Post by rainman on Oct 8, 2007 5:39:49 GMT -5
WVU hits offensive balance in big win
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— West Virginia came oh-so-close to a perfectly balanced offense in Saturday’s 55-14 smashing of Syracuse (1-5, 1-1 Big East) in the Carrier Dome.
The Mountaineers, who leaped from 13th to No. 8 in The Associated Press poll on Sunday, rushed for 251 yards while passing for 235.
“I didn’t notice that until about an hour ago while looking at the stats,” Coach Rich Rodriguez said after the usual Sunday review of game tapes.
But he pointed out quickly that “we’re more concerned, obviously, with being productive offensively.”
Well, players and coaches alike had to be happy about that on Saturday. WVU scored on nine of its 11 possessions, not counting the game-ending one.
“That was the most pleasing thing,” Rodriguez said. “We have as a goal, offensively, to try to score on six possessions — or half the normally 12 or 13 possessions that we get.
“It’s a pretty ambitious goal. But it’s something that we talk about offensively.”
He does think having a good balance helps, particularly if an opponent loads up the box against the run as a lot of teams have done.
“But we never go into a certain game saying we have to throw an X-number of passes or have an X-number of runs. We just try to take what they give us and hope we can execute it,” the veteran Mountaineer mentor said.
He emphasized that it really doesn’t matter much to him whether his team is even close to a balance between the run and pass.
“I just want to execute and try to take advantage of how they’re playing us,” he continued.
Rodriguez said quarterback Patrick White left the SU game in the third quarter with a strain in his chest muscle. But with an open date this week, he’ll have plenty of time to heal.
The Mountaineers (5-1, 1-1) do not play again until Mississippi State visits Morgantown on Saturday, Oct. 20.
Rodriguez believes the schedule break is coming at a really good time. His team has played six games in 36 days, including four on the road.
He said a lot of time will be spent on fundamentals in practice sessions this week. He noted that it’s much-needed work in all three phases.
“Watching the film, we could see some guys making fundamental mistakes, which we’ve got to get corrected,” Rodriguez explained.
“I thought we played hard and pretty well, but we didn’t play particularly well early against the SU run.”
He cited taking the right steps on some of the run blocks and getting more precise blocks on pass routes were two things needing work.
Kickoff coverage and kickoff returns also need further attention, Rodriguez said.
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— West Virginia came oh-so-close to a perfectly balanced offense in Saturday’s 55-14 smashing of Syracuse (1-5, 1-1 Big East) in the Carrier Dome.
The Mountaineers, who leaped from 13th to No. 8 in The Associated Press poll on Sunday, rushed for 251 yards while passing for 235.
“I didn’t notice that until about an hour ago while looking at the stats,” Coach Rich Rodriguez said after the usual Sunday review of game tapes.
But he pointed out quickly that “we’re more concerned, obviously, with being productive offensively.”
Well, players and coaches alike had to be happy about that on Saturday. WVU scored on nine of its 11 possessions, not counting the game-ending one.
“That was the most pleasing thing,” Rodriguez said. “We have as a goal, offensively, to try to score on six possessions — or half the normally 12 or 13 possessions that we get.
“It’s a pretty ambitious goal. But it’s something that we talk about offensively.”
He does think having a good balance helps, particularly if an opponent loads up the box against the run as a lot of teams have done.
“But we never go into a certain game saying we have to throw an X-number of passes or have an X-number of runs. We just try to take what they give us and hope we can execute it,” the veteran Mountaineer mentor said.
He emphasized that it really doesn’t matter much to him whether his team is even close to a balance between the run and pass.
“I just want to execute and try to take advantage of how they’re playing us,” he continued.
Rodriguez said quarterback Patrick White left the SU game in the third quarter with a strain in his chest muscle. But with an open date this week, he’ll have plenty of time to heal.
The Mountaineers (5-1, 1-1) do not play again until Mississippi State visits Morgantown on Saturday, Oct. 20.
Rodriguez believes the schedule break is coming at a really good time. His team has played six games in 36 days, including four on the road.
He said a lot of time will be spent on fundamentals in practice sessions this week. He noted that it’s much-needed work in all three phases.
“Watching the film, we could see some guys making fundamental mistakes, which we’ve got to get corrected,” Rodriguez explained.
“I thought we played hard and pretty well, but we didn’t play particularly well early against the SU run.”
He cited taking the right steps on some of the run blocks and getting more precise blocks on pass routes were two things needing work.
Kickoff coverage and kickoff returns also need further attention, Rodriguez said.
