Post by elp525 on Sept 24, 2011 6:05:55 GMT -5
September 23, 2011
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - Conventional wisdom has it that the fastest, most physical defense on the field tonight when No. 16 West Virginia meets No. 2 LSU at Mountaineer Field will belong to the Tigers.
And that's probably true.
West Virginia is still feeling its way with seven new defensive starters, and defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel admits that until the players become comfortable in their roles, they tend not to let loose with all the aggressiveness they might need to be successful.
A couple of WVU's veterans, though, were too aggressive a week ago against Maryland. Or at least that's the way the officials saw it when both linebacker Najee Goode and safety Terence Garvin were whistled for personal fouls.
Both were called for leading with their helmets.
"Those are bang-bang judgment calls and sometimes they get them right and sometimes they don't,'' West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "The thing that I thought we did a good job of was when both of those happened we didn't cave. Both of those happened in the first half and we were playing good on defense and we were real physical and we got off the field on third down. When those happened they kind of put us in a bind [at that instant], but we didn't cave in and they didn't get touchdowns.''
Neither Goode nor Garvin were trying to make hits with their helmets, but that's the way the officials saw it. That doesn't mean they won't back off the next time.
"Playing against a team like LSU, if the same situation comes up the best I can do is make the same play and try to change how I do it,'' Goode said. "You need to hit him and wrap him up.''
In a game with all the attention and emotion tonight's is likely to create, players are going to want to make big hits and big plays. The last thing the Mountaineers can afford to do is be timid because two plays went against them last week.
"It's officiating,'' Holgorsen said. "You've got to worry about stuff you can control and that's one that you don't. You just have to line up and play the next play, which I thought we did a good job of doing.''
Holgorsen has no problem with enforcing the rules regarding helmet hits.
"You've got to do it,'' Holgorsen said. "There were a couple instances [in the Oklahoma-Florida State game] where you saw it. You've got to protect them. If guys are leading with the top of their heads, you've got to call it. There was one that happened to us [at Maryland] that didn't get called. That's just part of it.''
nn
There are certain areas where West Virginia might have some advantages as far as personnel matchups over LSU on offense. With four or five wide receivers on the field most plays and only two or three cornerbacks, that's just natural.
Holgorsen, though, said he isn't big on identifying matchups.
"We worry a little bit more about scheme. When you play a team like this that has talented individuals at every position and they have backups that are talented, then you don't worry too much about matchups,'' Holgorsen said. "You worry about scheme and you worry about each guy just doing his part and doing his job and trying to win individual battles, but also worry about the scheme to where you take advantage of what they're giving you.''
nn
West Virginia's offensive line is getting better. That was proven a week ago when the Mountaineers actually made a dent with the running game and quarterback Geno Smith was sacked just once despite throwing 49 times.
"We played better up front and that was good to see,'' Holgorsen said. "They pretty much proved our point that they were capable of finishing some blocks and bringing the running backs free and getting some pretty good pass protection.''
This week, though, is a different animal. Tonight West Virginia faces an LSU defensive front that goes at least two deep at every position and sometimes three deep. The Tigers will play everyone, too, and West Virginia generally plays just five offensive linemen over the course of the entire game.
"LSU has as good a defensive line as there is out there in the country,'' Holgorsen said. "They've got about eight or nine guys they can roll in there and they all look the same to me. So we know we're not going to be able to wear them down because of their depth. We're just going to have to execute and do our best to hang on.''
Center Joe Madsen, though, doesn't worry about wearing down.
"When you have all that adrenalin pumping and the stadium is full and loud,'' he said, "every play seems like the first one.''
BRIEFLY: Holgorsen has been preaching to his players all week about focusing on the task at hand and not getting caught up in the hoopla surrounding a nationally televised night game and the presence of ESPN's College GameDay.
"We're not supposed to pay attention to that stuff,'' Goode said. "But it does get you amped up during the week to play the game on Saturday.''
As for Holgorsen, he needs to practice what he preaches and claims he usually has no problem with that.
"I try to ignore my surroundings,'' Holgorsen said. "I've got a lot to think about during a game.''
Wide receiver Tavon Austin will play for a second straight week with his fingers taped after having two screws inserted after breaking a bone against Norfolk State.
How did it affect him last week? Well, he caught 11 passes for 122 yards and ran back six kickoffs for 122 yards. By the way, Austin ranks third in the country in all-purpose yardage (208.7 per game), fourth in punt returns and 16th in kickoff returns. He's also third in the Big East in both receptions and receiving yards per game.
And he had his best game with two screws in his finger.
"They say I'm a fast healer,'' Austin said.
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - Conventional wisdom has it that the fastest, most physical defense on the field tonight when No. 16 West Virginia meets No. 2 LSU at Mountaineer Field will belong to the Tigers.
And that's probably true.
West Virginia is still feeling its way with seven new defensive starters, and defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel admits that until the players become comfortable in their roles, they tend not to let loose with all the aggressiveness they might need to be successful.
A couple of WVU's veterans, though, were too aggressive a week ago against Maryland. Or at least that's the way the officials saw it when both linebacker Najee Goode and safety Terence Garvin were whistled for personal fouls.
Both were called for leading with their helmets.
"Those are bang-bang judgment calls and sometimes they get them right and sometimes they don't,'' West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "The thing that I thought we did a good job of was when both of those happened we didn't cave. Both of those happened in the first half and we were playing good on defense and we were real physical and we got off the field on third down. When those happened they kind of put us in a bind [at that instant], but we didn't cave in and they didn't get touchdowns.''
Neither Goode nor Garvin were trying to make hits with their helmets, but that's the way the officials saw it. That doesn't mean they won't back off the next time.
"Playing against a team like LSU, if the same situation comes up the best I can do is make the same play and try to change how I do it,'' Goode said. "You need to hit him and wrap him up.''
In a game with all the attention and emotion tonight's is likely to create, players are going to want to make big hits and big plays. The last thing the Mountaineers can afford to do is be timid because two plays went against them last week.
"It's officiating,'' Holgorsen said. "You've got to worry about stuff you can control and that's one that you don't. You just have to line up and play the next play, which I thought we did a good job of doing.''
Holgorsen has no problem with enforcing the rules regarding helmet hits.
"You've got to do it,'' Holgorsen said. "There were a couple instances [in the Oklahoma-Florida State game] where you saw it. You've got to protect them. If guys are leading with the top of their heads, you've got to call it. There was one that happened to us [at Maryland] that didn't get called. That's just part of it.''
nn
There are certain areas where West Virginia might have some advantages as far as personnel matchups over LSU on offense. With four or five wide receivers on the field most plays and only two or three cornerbacks, that's just natural.
Holgorsen, though, said he isn't big on identifying matchups.
"We worry a little bit more about scheme. When you play a team like this that has talented individuals at every position and they have backups that are talented, then you don't worry too much about matchups,'' Holgorsen said. "You worry about scheme and you worry about each guy just doing his part and doing his job and trying to win individual battles, but also worry about the scheme to where you take advantage of what they're giving you.''
nn
West Virginia's offensive line is getting better. That was proven a week ago when the Mountaineers actually made a dent with the running game and quarterback Geno Smith was sacked just once despite throwing 49 times.
"We played better up front and that was good to see,'' Holgorsen said. "They pretty much proved our point that they were capable of finishing some blocks and bringing the running backs free and getting some pretty good pass protection.''
This week, though, is a different animal. Tonight West Virginia faces an LSU defensive front that goes at least two deep at every position and sometimes three deep. The Tigers will play everyone, too, and West Virginia generally plays just five offensive linemen over the course of the entire game.
"LSU has as good a defensive line as there is out there in the country,'' Holgorsen said. "They've got about eight or nine guys they can roll in there and they all look the same to me. So we know we're not going to be able to wear them down because of their depth. We're just going to have to execute and do our best to hang on.''
Center Joe Madsen, though, doesn't worry about wearing down.
"When you have all that adrenalin pumping and the stadium is full and loud,'' he said, "every play seems like the first one.''
BRIEFLY: Holgorsen has been preaching to his players all week about focusing on the task at hand and not getting caught up in the hoopla surrounding a nationally televised night game and the presence of ESPN's College GameDay.
"We're not supposed to pay attention to that stuff,'' Goode said. "But it does get you amped up during the week to play the game on Saturday.''
As for Holgorsen, he needs to practice what he preaches and claims he usually has no problem with that.
"I try to ignore my surroundings,'' Holgorsen said. "I've got a lot to think about during a game.''
Wide receiver Tavon Austin will play for a second straight week with his fingers taped after having two screws inserted after breaking a bone against Norfolk State.
How did it affect him last week? Well, he caught 11 passes for 122 yards and ran back six kickoffs for 122 yards. By the way, Austin ranks third in the country in all-purpose yardage (208.7 per game), fourth in punt returns and 16th in kickoff returns. He's also third in the Big East in both receptions and receiving yards per game.
And he had his best game with two screws in his finger.
"They say I'm a fast healer,'' Austin said.
