Post by elp525 on Sept 19, 2011 10:24:06 GMT -5
09/19/2011
Chip Fontanazza
Morgantown
It’s been well documented that WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen is purely focused on football. There isn’t much outside of the sport that he talks about and when it comes to conference realignment talk he hasn’t been focusing on it. Holgorsen’s time and energy this week is going to be focused on preparing for the 2nd ranked LSU Tigers.
It’s now known that the Big East has lost two of its longest standing members in Pitt and Syracuse. As of now, the Big East will have seven teams in the conference, when and if TCU still joins the Conference. When Holgorsen was asked about Pitt and Syracuse moving on to the ACC, he nonchalantly brought the upcoming LSU game and didn’t even talk about the conference reshuffling.
“I’ve had a busy couple of days myself,” said Holgorsen during his Sunday teleconference. “We took care of business yesterday, and obviously there is no time to rest or relax. We’ve had a full day today getting the Maryland game over with and moving on to the next one, which happens to be LSU.”
No one should be surprised Holgorsen is just thinking about LSU. This is the Mountaineers biggest game of the season, ranking wise, and it will be the prime time game on Saturday night. On top of all of that, for the first time in ESPN’s history the national pregame show “College Gameday” will be coming to Morgantown. So all things considered Holgorsen should be worried about the upcoming game and not what conference the Mountaineers will play in two years down the road.
Holgorsen knows his players have their minds set on the upcoming LSU game and not what future conference their school is going to be in. Conference expansion and the future of the Big East is something he’s hasn’t talk to his players about and he knows they’re solely focused on knocking off the Tigers.
“Every game is big - we’ve been preaching that since we got here,” said Holgorsen. “Our jobs as coaches is to get the guys ready to play; whether you’re playing Marshall, Norfolk State, Maryland or LSU, it doesn’t matter. The weekend after (LSU) is going to be another one. We get into a routine and do our best to prepare each day to put ourselves in position to win the game on Saturday.”
The Mountaineers are 3-0 heading into this highly anticipated match up and the first year head coach says are finally getting into a solid routine.
“You need them to focus on the task at hand,” explained Holgorsen. “It’s about eliminating distractions, going to class, going to study hall and making sure you’re body is right. There is a lot on these guys’ plates from a student-athlete perspective to where they need to do the right thing every week.”
On Monday, Holgorsen and his staff will continue game planning for the Tigers and getting the Mountaineers ready to defend their home turf on national television.
“Today is about getting Maryland over with and moving on,” said Holgorsen. “I’ve looked at very little, but I’ll spend the rest of the night doing that. They’re obviously a good team. It doesn’t matter how many seniors they had last year, especially defensively, they’ll just replace them with guys who are every bit as good.”
While the majority of Mountaineer nation is focusing on the future of West Virginia in this time of conference uncertainty, Holgorsen is concentrating on the present and knocking off one of the top teams in the nation.
Chip Fontanazza
Morgantown
It’s been well documented that WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen is purely focused on football. There isn’t much outside of the sport that he talks about and when it comes to conference realignment talk he hasn’t been focusing on it. Holgorsen’s time and energy this week is going to be focused on preparing for the 2nd ranked LSU Tigers.
It’s now known that the Big East has lost two of its longest standing members in Pitt and Syracuse. As of now, the Big East will have seven teams in the conference, when and if TCU still joins the Conference. When Holgorsen was asked about Pitt and Syracuse moving on to the ACC, he nonchalantly brought the upcoming LSU game and didn’t even talk about the conference reshuffling.
“I’ve had a busy couple of days myself,” said Holgorsen during his Sunday teleconference. “We took care of business yesterday, and obviously there is no time to rest or relax. We’ve had a full day today getting the Maryland game over with and moving on to the next one, which happens to be LSU.”
No one should be surprised Holgorsen is just thinking about LSU. This is the Mountaineers biggest game of the season, ranking wise, and it will be the prime time game on Saturday night. On top of all of that, for the first time in ESPN’s history the national pregame show “College Gameday” will be coming to Morgantown. So all things considered Holgorsen should be worried about the upcoming game and not what conference the Mountaineers will play in two years down the road.
Holgorsen knows his players have their minds set on the upcoming LSU game and not what future conference their school is going to be in. Conference expansion and the future of the Big East is something he’s hasn’t talk to his players about and he knows they’re solely focused on knocking off the Tigers.
“Every game is big - we’ve been preaching that since we got here,” said Holgorsen. “Our jobs as coaches is to get the guys ready to play; whether you’re playing Marshall, Norfolk State, Maryland or LSU, it doesn’t matter. The weekend after (LSU) is going to be another one. We get into a routine and do our best to prepare each day to put ourselves in position to win the game on Saturday.”
The Mountaineers are 3-0 heading into this highly anticipated match up and the first year head coach says are finally getting into a solid routine.
“You need them to focus on the task at hand,” explained Holgorsen. “It’s about eliminating distractions, going to class, going to study hall and making sure you’re body is right. There is a lot on these guys’ plates from a student-athlete perspective to where they need to do the right thing every week.”
On Monday, Holgorsen and his staff will continue game planning for the Tigers and getting the Mountaineers ready to defend their home turf on national television.
“Today is about getting Maryland over with and moving on,” said Holgorsen. “I’ve looked at very little, but I’ll spend the rest of the night doing that. They’re obviously a good team. It doesn’t matter how many seniors they had last year, especially defensively, they’ll just replace them with guys who are every bit as good.”
While the majority of Mountaineer nation is focusing on the future of West Virginia in this time of conference uncertainty, Holgorsen is concentrating on the present and knocking off one of the top teams in the nation.
