a second player should have been tossed on the same play.
"He stepped up after taking a few shots that some quarterbacks probably wouldn't get up from," White said. "I'm glad he stepped up and fought out there and gave us some hope. We had a chance to win even though we came up short, and we have a lot of confidence in him that he can get the job done."
Spavital said he was surprised how composed Chugunov remained after seeing wave after wave of Longhorn blitzers last Saturday.
After taking that big hit, twice he held his ground in the pocket to complete passes downfield to Ka'Raun White to lead West Virginia into the end zone - WVU's first second-half offensive touchdown in three games, by the way.
"He takes a shot and completes the pass to David Sills, and I'm asking him why he didn't get to his hot read and he said, 'It's third and long and I wanted to hold it an extra count because I knew David was going to be open and I was going to take a shot,'" Spavital said. "He got up and I was kind of concerned about him. I went halfway out onto the field because it looked pretty vicious from where I was at and he was calm, cool and chilled and he was like, 'I'm fine.' The next play he throws the post underneath to Ka'Raun so the kid is pretty resilient."
On the flipside, Chugunov's footwork in the pocket under pressure was not very good and that's something he will have to work on this week.
In his defense, though, it's the first time he's ever faced a defense quite like Texas so what we saw from him last Saturday against the Longhorns is certainly understandable.
"The last play he dropped back like 12 yards in the pocket and that makes it impossible for Colton McKivitz to block a blitzing D-end," Spavital said. "You take a shot like that kid did in that game and the next time you drop back in the pocket and see where your mind is. We've just got to calm him down a little bit, trust his protection and know that he's got time to throw the ball."
Spavital said he is scripting about 85 percent of the practice reps for Chugunov this week to get him up to speed with the rest of the offense. The other 15 percent will go to No. 3 quarterback David Israel.
"He's the third-team quarterback so he's not gotten the reps a backup would get," Spavital said of Israel. "We've been player-developing him. We've been sending him to inside drill and sending him to seven-on-seven, and we do Thursday night football with him, and we've had a development plan with David the entire year.
"He's well acquainted with what we're trying to accomplish, and he's gotten enough reps where we feel comfortable to where we can put a package together for him," Spavital continued. "We will run that with him throughout the course of the week and if it gets to him we'll have our little game plan for him as well."
In the past, West Virginia has installed some Oklahoma-specific offensive packages that have caught the Sooners off guard. Who can forget the Mountaineers putting slot receiver Tavon Austin at tailback and watching him run up and down the field on Oklahoma in 2012?
Does Spavital have time to do something like that this week?
Maybe.
"Some of those one-word plays such as 'Raider' or 'Cyclone' might get used this week," he laughed.
"The more reps (Chugunov) gets the better he's going to be, and this is a great week to get reps. The thing about a backup quarterback is he's getting about 25 percent of the snaps throughout the week so that eliminates those trick-play, motion-type of things that he doesn't get the quality reps during the week as the backup," Spavital said. "Now he's getting all those reps and I feel comfortable running anything with the kid.
"And he's capable of doing it as well."
After all, West Virginia doesn't have anything to lose on Saturday. Oklahoma does, but that's not the Mountaineers' concern.
Going out and playing a good football game; finishing the regular season strong and getting healthy for another bowl game is the team's top objective.
If that's good enough to upset Oklahoma, then so be it.
If it's not, then best of luck to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game and beyond.
"I can't remember the last time we've been in this situation," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "What do we have to lose? Let's go play ball, let's have some fun and let's rally around Chugs and play our tails off.
"The season changes drastically if we can get this one. Nobody expects us to win; everybody gets that. They're a great team, but I still think we have some pretty capable football players that are going to rally around that quarterback who might be pretty dang good, and go out there and cut it loose and have some fun. Let's go play some ball, man," Holgorsen concluded.
Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN (Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Todd McShay).
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage will begin at noon.
Is it to ruin the Sooners' season by knocking them out of the College Football Playoff picture?
Some football teams thrive in that role. Some have even gone as far as building the identity of their program around ruining the seasons of their rivals. The problem with that approach, however, is what happens during those other games that they can't seem to win, which puts them in the role of spoiler in the first place?
West Virginia has experienced lots of success through the years, so upsetting Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon just to knock the Sooners out of playoff contention is not a major point of emphasis for the WVU players this week.
What is a major point of emphasis is rallying around backup quarterback Chris Chugunov and giving the Mountaineers' 20-player senior class a proper sendoff in a game that will be televised in homes from coast to coast on national television.
"It's about us," junior wide receiver Gary Jennings Jr. said. "We're worrying about what we have to do to win this game."
And to win this game, they are going to have to step up and play well for their young quarterback in all three phases of play.
"Just try and get on the same page," senior wide receiver Ka'Raun White said. "Talk to him a little bit and when the ball comes our way just make a play on the ball. That will help him out a lot."
"The majority of us we definitely believe that Chugs can do some things," Jennings added. "He definitely has a strong arm. He is going to throw it so that's a good thing."
While Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield will be Saturday's top storyline - when he gets into the game, of course - how Chugunov performs against the high-powered Sooners will determine what type of game it is going to be.
Oklahoma (10-1) has the best offense in the country and its 8.3 yards per play rank among the best in NCAA history, so that gives you an idea of what the Mountaineers are facing.
But Chugunov doesn't have to go out there and try and match that or try and win the game for 7-4 West Virginia. He's just got to execute the plan the coaching staff puts together for him this week and trust his teammates.
Trying to keep up with Oklahoma's offense is a trap West Virginia's offense simply can't afford to fall into.
Isn't that what Kyle Kempt did for Iowa State out in Norman earlier this year when the Cyclones gave Oklahoma its only loss this season?
Chugunov is not Will Grier. He's not an ad-libber on the field like Grier, and he is not going to make a bunch of plays with his feet. But he is very smart and his arm is probably a little bit stronger than Will's.
"The kid can spin it now, and he's not the type of guy who likes to check it down," offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said. "He likes to take those shots."
He can also take some shots, too, something we learned last Saturday when one Longhorn linebacker was thrown out of the game for targeting Chugunov and a second player should have been tossed on the same play.
"He stepped up after taking a few shots that some quarterbacks probably wouldn't get up from," White said. "I'm glad he stepped up and fought out there and gave us some hope. We had a chance to win even though we came up short, and we have a lot of confidence in him that he can get the job done."
Spavital said he was surprised how composed Chugunov remained after seeing wave after wave of Longhorn blitzers last Saturday.
After taking that big hit, twice he held his ground in the pocket to complete passes downfield to Ka'Raun White to lead West Virginia into the end zone - WVU's first second-half offensive touchdown in three games, by the way.
"He takes a shot and completes the pass to David Sills, and I'm asking him why he didn't get to his hot read and he said, 'It's third and long and I wanted to hold it an extra count because I knew David was going to be open and I was going to take a shot,'" Spavital said. "He got up and I was kind of concerned about him. I went halfway out onto the field because it looked pretty vicious from where I was at and he was calm, cool and chilled and he was like, 'I'm fine.' The next play he throws the post underneath to Ka'Raun so the kid is pretty resilient."
On the flipside, Chugunov's footwork in the pocket under pressure was not very good and that's something he will have to work on this week.
In his defense, though, it's the first time he's ever faced a defense quite like Texas so what we saw from him last Saturday against the Longhorns is certainly understandable.
"The last play he dropped back like 12 yards in the pocket and that makes it impossible for Colton McKivitz to block a blitzing D-end," Spavital said. "You take a shot like that kid did in that game and the next time you drop back in the pocket and see where your mind is. We've just got to calm him down a little bit, trust his protection and know that he's got time to throw the ball."
Spavital said he is scripting about 85 percent of the practice reps for Chugunov this week to get him up to speed with the rest of the offense. The other 15 percent will go to No. 3 quarterback David Israel.
"He's the third-team quarterback so he's not gotten the reps a backup would get," Spavital said of Israel. "We've been player-developing him. We've been sending him to inside drill and sending him to seven-on-seven, and we do Thursday night football with him, and we've had a development plan with David the entire year.
"He's well acquainted with what we're trying to accomplish, and he's gotten enough reps where we feel comfortable to where we can put a package together for him," Spavital continued. "We will run that with him throughout the course of the week and if it gets to him we'll have our little game plan for him as well."
In the past, West Virginia has installed some Oklahoma-specific offensive packages that have caught the Sooners off guard. Who can forget the Mountaineers putting slot receiver Tavon Austin at tailback and watching him run up and down the field on Oklahoma in 2012?
Does Spavital have time to do something like that this week?
Maybe.
"Some of those one-word plays such as 'Raider' or 'Cyclone' might get used this week," he laughed.
"The more reps (Chugunov) gets the better he's going to be, and this is a great week to get reps. The thing about a backup quarterback is he's getting about 25 percent of the snaps throughout the week so that eliminates those trick-play, motion-type of things that he doesn't get the quality reps during the week as the backup," Spavital said. "Now he's getting all those reps and I feel comfortable running anything with the kid.
"And he's capable of doing it as well."
After all, West Virginia doesn't have anything to lose on Saturday. Oklahoma does, but that's not the Mountaineers' concern.
Going out and playing a good football game; finishing the regular season strong and getting healthy for another bowl game is the team's top objective.
If that's good enough to upset Oklahoma, then so be it.
If it's not, then best of luck to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game and beyond.
"I can't remember the last time we've been in this situation," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "What do we have to lose? Let's go play ball, let's have some fun and let's rally around Chugs and play our tails off.
"The season changes drastically if we can get this one. Nobody expects us to win; everybody gets that. They're a great team, but I still think we have some pretty capable football players that are going to rally around that quarterback who might be pretty dang good, and go out there and cut it loose and have some fun. Let's go play some ball, man," Holgorsen concluded.
Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN (Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Todd McShay).
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage will begin at noon.
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