Post by elp525 on Nov 3, 2011 4:56:05 GMT -5
11/02/2011
Chip Fontanazza
Morgantown
The Mountaineers will face a true freshman quarterback for the third time this season and it may be one of the toughest signal callers they will face all season.
Miami, Florida native Teddy Bridgewater was regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation coming out of high school. So far he’s been able to live up to the hype.
Bridgewater is coming off of one of his best performances of the season throwing for 198 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-10 win against the Syracuse Orange. The duel threat quarterback earned the full time starter job during week three against Kentucky and since then he has continued to get better.
“Obviously he’s athletic and he throws a nice ball and he’s got a great demeanor about him,” said WVU defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. “He has the ability to escape the rush with his eyes down the field. If he wants to run it he can run it…He’s really a good player dynamically and he gets better every week.”
“He’s one of the better true freshmen quarterbacks we’ve seen all year,” said senior defensive end Bruce Irvin. “I don’t know too many true freshmen out there that can play like him. He’s a real good athlete and it’s going to be a real good challenge for us to stop him this week.”
The 6-foot-3 signal caller has thrown for 1,029 yards and has seven touchdowns and six interceptions on the season. Not the most impressive stat line. In fact, he is ranked last out of all of the Big East starting quarterbacks in passing yards per game and total offensive yards per game.
Casteel and the rest of the Mountaineer defense know those numbers don’t fully represent what Bridgewater can do on the field. Sophomore linebacker Doug Rigg says it is going to be a challenge to keep him contained at all times.
“Definitely be aware on third and long because he can make plays with his feet,” said Rigg. “You also have to shy him a lot of times because he will make a play and the biggest thing is his feet, not only does he scramble for yards, but he scrambles to get someone open.”
Irvin says everyone on the team will have to be aware of where he is on the field at all times.
“He makes plays with his feet, rarely gets sacked, he can make you miss so everybody has to play their assignments,” said Irvin. “We have to keep him contained so he doesn’t get outside of us because if he does he’s going to make plays with his legs.”
Bridgewater is one of the top young stars in the Big East Conference and he will make the Cardinals another tough roadblock for the Mountaineers to overcome in their journey to a Big East Championship.
“He’s really a good football player and he keeps getting better,” said Casteel. “It would have been easier to play him earlier in the year.”
Chip Fontanazza
Morgantown
The Mountaineers will face a true freshman quarterback for the third time this season and it may be one of the toughest signal callers they will face all season.
Miami, Florida native Teddy Bridgewater was regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation coming out of high school. So far he’s been able to live up to the hype.
Bridgewater is coming off of one of his best performances of the season throwing for 198 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-10 win against the Syracuse Orange. The duel threat quarterback earned the full time starter job during week three against Kentucky and since then he has continued to get better.
“Obviously he’s athletic and he throws a nice ball and he’s got a great demeanor about him,” said WVU defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. “He has the ability to escape the rush with his eyes down the field. If he wants to run it he can run it…He’s really a good player dynamically and he gets better every week.”
“He’s one of the better true freshmen quarterbacks we’ve seen all year,” said senior defensive end Bruce Irvin. “I don’t know too many true freshmen out there that can play like him. He’s a real good athlete and it’s going to be a real good challenge for us to stop him this week.”
The 6-foot-3 signal caller has thrown for 1,029 yards and has seven touchdowns and six interceptions on the season. Not the most impressive stat line. In fact, he is ranked last out of all of the Big East starting quarterbacks in passing yards per game and total offensive yards per game.
Casteel and the rest of the Mountaineer defense know those numbers don’t fully represent what Bridgewater can do on the field. Sophomore linebacker Doug Rigg says it is going to be a challenge to keep him contained at all times.
“Definitely be aware on third and long because he can make plays with his feet,” said Rigg. “You also have to shy him a lot of times because he will make a play and the biggest thing is his feet, not only does he scramble for yards, but he scrambles to get someone open.”
Irvin says everyone on the team will have to be aware of where he is on the field at all times.
“He makes plays with his feet, rarely gets sacked, he can make you miss so everybody has to play their assignments,” said Irvin. “We have to keep him contained so he doesn’t get outside of us because if he does he’s going to make plays with his legs.”
Bridgewater is one of the top young stars in the Big East Conference and he will make the Cardinals another tough roadblock for the Mountaineers to overcome in their journey to a Big East Championship.
“He’s really a good football player and he keeps getting better,” said Casteel. “It would have been easier to play him earlier in the year.”
