Post by elp525 on Sept 21, 2011 5:00:57 GMT -5
09/20/2011
Chip Fontanazza
Morgantown
There was very little talk about conference expansion in Dana Holgorsen’s Tuesday press conference, quite simply because he doesn’t have anything to say about it. Holgorsen isn’t trying to avoid it, but he knows it’s nothing he can control.
That’s the kind of message he is sending to his team this week as they prepare for a historical match up against the LSU Tigers. The SEC powerhouse comes into Morgantown ranked 2nd in the nation and WVU is ranked 16th. All his team can do is prepare for the upcoming game during this time of conference uncertainty and that’s all Holgorsen is telling his team.
“I know it’s out there and a lot of people are talking about it. It’s impossible to avoid it, whether it’s the newspaper or the internet,” said Holgorsen. “I don’t think it’s necessary because they understand that everything I talk about is worry about things you can control.”
The Mountaineers are well aware of how good the LSU Tiger program is. They faced them last year and lost 20-14 in Baton Rouge. Holgorsen is hoping his offense will possibly tire out the LSU defense. WVU runs its offense at a very fast pace, but the Tigers faced a fast paced offense in Oregon to open the season and had no problem stopping the Ducks and beat them 40-27 in Dallas, Texas.
((Below is Dana Holgorsen's Press Conference from Tuesday))
Holgorsen says that performance by the Tigers is something that’s been on his mind for quite some time.
“Watching them against Oregon - nobody goes faster than Oregon,” said Holgorsen. “We don’t go faster than Oregon. Oregon goes faster than anybody else in the country and the handled their tempo just fine.”
“You can’t go out there and have a three and out in the matter of 15 seconds,” continued Holgorsen. “You’d destroy your team. We don’t have the goal of snapping the ball a specific amount of times, but it’s more about rhythm than anything. When you start having success it’s easier getting into a rhythm I don’t care what offense that you play.”
These two teams couldn’t be more different. The Mountaineers run a spread and fast paced offense, where LSU runs a physical hard nose offense. Defensively, LSU is very physical and in your face and West Virginia runs the 3-3-5 stack. Both teams will see formations that they don’t usually see and that could play as an advantage or a disadvantage.
One thing Holgorsen feels is a strength for the Tigers is their depth on defense.
“One thing that is concerning watching their defense is they don’t play just 11 people,” said Holgorsen. “They have tremendous depth on both sides of the ball and they can put their twos in there and they look just as good as their ones.”
Regardless of how tough or important this game is it will count as one win or one loss. Holgorsen has also been stressing that fact to his players all week. Which is why they spend the same amount of time preparing for each game. He knows Saturday night will be a challenge and that’s something he really likes about his match up.
“Coach [Les] Miles has established the program over the last seven years they’ve won a couple National Championships in the last decade,” said Holgorsen. “They’ve recruited well and their facilities are good.”
“They’ve been good for quite some time. You don’t win two National Championships in a decade and be average,” continued Holgorsen. “That just doesn’t turn south quick. They’ve done a good job of sustaining their program.”
Chip Fontanazza
Morgantown
There was very little talk about conference expansion in Dana Holgorsen’s Tuesday press conference, quite simply because he doesn’t have anything to say about it. Holgorsen isn’t trying to avoid it, but he knows it’s nothing he can control.
That’s the kind of message he is sending to his team this week as they prepare for a historical match up against the LSU Tigers. The SEC powerhouse comes into Morgantown ranked 2nd in the nation and WVU is ranked 16th. All his team can do is prepare for the upcoming game during this time of conference uncertainty and that’s all Holgorsen is telling his team.
“I know it’s out there and a lot of people are talking about it. It’s impossible to avoid it, whether it’s the newspaper or the internet,” said Holgorsen. “I don’t think it’s necessary because they understand that everything I talk about is worry about things you can control.”
The Mountaineers are well aware of how good the LSU Tiger program is. They faced them last year and lost 20-14 in Baton Rouge. Holgorsen is hoping his offense will possibly tire out the LSU defense. WVU runs its offense at a very fast pace, but the Tigers faced a fast paced offense in Oregon to open the season and had no problem stopping the Ducks and beat them 40-27 in Dallas, Texas.
((Below is Dana Holgorsen's Press Conference from Tuesday))
Holgorsen says that performance by the Tigers is something that’s been on his mind for quite some time.
“Watching them against Oregon - nobody goes faster than Oregon,” said Holgorsen. “We don’t go faster than Oregon. Oregon goes faster than anybody else in the country and the handled their tempo just fine.”
“You can’t go out there and have a three and out in the matter of 15 seconds,” continued Holgorsen. “You’d destroy your team. We don’t have the goal of snapping the ball a specific amount of times, but it’s more about rhythm than anything. When you start having success it’s easier getting into a rhythm I don’t care what offense that you play.”
These two teams couldn’t be more different. The Mountaineers run a spread and fast paced offense, where LSU runs a physical hard nose offense. Defensively, LSU is very physical and in your face and West Virginia runs the 3-3-5 stack. Both teams will see formations that they don’t usually see and that could play as an advantage or a disadvantage.
One thing Holgorsen feels is a strength for the Tigers is their depth on defense.
“One thing that is concerning watching their defense is they don’t play just 11 people,” said Holgorsen. “They have tremendous depth on both sides of the ball and they can put their twos in there and they look just as good as their ones.”
Regardless of how tough or important this game is it will count as one win or one loss. Holgorsen has also been stressing that fact to his players all week. Which is why they spend the same amount of time preparing for each game. He knows Saturday night will be a challenge and that’s something he really likes about his match up.
“Coach [Les] Miles has established the program over the last seven years they’ve won a couple National Championships in the last decade,” said Holgorsen. “They’ve recruited well and their facilities are good.”
“They’ve been good for quite some time. You don’t win two National Championships in a decade and be average,” continued Holgorsen. “That just doesn’t turn south quick. They’ve done a good job of sustaining their program.”
