Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Football Friday - Iowa State
October 12, 2018 07:45 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Will West Virginia be willing to accept 4, 5 and 6-yard runs tomorrow night against Iowa State's defense?
According to the Mountaineer coaching staff, that's what the Cyclones' scheme is permitting teams to do.
Much like West Virginia, Iowa State uses an active, three-man defensive line designed to cause confusion up front and funnel things out to its second- and third-level players.
That means more guys for quarterback Will Grier to deal with in the passing game, including robbers taking away the P in West Virginia's RPO attack.
"They give us favorable boxes, but they do a really nice job of filling gaps from second- and third-level defenders, which usually means you can get 5, but getting 8 to 10 is hard," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said.
Two 5-yard runs equals 10 and a first down, so it will be interesting to see if West Virginia is capable (and willing) to do that on Saturday.
Last week, the Mountaineers weren't always patient near the goal line when Kansas dropped eight into coverage and used an extra man to take away the quick slant to Gary Jennings Jr. or David Sills V that was so effective in the first half two weeks ago at Texas Tech.
The first half against Kansas saw quarterback Will Grier trying to force passes into tight windows at the goal line that resulted in three red-zone interceptions that could have been returned for touchdowns.
If the Cyclones are smart – and they are – they will do something similar this Saturday, especially when the Mountaineers near the goal line.
"(Kansas) came out with what they had not shown in terms of how they ran their stacked front with the Mike (linebacker) that was about seven yards behind. It was kind of like three levels, a diamond 3-2-1 in the box, which Iowa State runs that," offensive coordinator Jake Spavital explained.
In lay terms, that means West Virginia is going to have to run the football and be willing to accept modest gains to keep ahead of the sticks.
During last year's 20-16 win over Iowa State in Morgantown, the Mountaineers were able to do that in the first half in building a commanding 20-0 lead. The ground game got 132 yards on 29 carries and Grier completed 12 of his 13 first-half passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, one going for a 55 yards to Ka'Raun White.
But in the second half, Iowa State buttoned things up in the run game, allowing the Mountaineers just 76 yards, and Grier had fewer opportunities in the pass game, attempting just 12, completing eight, for 83 yards with one interception.
On Saturday, West Virginia's willingness to make the ordinary plays could eventually turn out spectacularly if it can do so consistently.
"I was happy with how we ran the ball against them last year," Holgorsen said. "You have to be patient with that, and I thought that we did an outstanding job last year being patient with running the ball. Last week, we did the same thing. I thought we did a good job of running the ball until we got into the red zone and then we didn't do a good job at that."
Will Leddie Brown, Kennedy McKoy, Martell Pettaway and the Mountaineers' five guys up front be able to force Iowa State to respect West Virginia's running game enough to loosen things up for Grier to have some opportunities to throw the ball down the field?
Spavital believes they will.
"I think they have to," he said. "I don't know how many it was, but we had probably 15 plays over 10 yards rushing, which is good (against Kansas). These guys were getting chunk yardage."
And nearly the big one, too. Brown's 47-yard burst through the middle of Kansas' defense in the first quarter was one defender away from turning into a 66-yard touchdown run.
Getting an explosive, long touchdown run from a running back is the final box West Virginia's offense needs to check. Incidentally, the last one of a distance of 50 yards or longer came at Iowa State four years ago when Rushel Shell broke loose for a 54-yard touchdown in the first quarter of West Virginia's 37-24 victory.
That was 1,895 rushing attempts ago.
Can West Virginia's run game come up with one of those tomorrow night against the Cyclones?
Spavital said it will be tough.
"You look at the explosive run tape on these guys and not a lot of people hit big runs against them unless it's something uncharacteristic," he said. "They're very sound in what they do."
But, not impossible …
"We're getting close," Spavital admitted. "The way teams play in the Big 12 is they're going to rush three and drop eight and keep everything in front. This is a team that is going to give you a good box to run into, but they're really disruptive up front and they're trying to spill the ball to the perimeter and allow all these linebackers and safeties rally to the ball and keep everything in front."
Picture this: West Virginia one time getting all of those first-level defenders blocked up front, a running back getting out into the open field, breaking a tackle or making someone miss in space, the wide receivers occupying the guys covering them and watching a long touchdown run?
That would make everyone smile, including the guy wearing No. 7 who is having to throw into all of these eight-man coverages on a weekly basis.
If it doesn't happen Saturday, then those 4, 5 and 6-yard runs will have to do, that is if the Mountaineers are capable of consistently getting them.
According to the Mountaineer coaching staff, that's what the Cyclones' scheme is permitting teams to do.
Much like West Virginia, Iowa State uses an active, three-man defensive line designed to cause confusion up front and funnel things out to its second- and third-level players.
That means more guys for quarterback Will Grier to deal with in the passing game, including robbers taking away the P in West Virginia's RPO attack.
"They give us favorable boxes, but they do a really nice job of filling gaps from second- and third-level defenders, which usually means you can get 5, but getting 8 to 10 is hard," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said.
Two 5-yard runs equals 10 and a first down, so it will be interesting to see if West Virginia is capable (and willing) to do that on Saturday.
Last week, the Mountaineers weren't always patient near the goal line when Kansas dropped eight into coverage and used an extra man to take away the quick slant to Gary Jennings Jr. or David Sills V that was so effective in the first half two weeks ago at Texas Tech.
The first half against Kansas saw quarterback Will Grier trying to force passes into tight windows at the goal line that resulted in three red-zone interceptions that could have been returned for touchdowns.
If the Cyclones are smart – and they are – they will do something similar this Saturday, especially when the Mountaineers near the goal line.
"(Kansas) came out with what they had not shown in terms of how they ran their stacked front with the Mike (linebacker) that was about seven yards behind. It was kind of like three levels, a diamond 3-2-1 in the box, which Iowa State runs that," offensive coordinator Jake Spavital explained.
In lay terms, that means West Virginia is going to have to run the football and be willing to accept modest gains to keep ahead of the sticks.
During last year's 20-16 win over Iowa State in Morgantown, the Mountaineers were able to do that in the first half in building a commanding 20-0 lead. The ground game got 132 yards on 29 carries and Grier completed 12 of his 13 first-half passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, one going for a 55 yards to Ka'Raun White.
But in the second half, Iowa State buttoned things up in the run game, allowing the Mountaineers just 76 yards, and Grier had fewer opportunities in the pass game, attempting just 12, completing eight, for 83 yards with one interception.
On Saturday, West Virginia's willingness to make the ordinary plays could eventually turn out spectacularly if it can do so consistently.
"I was happy with how we ran the ball against them last year," Holgorsen said. "You have to be patient with that, and I thought that we did an outstanding job last year being patient with running the ball. Last week, we did the same thing. I thought we did a good job of running the ball until we got into the red zone and then we didn't do a good job at that."
Will Leddie Brown, Kennedy McKoy, Martell Pettaway and the Mountaineers' five guys up front be able to force Iowa State to respect West Virginia's running game enough to loosen things up for Grier to have some opportunities to throw the ball down the field?
Spavital believes they will.
"I think they have to," he said. "I don't know how many it was, but we had probably 15 plays over 10 yards rushing, which is good (against Kansas). These guys were getting chunk yardage."
And nearly the big one, too. Brown's 47-yard burst through the middle of Kansas' defense in the first quarter was one defender away from turning into a 66-yard touchdown run.
Getting an explosive, long touchdown run from a running back is the final box West Virginia's offense needs to check. Incidentally, the last one of a distance of 50 yards or longer came at Iowa State four years ago when Rushel Shell broke loose for a 54-yard touchdown in the first quarter of West Virginia's 37-24 victory.
That was 1,895 rushing attempts ago.
Can West Virginia's run game come up with one of those tomorrow night against the Cyclones?
Spavital said it will be tough.
"You look at the explosive run tape on these guys and not a lot of people hit big runs against them unless it's something uncharacteristic," he said. "They're very sound in what they do."
But, not impossible …
"We're getting close," Spavital admitted. "The way teams play in the Big 12 is they're going to rush three and drop eight and keep everything in front. This is a team that is going to give you a good box to run into, but they're really disruptive up front and they're trying to spill the ball to the perimeter and allow all these linebackers and safeties rally to the ball and keep everything in front."
Picture this: West Virginia one time getting all of those first-level defenders blocked up front, a running back getting out into the open field, breaking a tackle or making someone miss in space, the wide receivers occupying the guys covering them and watching a long touchdown run?
That would make everyone smile, including the guy wearing No. 7 who is having to throw into all of these eight-man coverages on a weekly basis.
If it doesn't happen Saturday, then those 4, 5 and 6-yard runs will have to do, that is if the Mountaineers are capable of consistently getting them.
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