Post by elp525 on Nov 4, 2011 11:03:26 GMT -5
11/04/2011
Garrett Cullen
Morgantown
No. 24 West Virginia (6-2, 2-1 Big East) faces Louisville (4-4, 2-1 Big East) on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium in a pivotal conference clash. Both teams enter Saturday in a three-way tie, along with Pitt, for second place in the Big East standings.
And right now keeping control of their own destiny in that Big East title race is the main focus for the Mountaineers.
“I never was able to call myself a champion – in high school I always wanted that feeling,” said defensive back Darwin Cook. “Last year it was a Big East Championship, but it was a Co-Championship so it didn’t really feel that good. That’s what our mindset is this year.”
Saturday’s game will also likely be the last game between West Virginia and Louisville on the football field for a while – it’s a series that has developed nicely into a competitive and interesting rivalry.
While West Virginia has won four straight and leads the all-time series 10-2, every game since 1989 between the two teams has been within two touchdowns. The two most notable games, of course, came in 2005 with the triple-overtime thriller won by West Virginia and then the 2006 top-five showdown won by Louisville.
The last couple of years, meanwhile, have been defensive battles with West Virginia winning 17-9 in 2009 and 17-10 in 2010. And if Louisville has its way in 2011, it’ll be a defensive battle again. The Cardinals enter Saturday’s game leading the Big East in scoring defense (16.2 points per game) and total defense (295.6 yards per game).
“They’ve done a nice job of getting guys and recruiting. They play a lot of people,” said Mountaineer head coach Dana Holgorsen. “They’re two-deep at each position, and a lot of those guys play. They have a bunch of competition that’s making them better as well. They play well and they’ve got good players.”
And good coaching also helps.
“Charlie Strong has been as well-respected of a defensive coordinator as there’s been in the profession for the last two decades,” Holgorsen said. “The guy’s won two national championships and has been a part of some good programs being the defensive coordinator. That tells you something.”
The Cardinals are coming into Saturday’s game winners of two straight, beating Rutgers 16-14 and knocking off Syracuse 27-10.
“They’ll come in here ready to go,” Holgorsen said. “They’re big. They’re physical. They’re talented. They’re athletic and they’re going to come right into the thick of things in the Big East and expect to win.”
Meanwhile, Louisville head coach Charlie Strong has seen a lot of his young players mature throughout the year, but he sees the matchup with West Virginia as an important test of just how far they’ve come.
“You are going to have to play with a lot of confidence,” Strong said. “It’s going to be an atmosphere where you are going to have to show some toughness. We have to pack our defense. We have to pack our kicking game. We have to pack our togetherness. We’re just going to have to play well as a football team.”
While the Cardinals’ defense has kept them in every game, their offense has struggled to get going at times. The 27 points scored last week against Syracuse are the most scored all year – Louisville comes into Saturday putting up just 17 points per game (113th in the country) and totaling 329 offensive yards per contest (103rd in the nation).
“They may not put up big numbers or big points, but they’re more efficient,” Holgorsen said. “Up front, they’ve got their center back. We say we’re not very experienced with our offensive line, well, we’ve got more than one guy back. They’ve got one buy back up front, so those guys are learning to play with each other and they’ve got a bunch of skill kids who look talented to me. They’re just not on the same page yet.”
Freshman Teddy Bridgewater has taken over the starting duties at quarterback – he had one of his better games of the year last week against Syracuse, completing 17 of 24 passes for 198 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Overall on the year, he has seven touchdowns and six interceptions.
“He’s talented and has a good arm,” Holgorsen said. “He has the ability to get out of it and run down the field. He’s developing a pretty good rapport with the guys around him. He’s throwing it to about eight different guys. It’s a familiarity with the offense and sitting in the pocket or being able to make a play with his feet when things break down.”
Garrett Cullen
Morgantown
No. 24 West Virginia (6-2, 2-1 Big East) faces Louisville (4-4, 2-1 Big East) on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium in a pivotal conference clash. Both teams enter Saturday in a three-way tie, along with Pitt, for second place in the Big East standings.
And right now keeping control of their own destiny in that Big East title race is the main focus for the Mountaineers.
“I never was able to call myself a champion – in high school I always wanted that feeling,” said defensive back Darwin Cook. “Last year it was a Big East Championship, but it was a Co-Championship so it didn’t really feel that good. That’s what our mindset is this year.”
Saturday’s game will also likely be the last game between West Virginia and Louisville on the football field for a while – it’s a series that has developed nicely into a competitive and interesting rivalry.
While West Virginia has won four straight and leads the all-time series 10-2, every game since 1989 between the two teams has been within two touchdowns. The two most notable games, of course, came in 2005 with the triple-overtime thriller won by West Virginia and then the 2006 top-five showdown won by Louisville.
The last couple of years, meanwhile, have been defensive battles with West Virginia winning 17-9 in 2009 and 17-10 in 2010. And if Louisville has its way in 2011, it’ll be a defensive battle again. The Cardinals enter Saturday’s game leading the Big East in scoring defense (16.2 points per game) and total defense (295.6 yards per game).
“They’ve done a nice job of getting guys and recruiting. They play a lot of people,” said Mountaineer head coach Dana Holgorsen. “They’re two-deep at each position, and a lot of those guys play. They have a bunch of competition that’s making them better as well. They play well and they’ve got good players.”
And good coaching also helps.
“Charlie Strong has been as well-respected of a defensive coordinator as there’s been in the profession for the last two decades,” Holgorsen said. “The guy’s won two national championships and has been a part of some good programs being the defensive coordinator. That tells you something.”
The Cardinals are coming into Saturday’s game winners of two straight, beating Rutgers 16-14 and knocking off Syracuse 27-10.
“They’ll come in here ready to go,” Holgorsen said. “They’re big. They’re physical. They’re talented. They’re athletic and they’re going to come right into the thick of things in the Big East and expect to win.”
Meanwhile, Louisville head coach Charlie Strong has seen a lot of his young players mature throughout the year, but he sees the matchup with West Virginia as an important test of just how far they’ve come.
“You are going to have to play with a lot of confidence,” Strong said. “It’s going to be an atmosphere where you are going to have to show some toughness. We have to pack our defense. We have to pack our kicking game. We have to pack our togetherness. We’re just going to have to play well as a football team.”
While the Cardinals’ defense has kept them in every game, their offense has struggled to get going at times. The 27 points scored last week against Syracuse are the most scored all year – Louisville comes into Saturday putting up just 17 points per game (113th in the country) and totaling 329 offensive yards per contest (103rd in the nation).
“They may not put up big numbers or big points, but they’re more efficient,” Holgorsen said. “Up front, they’ve got their center back. We say we’re not very experienced with our offensive line, well, we’ve got more than one guy back. They’ve got one buy back up front, so those guys are learning to play with each other and they’ve got a bunch of skill kids who look talented to me. They’re just not on the same page yet.”
Freshman Teddy Bridgewater has taken over the starting duties at quarterback – he had one of his better games of the year last week against Syracuse, completing 17 of 24 passes for 198 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Overall on the year, he has seven touchdowns and six interceptions.
“He’s talented and has a good arm,” Holgorsen said. “He has the ability to get out of it and run down the field. He’s developing a pretty good rapport with the guys around him. He’s throwing it to about eight different guys. It’s a familiarity with the offense and sitting in the pocket or being able to make a play with his feet when things break down.”
