Post by elp525 on Oct 1, 2011 4:46:07 GMT -5
September 30, 2011
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- If there was a single overriding question regarding West Virginia's offense heading into the season, it concerned the Mountaineers' offensive line.
Could even Dana Holgorsen's high-octane offense function smoothly - or at all - behind a group that, to be honest, had done little but consistently regress almost each year for the past three?
After one game, the question still seemed valid. After four? Well, not so much.
Heading into today's 3:30 p.m. game with Bowling Green (3-1) at Mountaineer Field, No. 22 West Virginia (3-1) doesn't exactly have the old Seven Blocks of Granite, but the line has made vast improvement from last year's train wreck.
For instance, the Mountaineers threw the ball a Big East record-tying 65 times a week ago against LSU and quarterback Geno Smith suffered nary a sack. West Virginia didn't exactly put on a rushing clinic behind that line - not with just 70 yards on the ground - but then again No. 1 LSU doesn't allow anyone to run the ball.
"We had 65 pass plays, no sacks and only a few hurries,'' center Joe Madsen said. "You always like to see that, but it would have been better to come out with the win.''
Indeed, a 47-21 loss was nothing to cheer about, but West Virginia did pile up 533 yards of total offense against one of the best defenses in the country, and that can't be accomplished without a lot of good things happening up front.
That's a far cry from the opening win against Marshall, when West Virginia averaged 1.6 yards per rush, or from the first three games combined, when opponents sacked Smith only four times but drove him out of the pocket constantly.
But there's no real secret to the improvement, said first-year offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.
"I think they just got better,'' Bedenbaugh said. "They prepared and they worked hard in practice. I mean, there's really no secrets to playing good. You've got to prepare to the best of your ability, you've got to believe in what you're doing, believe in what we're doing and go play confidently, and that's what they did.''
The improvement certainly was not because of personnel changes. The same five players - tackles Don Barclay and Pat Eger, guards Jeff Braun and Tyler Rader and center Madsen - have started every game. For the most part, they've played virtually every snap, too, although a handful of reserves have seen brief action.
Right from the start, though, Holgorsen has maintained there was nothing all that wrong with the players on the line, but instead with their effort. He maintained that all the line had to do was finish what they started on each play.
"We're getting better every week and that's what you want to see,'' Madsen said. "We got better against LSU. We finished blocks and we got pass plays down and communication was good. We're just getting better.
"Our technique has always been sound. It was just about finishing. Hopefully we continue to do that and just run over teams.''
Well, that's not likely. West Virginia still has three true freshmen playing the primary running back position in a pass-first offense. It's not likely this group will ever be asked to just run over teams.
But as for protecting Smith and opening the occasional lane for a back, well, that's looking more likely. Still, Bedenbaugh cautions that this is still a work in progress, even with the 65-for-65 performance of last week.
"Yeah [that was good], but people don't understand what's involved in pass protection. There's so many things,'' Bedenbaugh said. "Geno got hit three times that he shouldn't have and got hit pretty hard. But he got rid of the ball. Those could have very easily been sacks, but he was good enough to get rid of the ball. When they blitzed, our receivers ran hot [routes], so he could get rid of the ball. And our backs blocked really well, too.
"Obviously our line blocked well, too, but there's a lot more that goes into pass protection than just the offensive line.''
Today against Bowling Green, West Virginia's line will face a defense that is allowing fewer than 100 yards rushing and getting almost three sacks per game. Both of those rank among the top 30 in the country.
The question now becomes whether the Mountaineers can continue that improvement without the incentive of playing against a defense the caliber of LSU's.
"They've been getting better every week,'' Bedenbaugh said. "Everybody makes a big deal out of your opponent, but what we stress is that it doesn't matter who we're playing. We're good enough that if we prepare the right way and we go play like we're supposed to and practice like we're supposed to, we'll be fine.''
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- If there was a single overriding question regarding West Virginia's offense heading into the season, it concerned the Mountaineers' offensive line.
Could even Dana Holgorsen's high-octane offense function smoothly - or at all - behind a group that, to be honest, had done little but consistently regress almost each year for the past three?
After one game, the question still seemed valid. After four? Well, not so much.
Heading into today's 3:30 p.m. game with Bowling Green (3-1) at Mountaineer Field, No. 22 West Virginia (3-1) doesn't exactly have the old Seven Blocks of Granite, but the line has made vast improvement from last year's train wreck.
For instance, the Mountaineers threw the ball a Big East record-tying 65 times a week ago against LSU and quarterback Geno Smith suffered nary a sack. West Virginia didn't exactly put on a rushing clinic behind that line - not with just 70 yards on the ground - but then again No. 1 LSU doesn't allow anyone to run the ball.
"We had 65 pass plays, no sacks and only a few hurries,'' center Joe Madsen said. "You always like to see that, but it would have been better to come out with the win.''
Indeed, a 47-21 loss was nothing to cheer about, but West Virginia did pile up 533 yards of total offense against one of the best defenses in the country, and that can't be accomplished without a lot of good things happening up front.
That's a far cry from the opening win against Marshall, when West Virginia averaged 1.6 yards per rush, or from the first three games combined, when opponents sacked Smith only four times but drove him out of the pocket constantly.
But there's no real secret to the improvement, said first-year offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.
"I think they just got better,'' Bedenbaugh said. "They prepared and they worked hard in practice. I mean, there's really no secrets to playing good. You've got to prepare to the best of your ability, you've got to believe in what you're doing, believe in what we're doing and go play confidently, and that's what they did.''
The improvement certainly was not because of personnel changes. The same five players - tackles Don Barclay and Pat Eger, guards Jeff Braun and Tyler Rader and center Madsen - have started every game. For the most part, they've played virtually every snap, too, although a handful of reserves have seen brief action.
Right from the start, though, Holgorsen has maintained there was nothing all that wrong with the players on the line, but instead with their effort. He maintained that all the line had to do was finish what they started on each play.
"We're getting better every week and that's what you want to see,'' Madsen said. "We got better against LSU. We finished blocks and we got pass plays down and communication was good. We're just getting better.
"Our technique has always been sound. It was just about finishing. Hopefully we continue to do that and just run over teams.''
Well, that's not likely. West Virginia still has three true freshmen playing the primary running back position in a pass-first offense. It's not likely this group will ever be asked to just run over teams.
But as for protecting Smith and opening the occasional lane for a back, well, that's looking more likely. Still, Bedenbaugh cautions that this is still a work in progress, even with the 65-for-65 performance of last week.
"Yeah [that was good], but people don't understand what's involved in pass protection. There's so many things,'' Bedenbaugh said. "Geno got hit three times that he shouldn't have and got hit pretty hard. But he got rid of the ball. Those could have very easily been sacks, but he was good enough to get rid of the ball. When they blitzed, our receivers ran hot [routes], so he could get rid of the ball. And our backs blocked really well, too.
"Obviously our line blocked well, too, but there's a lot more that goes into pass protection than just the offensive line.''
Today against Bowling Green, West Virginia's line will face a defense that is allowing fewer than 100 yards rushing and getting almost three sacks per game. Both of those rank among the top 30 in the country.
The question now becomes whether the Mountaineers can continue that improvement without the incentive of playing against a defense the caliber of LSU's.
"They've been getting better every week,'' Bedenbaugh said. "Everybody makes a big deal out of your opponent, but what we stress is that it doesn't matter who we're playing. We're good enough that if we prepare the right way and we go play like we're supposed to and practice like we're supposed to, we'll be fine.''
