Post by elp525 on Oct 19, 2011 5:10:58 GMT -5
10/18/2011
Chip Fontanazza
Morgantown
Dana Holgorsen’s will not be thinking about revenge in Friday night’s match up against Syracuse.
Last year’s contest was a big shock to Mountaineer fans when WVU lost to Syracuse 19-14. It was West Virginia’s first home loss since 2008 and it ended WVU’s eight game winning streak against SU. It would be one of the major reasons why the Mountaineers failed to make it to the BCS.
But revenge? Holgorsen wasn't even at WVU last year. As for the players, the coach said during his weekly news conference that just winning a conference game should be enough of a motivator.
“If we need anymore motivation than that, then we’re out of luck because that’s all I got for them this week and that should be plenty,” said Holgorsen.
((Below is Dana Holgorsen's complete weekly press conference))
Holgorsen admitted he watched parts of last year’s Syracuse game just to get an idea of what went wrong with the team. He also had a meeting with defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel to discuss what Syracuse’s offense did against their defense last season.
One of the conclusions Holgorsen made about last year’s game was the Mountaineers didn’t want to win as badly as the Orange did.
“It’s something we’ve talked about all year," Holgorsen said. "Every game is a challenge. You have to get up to playing every game, you have to play your best every game, every game is going to present its own challenge and we know what those challenges are when it comes to this week.”
The Orange come into this match up at 4-2 on the season and even though their opponents and their margin of victory (5 points per game) isn’t as impressive as WVU’s, Holgorsen says if his team doesn’t take the Orange seriously they will be in line for another upset.
“[They] will be a very challenging opponent, which we’re all aware of,” explained Holgorsen. “Every game in this conference you have to get ready to play, like West Virginia learned last year. Syracuse played with more effort and more energy for four quarters and ended up knocking off West Virginia.”
“They figure out ways to win,” continued Holgorsen. “Both of the opponents they lost to are 5-1. They play a very physical brand of football, defensively they pressure you a ton.”
The Orange may attempt to put a lot of pressure on Geno Smith and the offensive line, but the Syracuse defense is statistically the worst defense in the Big East Conference. SU has given up an average of 397 total yards and 27 points per game.
Syracuse will return one of the top pass rushers in the conference in senior defensive end Chandler Jones. He has played in only one game this season because of a lower body injury. Holgorsen expects to see Jones make a big improvement on the defense, but they still aren’t as experienced as last year.
“They were really good defensively last year and they have the potential to be really good defensively this year, but it’s not the same team,” said Holgorsen. “It’s the same scheme, it’s the same coordinator, it’s just what they do.”
Chip Fontanazza
Morgantown
Dana Holgorsen’s will not be thinking about revenge in Friday night’s match up against Syracuse.
Last year’s contest was a big shock to Mountaineer fans when WVU lost to Syracuse 19-14. It was West Virginia’s first home loss since 2008 and it ended WVU’s eight game winning streak against SU. It would be one of the major reasons why the Mountaineers failed to make it to the BCS.
But revenge? Holgorsen wasn't even at WVU last year. As for the players, the coach said during his weekly news conference that just winning a conference game should be enough of a motivator.
“If we need anymore motivation than that, then we’re out of luck because that’s all I got for them this week and that should be plenty,” said Holgorsen.
((Below is Dana Holgorsen's complete weekly press conference))
Holgorsen admitted he watched parts of last year’s Syracuse game just to get an idea of what went wrong with the team. He also had a meeting with defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel to discuss what Syracuse’s offense did against their defense last season.
One of the conclusions Holgorsen made about last year’s game was the Mountaineers didn’t want to win as badly as the Orange did.
“It’s something we’ve talked about all year," Holgorsen said. "Every game is a challenge. You have to get up to playing every game, you have to play your best every game, every game is going to present its own challenge and we know what those challenges are when it comes to this week.”
The Orange come into this match up at 4-2 on the season and even though their opponents and their margin of victory (5 points per game) isn’t as impressive as WVU’s, Holgorsen says if his team doesn’t take the Orange seriously they will be in line for another upset.
“[They] will be a very challenging opponent, which we’re all aware of,” explained Holgorsen. “Every game in this conference you have to get ready to play, like West Virginia learned last year. Syracuse played with more effort and more energy for four quarters and ended up knocking off West Virginia.”
“They figure out ways to win,” continued Holgorsen. “Both of the opponents they lost to are 5-1. They play a very physical brand of football, defensively they pressure you a ton.”
The Orange may attempt to put a lot of pressure on Geno Smith and the offensive line, but the Syracuse defense is statistically the worst defense in the Big East Conference. SU has given up an average of 397 total yards and 27 points per game.
Syracuse will return one of the top pass rushers in the conference in senior defensive end Chandler Jones. He has played in only one game this season because of a lower body injury. Holgorsen expects to see Jones make a big improvement on the defense, but they still aren’t as experienced as last year.
“They were really good defensively last year and they have the potential to be really good defensively this year, but it’s not the same team,” said Holgorsen. “It’s the same scheme, it’s the same coordinator, it’s just what they do.”
