Post by rainman on Sept 24, 2007 5:46:46 GMT -5
Rod: WVU can still play better
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Make no mistake, Coach Rich Rodriguez still believes West Virginia’s football team had one of its finest overall performances in Saturday’s 48-7 victory over East Carolina.
But after watching games tapes, he said Sunday that the fifth-ranked Mountaineers (4-0) can play even better. They may have to do just that in next Friday night’s Big East opener against No. 18 South Florida (3-0) in Tampa.
“I thought we played really hard and that our guys were focused,” Rodriguez said. “But after watching the film, I know we’ve still got some work to do.
“Fundamentally, we weren’t good at times on offense. On defense, there are still a few things we can still be better on.”
The veteran Mountaineer mentor said there weren’t a whole lot of missed assignments. But he noted a few at times, particularly in the run game. He called them fundamental, technique things that can be corrected.
With the largest crowd ever to see a USF home game (63,000) expected, Rodriguez said his team must prepare in practice this week for the extremely noisy, hostile atmosphere. “We use loud music and also get behind the quarter with a lot of noise,” he explained.
USF quarterback Matt Grothe, who engineered last year’s 24-19 upset of WVU in Morgantown, said he hardly could hear with 40,000 fans yelling at last Saturday’s easy victory over North Carolina. He wonders how it will be with 63,000 in the stands.
“It’s really going to be very loud,” Rodriguez ventured. “We’re going to have to be prepared for that.”
The WVU squad is pretty healthy. Only Will Johnson was injured in the ECU game. The coach said Johnson hurt his shoulder on a kickoff and that his status is uncertain.
“Grothe is very dangerous on the run,” Rodriguez said. “The key anytime you’ve got a quarterback as talented as he is, you just pressure him. But, at the same time, don’t let him get loose and run around.
“He hurt us last year, and he’ll take the ball. He’s an outstanding athlete. We’ve got to be disciplined defensively. But we can’t just sit back and let him pick us apart.”
He was very pleased with the play of his own starting quarterback, Patrick White, on Saturday. “Pat was sharp (20 of 22 passing) and made good decisions,” Rodriguez observed. “And Steve Slaton (110 yards rushing) was running well.
“Our guys made some plays in space, and that’s what you want to do on offense. They did a nice job of that Saturday.”
Eight different receivers caught passes for WVU. “We’ve always had them,” Rodriguez said. “We just try to take what the defense gives you. A lot of times defenses do a good job.
“They rally to the ball. But we did a good job with our perimeter blocking, for the most part.”
Rodriguez said South Florida has great speed scattered everywhere on its team. That’s because the school is attracting more of the top players in the Sunshine State.
“They’re going to be one of the fastest teams in the country each and every year,” the coach said. “So they’ve got a lot of fast guys all over the place.
“Our guys will face a challenge in trying to block them, hat on hat, and on defense they’ve got a lot of guys that can run. It’ll be a big challenge playing at their place.”
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Make no mistake, Coach Rich Rodriguez still believes West Virginia’s football team had one of its finest overall performances in Saturday’s 48-7 victory over East Carolina.
But after watching games tapes, he said Sunday that the fifth-ranked Mountaineers (4-0) can play even better. They may have to do just that in next Friday night’s Big East opener against No. 18 South Florida (3-0) in Tampa.
“I thought we played really hard and that our guys were focused,” Rodriguez said. “But after watching the film, I know we’ve still got some work to do.
“Fundamentally, we weren’t good at times on offense. On defense, there are still a few things we can still be better on.”
The veteran Mountaineer mentor said there weren’t a whole lot of missed assignments. But he noted a few at times, particularly in the run game. He called them fundamental, technique things that can be corrected.
With the largest crowd ever to see a USF home game (63,000) expected, Rodriguez said his team must prepare in practice this week for the extremely noisy, hostile atmosphere. “We use loud music and also get behind the quarter with a lot of noise,” he explained.
USF quarterback Matt Grothe, who engineered last year’s 24-19 upset of WVU in Morgantown, said he hardly could hear with 40,000 fans yelling at last Saturday’s easy victory over North Carolina. He wonders how it will be with 63,000 in the stands.
“It’s really going to be very loud,” Rodriguez ventured. “We’re going to have to be prepared for that.”
The WVU squad is pretty healthy. Only Will Johnson was injured in the ECU game. The coach said Johnson hurt his shoulder on a kickoff and that his status is uncertain.
“Grothe is very dangerous on the run,” Rodriguez said. “The key anytime you’ve got a quarterback as talented as he is, you just pressure him. But, at the same time, don’t let him get loose and run around.
“He hurt us last year, and he’ll take the ball. He’s an outstanding athlete. We’ve got to be disciplined defensively. But we can’t just sit back and let him pick us apart.”
He was very pleased with the play of his own starting quarterback, Patrick White, on Saturday. “Pat was sharp (20 of 22 passing) and made good decisions,” Rodriguez observed. “And Steve Slaton (110 yards rushing) was running well.
“Our guys made some plays in space, and that’s what you want to do on offense. They did a nice job of that Saturday.”
Eight different receivers caught passes for WVU. “We’ve always had them,” Rodriguez said. “We just try to take what the defense gives you. A lot of times defenses do a good job.
“They rally to the ball. But we did a good job with our perimeter blocking, for the most part.”
Rodriguez said South Florida has great speed scattered everywhere on its team. That’s because the school is attracting more of the top players in the Sunshine State.
“They’re going to be one of the fastest teams in the country each and every year,” the coach said. “So they’ve got a lot of fast guys all over the place.
“Our guys will face a challenge in trying to block them, hat on hat, and on defense they’ve got a lot of guys that can run. It’ll be a big challenge playing at their place.”
