Post by elp525 on Oct 19, 2011 5:03:26 GMT -5
Wednesday October 19, 2011
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Sophomore linebacker Doug Rigg, who missed West Virginia's past two games after surgery to repair a broken wrist, is practicing.
"Now his job becomes to be better than the guys in front of him," Coach Dana Holgorsen said.
Rigg started the first four games as the strong side linebacker, but broke his wrist and continued to play against LSU. Senior Najee Goode moved from the middle to Rigg's spot the past two games redshirt freshman Jewone Snow has started in the middle. Snow has 16 tackles, a half-sack for a safety and an 83-yard fumble return to set up a touchdown in his two starts.
"Do you lose your starting job due to injury?" Holgorsen said. "Depends on how you play to get back. We're going to play guys that are playing their best. Whether it's injury or performance that somebody got better and beat you out, whatever that is, we're going to hold guys accountable for what their actions are."
Holgorsen already has proved his commitment to that philosophy. Running back Andrew Buie was starting before he was injured against Maryland. Vernard Roberts started against LSU, but Dustin Garrison first emerged with 92 total yards and a touchdown that game and then took over with 291 yards rushing the next game.
Buie is back, but still behind Garrison.
"Garrison went in and I was pretty happy with his performance," Holgorsen said. "He'll start now and it's Buie's job when he gets in there to take advantage of the opportunity and do what he's got to do to get himself ahead of (Garrison)."
* * *
No. 11 WVU (5-1, 1-0 Big East) plays its second night game of the season at 8 p.m. Friday. The Mountaineers play inside the Carrier Dome against Syracuse (4-2, 0-1) in a game televised on ESPN.
The second road game is different from the first. WVU played host to LSU last month. Holgorsen tried to shorten the day by letting his players sleep until 11 a.m. and then backing up the schedule before starting with the pregame procedures.
Being at home on a day with plenty of college football on television helped the Mountaineers pass the time. WVU leaves early enough Thursday that it will spend much of the day in Syracuse. Holgorsen hasn't figured out what to do on a Friday in upstate New York.
"Everyone plays at night at times, but during a day where there's no football on presents a few more obstacles," he said. "I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do from noon to 4 p.m. We'll keep talking about that and try to come up with something to keep them occupied. We don't want them to just take naps."
* * *
WVU MADE A move on the offensive line during the Oct. 8 victory against Connecticut and pulled right tackle Pat Eger from the field in favor of Quinton Spain.
"We didn't think Eger was playing very good, but Eger came back and he's been a little better," Holgorsen said. "We'll probably start him."
Spain had replaced Eger once when Eger was hurt late against LSU, but had also played left guard in place of Jeff Braun. Holgorsen said Spain could probably play anywhere except center, but the plan was to keep the redshirt freshman on the right side as a backup guard and tackle.
"That's where he's been practicing since last year and since camp started," Holgorsen said. "He could possibly play left tackle, but we're not trying to move him around. That's not fair to a young kid."
* * *
THE ORANGE HAVE dealt with a list of injuries this season, but they're welcoming back bodies on a troubled defense.
Starting safety Shamarko Thomas returned from a two-game absence in the previous game. All-Big East defensive end Chandler Jones and Thomas' backup, Orlando Fisher, will return against the Mountaineers. They were hurt in the season-opener and haven't played since.
Syracuse has struggled against the pass this season, but injuries have hurt. Jones was second-team all-conference in 2010 after recording 57 tackles, 91/2 tackles for a loss and four sacks. Holgorsen said Jones was as good as any defensive end in the conference.
"Getting him back will cause problems," he said. "Their whole secondary is back. They've got good safeties. Their corners are guys who have played. Their scheme has been the same. They've been out of position a couple of times and have been beaten or they haven't gotten to the quarterback in time on pass defense, but it's a variety of things (to explain the struggles)."
* * *
HOLGORSEN LET HIS players have the weekend to themselves and take reasonable trips before returning to practice Sunday afternoon.
"We didn't want them to go to Florida or Texas or anything like that," he said. "But if it was Ohio, some guys went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Maryland, that was fine. We checked class Friday and if they wanted to leave Friday afternoon and come back Sunday morning, that was fine with us as long as they went within a close driving distance. They all showed up here Sunday."
There was one exception. Holgorsen, who was out recruiting, was the only one late to the team meeting.
"I had a good excuse," he said. "We had technical difficulty on the airplane in Chicago. It wasn't my fault. We left a lot of margin for error and I was 30 seconds late. What can I say?"
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Sophomore linebacker Doug Rigg, who missed West Virginia's past two games after surgery to repair a broken wrist, is practicing.
"Now his job becomes to be better than the guys in front of him," Coach Dana Holgorsen said.
Rigg started the first four games as the strong side linebacker, but broke his wrist and continued to play against LSU. Senior Najee Goode moved from the middle to Rigg's spot the past two games redshirt freshman Jewone Snow has started in the middle. Snow has 16 tackles, a half-sack for a safety and an 83-yard fumble return to set up a touchdown in his two starts.
"Do you lose your starting job due to injury?" Holgorsen said. "Depends on how you play to get back. We're going to play guys that are playing their best. Whether it's injury or performance that somebody got better and beat you out, whatever that is, we're going to hold guys accountable for what their actions are."
Holgorsen already has proved his commitment to that philosophy. Running back Andrew Buie was starting before he was injured against Maryland. Vernard Roberts started against LSU, but Dustin Garrison first emerged with 92 total yards and a touchdown that game and then took over with 291 yards rushing the next game.
Buie is back, but still behind Garrison.
"Garrison went in and I was pretty happy with his performance," Holgorsen said. "He'll start now and it's Buie's job when he gets in there to take advantage of the opportunity and do what he's got to do to get himself ahead of (Garrison)."
* * *
No. 11 WVU (5-1, 1-0 Big East) plays its second night game of the season at 8 p.m. Friday. The Mountaineers play inside the Carrier Dome against Syracuse (4-2, 0-1) in a game televised on ESPN.
The second road game is different from the first. WVU played host to LSU last month. Holgorsen tried to shorten the day by letting his players sleep until 11 a.m. and then backing up the schedule before starting with the pregame procedures.
Being at home on a day with plenty of college football on television helped the Mountaineers pass the time. WVU leaves early enough Thursday that it will spend much of the day in Syracuse. Holgorsen hasn't figured out what to do on a Friday in upstate New York.
"Everyone plays at night at times, but during a day where there's no football on presents a few more obstacles," he said. "I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do from noon to 4 p.m. We'll keep talking about that and try to come up with something to keep them occupied. We don't want them to just take naps."
* * *
WVU MADE A move on the offensive line during the Oct. 8 victory against Connecticut and pulled right tackle Pat Eger from the field in favor of Quinton Spain.
"We didn't think Eger was playing very good, but Eger came back and he's been a little better," Holgorsen said. "We'll probably start him."
Spain had replaced Eger once when Eger was hurt late against LSU, but had also played left guard in place of Jeff Braun. Holgorsen said Spain could probably play anywhere except center, but the plan was to keep the redshirt freshman on the right side as a backup guard and tackle.
"That's where he's been practicing since last year and since camp started," Holgorsen said. "He could possibly play left tackle, but we're not trying to move him around. That's not fair to a young kid."
* * *
THE ORANGE HAVE dealt with a list of injuries this season, but they're welcoming back bodies on a troubled defense.
Starting safety Shamarko Thomas returned from a two-game absence in the previous game. All-Big East defensive end Chandler Jones and Thomas' backup, Orlando Fisher, will return against the Mountaineers. They were hurt in the season-opener and haven't played since.
Syracuse has struggled against the pass this season, but injuries have hurt. Jones was second-team all-conference in 2010 after recording 57 tackles, 91/2 tackles for a loss and four sacks. Holgorsen said Jones was as good as any defensive end in the conference.
"Getting him back will cause problems," he said. "Their whole secondary is back. They've got good safeties. Their corners are guys who have played. Their scheme has been the same. They've been out of position a couple of times and have been beaten or they haven't gotten to the quarterback in time on pass defense, but it's a variety of things (to explain the struggles)."
* * *
HOLGORSEN LET HIS players have the weekend to themselves and take reasonable trips before returning to practice Sunday afternoon.
"We didn't want them to go to Florida or Texas or anything like that," he said. "But if it was Ohio, some guys went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Maryland, that was fine. We checked class Friday and if they wanted to leave Friday afternoon and come back Sunday morning, that was fine with us as long as they went within a close driving distance. They all showed up here Sunday."
There was one exception. Holgorsen, who was out recruiting, was the only one late to the team meeting.
"I had a good excuse," he said. "We had technical difficulty on the airplane in Chicago. It wasn't my fault. We left a lot of margin for error and I was 30 seconds late. What can I say?"
