Post by elp525 on Oct 8, 2011 8:45:12 GMT -5
October 7, 2011
Competition still keen at WVU tailback spot
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - What Dustin Garrison accomplished a week ago by running for 291 yards against Bowling Green is difficult to understate.
Not only did he inject a new dimension into West Virginia's offense - his personal rushing total in one game was just 15 yards less than what the team had rushed for in the previous four games combined - but he seems to have separated himself from a tightly packed group of running backs.
Today, though, could bring an entirely different theme. Who knows?
Where the Mountaineers' ground game is concerned, this will be a much more difficult test. West Virginia (4-1) faces Connecticut (2-3) in the Big East opener for both teams at Mountaineer Field.
The Huskies are no Bowling Green. They rank eighth in the country in defending the run, allowing just 75 yards per game.
Consider that UConn has given up in five games just 376 rushing yards, or 16 more than WVU gained a week ago.
"They're physical. They're big. Their defensive front is big and they try to outnumber and suffocate you,'' West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said of the Huskies. "They're good against the run because they're physical and they try to outnumber you.''
Bowling Green didn't even try to do that. The Falcons mostly sat back and tried to slow a Mountaineer passing attack that had gained 463 yards a week earlier against No. 1 LSU, and they paid the price when Garrison was handed the ball 32 times and ran wild.
So don't expect West Virginia to run the ball 46 times or gain 360 yards today.
Still, if the Mountaineers do attempt to run the ball, just as interesting will be to whom they choose to hand it. Garrison will certainly get the first opportunity, but if you listen to Holgorsen and running backs coach Robert Gillespie and even Garrison himself, they are united in saying that the competition among the tailbacks isn't over just because Garrison had a one-game explosion.
Fellow freshmen Vernard Roberts and Andrew Buie, along with junior Shawne Alston, are still in the mix.
"There was nothing about [Garrison's] performance that would deter those guys from wanting to get better,'' Gillespie said. "Everybody was excited for Dustin, but the fact that he went out there and did well just motivates them to go out and keep working hard.''
Indeed, Garrison accomplished what he did in just his first start and with Buie shelved by an injury. Buie and Roberts had combined to play far more than Garrison through the first 31/2 games of the season (Garrison had just three carries in three games), and Alston has established himself as the go-to back in short-yardage and goal-line situations.
So while Garrison clearly earned the first chance to run the ball today against UConn, he apparently has not elevated himself far above the crowd.
"If you have a good week then you have to go out and have a better week,'' Garrison said. "I have to work harder this week than I did last week. It's always a competition, no matter how great a game you have. That's even more of a reason to fight and keep it up.
"They can make plays, too.''
While Garrison was the one who had the breakout game, he was also the beneficiary of perfect circumstances. His solid second half a week earlier against LSU earned him the right to start the next week and it just so happens that game was against a team that essentially took a pass on defending the run.
He was in the right place at the right time.
Yes, he took advantage of it, whereas Roberts or Buie might not have, but that remains a great unknown. Gillespie isn't about to give up on the others just because Garrison had one stunning performance.
He knows Garrison will continue to improve, but he also knows the others will, too.
"He's going to get better. Every game he's gotten better and hopefully by game eight or nine he'll be a lot better than what he is right now,'' Gillespie said of Garrison. "But it's not just him. All those guys are young and learning. And hopefully as guys get healthy and start coming back we'll have three or four guys we can rotate and help us win some games.''
That would be fine with Garrison.
"Gillespie makes it a competition constantly,'' Garrison said. "He always wants us to be hungry and work for a spot. He's still working on us.''
Competition still keen at WVU tailback spot
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - What Dustin Garrison accomplished a week ago by running for 291 yards against Bowling Green is difficult to understate.
Not only did he inject a new dimension into West Virginia's offense - his personal rushing total in one game was just 15 yards less than what the team had rushed for in the previous four games combined - but he seems to have separated himself from a tightly packed group of running backs.
Today, though, could bring an entirely different theme. Who knows?
Where the Mountaineers' ground game is concerned, this will be a much more difficult test. West Virginia (4-1) faces Connecticut (2-3) in the Big East opener for both teams at Mountaineer Field.
The Huskies are no Bowling Green. They rank eighth in the country in defending the run, allowing just 75 yards per game.
Consider that UConn has given up in five games just 376 rushing yards, or 16 more than WVU gained a week ago.
"They're physical. They're big. Their defensive front is big and they try to outnumber and suffocate you,'' West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said of the Huskies. "They're good against the run because they're physical and they try to outnumber you.''
Bowling Green didn't even try to do that. The Falcons mostly sat back and tried to slow a Mountaineer passing attack that had gained 463 yards a week earlier against No. 1 LSU, and they paid the price when Garrison was handed the ball 32 times and ran wild.
So don't expect West Virginia to run the ball 46 times or gain 360 yards today.
Still, if the Mountaineers do attempt to run the ball, just as interesting will be to whom they choose to hand it. Garrison will certainly get the first opportunity, but if you listen to Holgorsen and running backs coach Robert Gillespie and even Garrison himself, they are united in saying that the competition among the tailbacks isn't over just because Garrison had a one-game explosion.
Fellow freshmen Vernard Roberts and Andrew Buie, along with junior Shawne Alston, are still in the mix.
"There was nothing about [Garrison's] performance that would deter those guys from wanting to get better,'' Gillespie said. "Everybody was excited for Dustin, but the fact that he went out there and did well just motivates them to go out and keep working hard.''
Indeed, Garrison accomplished what he did in just his first start and with Buie shelved by an injury. Buie and Roberts had combined to play far more than Garrison through the first 31/2 games of the season (Garrison had just three carries in three games), and Alston has established himself as the go-to back in short-yardage and goal-line situations.
So while Garrison clearly earned the first chance to run the ball today against UConn, he apparently has not elevated himself far above the crowd.
"If you have a good week then you have to go out and have a better week,'' Garrison said. "I have to work harder this week than I did last week. It's always a competition, no matter how great a game you have. That's even more of a reason to fight and keep it up.
"They can make plays, too.''
While Garrison was the one who had the breakout game, he was also the beneficiary of perfect circumstances. His solid second half a week earlier against LSU earned him the right to start the next week and it just so happens that game was against a team that essentially took a pass on defending the run.
He was in the right place at the right time.
Yes, he took advantage of it, whereas Roberts or Buie might not have, but that remains a great unknown. Gillespie isn't about to give up on the others just because Garrison had one stunning performance.
He knows Garrison will continue to improve, but he also knows the others will, too.
"He's going to get better. Every game he's gotten better and hopefully by game eight or nine he'll be a lot better than what he is right now,'' Gillespie said of Garrison. "But it's not just him. All those guys are young and learning. And hopefully as guys get healthy and start coming back we'll have three or four guys we can rotate and help us win some games.''
That would be fine with Garrison.
"Gillespie makes it a competition constantly,'' Garrison said. "He always wants us to be hungry and work for a spot. He's still working on us.''
