Post by elp525 on Sept 23, 2011 5:06:32 GMT -5
Friday September 23, 2011
by Jack Bogaczyk
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Now, what West Virginia football needs more than ever is to put up a good front.
With second-ranked LSU coming to town for Saturday's 8:12 p.m. kickoff - an ABC national telecast - the No. 16 Mountaineers must keep doing what they did in last Saturday's win at Maryland.
"Coach (Dana) Holgorsen tells us we've got to be able to run the ball if we're going to be a good team," WVU left guard Jeff Braun said here earlier this week.
Holgorsen and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh say it, over, and over, and over. And although there was significant improvement in the run game - and its obviously connected offensive line play against the Terps, WVU still had fewer than 3 yards per carry.
On Tuesday, Holgorsen called the line play "a step forward," which was encouraging because the players were picking up what the coaches had been preaching.
"We're continuing to finish blocks," the WVU coach said. "We've been targeted right, but we hadn't been finishing. That part improved. It doesn't mean we've got everything figured out. It just means we keep improving for another week."
Although WVU's well-grounded program rarely has had a passing fancy - one exception was 1998, with quarterback Marc Bulger - under Holgorsen the Mountaineers plan to mostly move through the air.
"We've still got to be able to run the ball," center Joe Madsen said. "I think we just came out (last week) and had to prove to everybody that we weren't the weak offensive line everybody was saying we were. I think we did that, and we've got to carry it over. We've just got to get better.
"It's all being more physical, not playing to your opponent. We played Norfolk State (a Week 2 romp, eventually), and we played down to them in the first half, played like they did, to their level. (LSU has) better guys, and we've got to play much better. Hopefully we do."
Or, as Braun put it:
"We knew everything would work (against Maryland). Like we said last week, we needed to finish blocks, and we really took that to heart. We don't want to be labeled as an offensive line that doesn't finish blocks. We want to be nasty and stuff."
The problem is that WVU's front five - guard Quinton Spain is the only backup "regular" on a unit very quite of depth - will be facing perhaps the nation's top defensive line in the SEC Tigers.
Some have taken to calling the Baton Rouge program "D-Line U." in recent seasons ... and for good reason. Since '03, LSU has had seven All-America first-team selections on the front of its 4-3.
Those eight years have brought 12 NFL Draft selections to Coach Les Miles' defensive front four.
There's much more behind those front men, and running could be a chore for WVU. LSU ranks third nationally in rushing defense (47.7 yards per game) and has allowed only eight rushes of 10 or more yards.
"I think they're three-deep at both (defensive) tackles," said Madsen, who will make his 29th career start on the WVU line Saturday. "(Watching LSU tape), they had at least eight guys to the ball every time ... and they come to the ball hard.
"They use their hands a lot, but they're not bull rushers or anything, so we set back and pick everything up. We played them last year (a 20-14 loss in Baton Rouge), and know what they can bring.
"We know if they ring us up one time they're going to capitalize and they're going to build on it and come after us."
Tyler Rader, WVU's right guard and a former Nitro High star, said the line's improvement at Maryland was mostly about message-received from the coaches.
"We finished our blocks," Rader said. "We did a good job getting on blocks before, but we weren't finishing, burying people, knocking them down, doing the things a good O-line should do.
"Before, I think we were just trying to make sure we had our assignments right. I think we were still thinking too much instead of just playing football like we knew how to play football.
"But no stretch of the imagination was the Maryland game where we want to be and need to be. We still have to get 20 times better, and we'll keep improving on that game.
"(For LSU), we've got to be on our 'A' game. More than that, we've got to do the little things. Little things can make a big difference in this game."
Bedenbaugh, who has a decade of major college offensive line coaching experience at Texas Tech and Arizona, is encouraged by his unit's play, but said for WVU to take the next step against LSU will be trying.
He said he'll take his offensive line's improvement week-by-week, and the Maryland game was a major encouragement.
"I don't know we had any knockdown (blocks), finish blocks from anyone (in wins over Marshall and Norfolk State)," Bedenbaugh said. "In (last week's) game, we had multiple ones from multiple guys. So, obviously that got through to them.
"And this week, it's obviously a huge challenge. It's going to be a step up in competition ... so the biggest thing we've got to do is step up our game and get better. You just constantly improve every week, and give your best and that's all we can ask for.
"They play hard; these guys play hard. Effort and playing hard, and wanting to get better has never been an issue. It's just the fine-tuning of things and, you know, the mental edge, the mental toughness to not be satisfied with getting on a block, be satisfied with finishing a block."
by Jack Bogaczyk
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Now, what West Virginia football needs more than ever is to put up a good front.
With second-ranked LSU coming to town for Saturday's 8:12 p.m. kickoff - an ABC national telecast - the No. 16 Mountaineers must keep doing what they did in last Saturday's win at Maryland.
"Coach (Dana) Holgorsen tells us we've got to be able to run the ball if we're going to be a good team," WVU left guard Jeff Braun said here earlier this week.
Holgorsen and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh say it, over, and over, and over. And although there was significant improvement in the run game - and its obviously connected offensive line play against the Terps, WVU still had fewer than 3 yards per carry.
On Tuesday, Holgorsen called the line play "a step forward," which was encouraging because the players were picking up what the coaches had been preaching.
"We're continuing to finish blocks," the WVU coach said. "We've been targeted right, but we hadn't been finishing. That part improved. It doesn't mean we've got everything figured out. It just means we keep improving for another week."
Although WVU's well-grounded program rarely has had a passing fancy - one exception was 1998, with quarterback Marc Bulger - under Holgorsen the Mountaineers plan to mostly move through the air.
"We've still got to be able to run the ball," center Joe Madsen said. "I think we just came out (last week) and had to prove to everybody that we weren't the weak offensive line everybody was saying we were. I think we did that, and we've got to carry it over. We've just got to get better.
"It's all being more physical, not playing to your opponent. We played Norfolk State (a Week 2 romp, eventually), and we played down to them in the first half, played like they did, to their level. (LSU has) better guys, and we've got to play much better. Hopefully we do."
Or, as Braun put it:
"We knew everything would work (against Maryland). Like we said last week, we needed to finish blocks, and we really took that to heart. We don't want to be labeled as an offensive line that doesn't finish blocks. We want to be nasty and stuff."
The problem is that WVU's front five - guard Quinton Spain is the only backup "regular" on a unit very quite of depth - will be facing perhaps the nation's top defensive line in the SEC Tigers.
Some have taken to calling the Baton Rouge program "D-Line U." in recent seasons ... and for good reason. Since '03, LSU has had seven All-America first-team selections on the front of its 4-3.
Those eight years have brought 12 NFL Draft selections to Coach Les Miles' defensive front four.
There's much more behind those front men, and running could be a chore for WVU. LSU ranks third nationally in rushing defense (47.7 yards per game) and has allowed only eight rushes of 10 or more yards.
"I think they're three-deep at both (defensive) tackles," said Madsen, who will make his 29th career start on the WVU line Saturday. "(Watching LSU tape), they had at least eight guys to the ball every time ... and they come to the ball hard.
"They use their hands a lot, but they're not bull rushers or anything, so we set back and pick everything up. We played them last year (a 20-14 loss in Baton Rouge), and know what they can bring.
"We know if they ring us up one time they're going to capitalize and they're going to build on it and come after us."
Tyler Rader, WVU's right guard and a former Nitro High star, said the line's improvement at Maryland was mostly about message-received from the coaches.
"We finished our blocks," Rader said. "We did a good job getting on blocks before, but we weren't finishing, burying people, knocking them down, doing the things a good O-line should do.
"Before, I think we were just trying to make sure we had our assignments right. I think we were still thinking too much instead of just playing football like we knew how to play football.
"But no stretch of the imagination was the Maryland game where we want to be and need to be. We still have to get 20 times better, and we'll keep improving on that game.
"(For LSU), we've got to be on our 'A' game. More than that, we've got to do the little things. Little things can make a big difference in this game."
Bedenbaugh, who has a decade of major college offensive line coaching experience at Texas Tech and Arizona, is encouraged by his unit's play, but said for WVU to take the next step against LSU will be trying.
He said he'll take his offensive line's improvement week-by-week, and the Maryland game was a major encouragement.
"I don't know we had any knockdown (blocks), finish blocks from anyone (in wins over Marshall and Norfolk State)," Bedenbaugh said. "In (last week's) game, we had multiple ones from multiple guys. So, obviously that got through to them.
"And this week, it's obviously a huge challenge. It's going to be a step up in competition ... so the biggest thing we've got to do is step up our game and get better. You just constantly improve every week, and give your best and that's all we can ask for.
"They play hard; these guys play hard. Effort and playing hard, and wanting to get better has never been an issue. It's just the fine-tuning of things and, you know, the mental edge, the mental toughness to not be satisfied with getting on a block, be satisfied with finishing a block."
