Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Dixon’s Confidence Showing Up In His On-Field Performance
August 17, 2022 04:11 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The most meaningful praise usually comes when it's unsolicited.
Consider the case of West Virginia sophomore outside linebacker Lance Dixon, whose name seems to be coming up a lot more often these days whenever coach Neal Brown is asked to review his team's practices.
Earlier in camp, Brown noted that Dixon had the best "five-to-seven-day stretch of practices" since he's been at West Virginia.
The former Penn State transfer and one-time Michigan Defensive Player of the Year came to Morgantown following a COVID season playing for the Nittany Lions in 2020.
In 2021, he played in 10 of 13 games for the Mountaineers, making four starts, although he missed the final three regular season games of the season because of injury. However, he was healthy enough to play in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Minnesota and had his best overall performance of the year with 11 total tackles.
Not only was it his best game statistically, but it was also his best assignment wise as well. Sometimes, those two don't always match.
"I played the most snaps and had the most tackles," Dixon said last weekend. "In terms of the defensive scheme and me doing my job, that was my best game."
One of the reasons Dixon chose to leave Penn State after one year was the freedom to play out in space and showcase his immense athletic skills. When he came to West Virginia, he weighed just a shade above 200 pounds, so playing inside the box, as he was required to do at Penn State, didn't really suit his size.
Since then, though, he's added weight and muscle to reach his goal of 220 pounds by the start of fall training camp. The additional weight, strength and speed has made him a much more confident football player, and it's really beginning to show out on the field.
Dixon said there is also an increased comfort level playing in a scheme that he now understands with guys with whom he's more familiar.
"Yeah, there is definitely a comfort level being around all of the players. It's also experience, I would say," he admitted.
"Switching schemes, I had to learn how different people are going to play within the defense, so it's definitely good having another year with pretty much the same guys," he added.
This year's starting linebacker corps is going to be comprised of Dixon and senior Exree Loe on the weakside, East Mississippi Community College transfer Lee Kpogba in the middle and either Jared Bartlett or Lanell Carr at bandit.
Collectively, that's a pretty athletic group of defenders. In terms of overall speed, Dixon believes this is the fastest defense with which he's been involved.
"I think we've got that," he said. "We just need to dot our Is and cross our Ts. If we can be good with that, then we will be alright this year."
One aspect of his game the coaches have wanted him to focus on is his physicality, particularly playing lower and with more pad leverage. Dixon admits that's still a work in progress.
"You can never be too physical, especially with your hands. There's always something you've got to work on," he said.
"I've got long arms and I'm able to extend out on offensive linemen, but I'm not going to go up and try and bull rush Wyatt (Milum)," he continued. "I'm going to quick punch him and now he's feeling me a little bit more."
Dixon believes his biggest room for growth is understanding the finer points of the game so he can become an extension of the coaching staff on the field. When you've got 11 of those type of players running around out there then you're really cooking with gas.
"If the whole defense is at that level, then we've got 11 quarterbacks out there," he explained.
Dixon believes he's starting to earn the respect of his teammates and coaches. Now, his goal is to earn the respect of others. A strong performance against 17th-ranked Pitt in the 105th renewal of the Backyard Brawl certainly won't hurt.
West Virginia's players spent yesterday touring Lear Coal Mine in Grafton and resume on-field work later this afternoon. The first day of classes for the fall semester began this morning.
The team will have its second closed scrimmage tomorrow and will then turn its full attention to preparing for the Panthers in the 2022 opener at Acrisure Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 1.
Consider the case of West Virginia sophomore outside linebacker Lance Dixon, whose name seems to be coming up a lot more often these days whenever coach Neal Brown is asked to review his team's practices.
Earlier in camp, Brown noted that Dixon had the best "five-to-seven-day stretch of practices" since he's been at West Virginia.
The former Penn State transfer and one-time Michigan Defensive Player of the Year came to Morgantown following a COVID season playing for the Nittany Lions in 2020.
In 2021, he played in 10 of 13 games for the Mountaineers, making four starts, although he missed the final three regular season games of the season because of injury. However, he was healthy enough to play in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Minnesota and had his best overall performance of the year with 11 total tackles.
Not only was it his best game statistically, but it was also his best assignment wise as well. Sometimes, those two don't always match.
"I played the most snaps and had the most tackles," Dixon said last weekend. "In terms of the defensive scheme and me doing my job, that was my best game."
One of the reasons Dixon chose to leave Penn State after one year was the freedom to play out in space and showcase his immense athletic skills. When he came to West Virginia, he weighed just a shade above 200 pounds, so playing inside the box, as he was required to do at Penn State, didn't really suit his size.
Since then, though, he's added weight and muscle to reach his goal of 220 pounds by the start of fall training camp. The additional weight, strength and speed has made him a much more confident football player, and it's really beginning to show out on the field.
Dixon said there is also an increased comfort level playing in a scheme that he now understands with guys with whom he's more familiar.
"Yeah, there is definitely a comfort level being around all of the players. It's also experience, I would say," he admitted.
"Switching schemes, I had to learn how different people are going to play within the defense, so it's definitely good having another year with pretty much the same guys," he added.
This year's starting linebacker corps is going to be comprised of Dixon and senior Exree Loe on the weakside, East Mississippi Community College transfer Lee Kpogba in the middle and either Jared Bartlett or Lanell Carr at bandit.
Collectively, that's a pretty athletic group of defenders. In terms of overall speed, Dixon believes this is the fastest defense with which he's been involved.
"I think we've got that," he said. "We just need to dot our Is and cross our Ts. If we can be good with that, then we will be alright this year."
One aspect of his game the coaches have wanted him to focus on is his physicality, particularly playing lower and with more pad leverage. Dixon admits that's still a work in progress.
"You can never be too physical, especially with your hands. There's always something you've got to work on," he said.
"I've got long arms and I'm able to extend out on offensive linemen, but I'm not going to go up and try and bull rush Wyatt (Milum)," he continued. "I'm going to quick punch him and now he's feeling me a little bit more."
Dixon believes his biggest room for growth is understanding the finer points of the game so he can become an extension of the coaching staff on the field. When you've got 11 of those type of players running around out there then you're really cooking with gas.
"If the whole defense is at that level, then we've got 11 quarterbacks out there," he explained.
Dixon believes he's starting to earn the respect of his teammates and coaches. Now, his goal is to earn the respect of others. A strong performance against 17th-ranked Pitt in the 105th renewal of the Backyard Brawl certainly won't hurt.
West Virginia's players spent yesterday touring Lear Coal Mine in Grafton and resume on-field work later this afternoon. The first day of classes for the fall semester began this morning.
The team will have its second closed scrimmage tomorrow and will then turn its full attention to preparing for the Panthers in the 2022 opener at Acrisure Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 1.
Players Mentioned
BAN
/ Football
DL
/ Football
LB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
Rich Rodriguez | Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 03
Reid Carrico | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Jeff Weimer | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
