Post by rainman on Sept 18, 2007 5:56:37 GMT -5
Nothing but praise
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Skip Holtz, East Carolina’s head coach, said Monday he has never played a team with the offensive speed of West Virginia that the Pirates face here Saturday.
“They’re one of the fastest teams I’ve seen, and I had the pleasure to play some really good Tennessee teams that won national championships and Florida teams and Florida State and Notre Dame,” he told the media on the Conference USA weekly teleconference.
Holtz said the fifth-ranked Mountaineers “flat-out make people look stupid. I mean, they get in the open field and what they do ...
“I’ve been watching Pat White and Steve Slaton play for the last two years, and now I’m getting an opportunity to see them play three years in a row, which don’t jump up and down about. Now you look at (freshman) Noel Devine. Watch him on film, and he may be better than all of them.”
He believes Rich Rodriguez has done a great job putting his program together since becoming the head coach in 2001.
“They’ve got great speed and athleticism, and you know they’re going to score a lot of points,” Holtz continued. “I know they’re averaging about 363 yards a game rushing — or whatever it is — and you know the only chance you have is to try to wind up outscoring them.”
But he thinks that, defensively, the Mountaineers pose a lot of problems with their front because it has become more aggressive. “They’re doing a lot of zone blitzing, and doing it a little bit different from everybody else,” he said.
“So that’s going to be a heck of a challenge for us. They’re a very talented football team. And this is Week No,. 4 that we have to play a very emotional game.”
Holtz said he worries a little bit about his team and the emotional letdown from last Saturday’s 28-21 loss to Southern Mississippi, which snapped a 21-all tie with just 32 seconds left in the contest.
“At some point, the bottom is going to drop out,” he ventured. “You just have to keep pushing because each and every week you have another big, emotional game to play.”
The Pirates limited WVU to 127 yards rushing on 46 plays in a 20-15 win here two years ago and to 153 yards rushing on 42 plays last year winning by 27-10.
“One of the things we’ve tried to do is really challenge our players in the way we’re going to have to play them,” Holtz explained. “We can’t play an average game and we know we’re playing the Top 5 team in the country.
“I’m sure West Virginia is getting a lot of this right now with the program they have built. They know that each and every week they’ve got to take their game to another level because they know everybody coming in there is going to give them their best shot.
“When you play a really good team like this, you really challenge your players and they step up to the challenge. That is kind of what we’ve done with our players.”
Holtz said his defensive coaches, Greg Hudson and Rick Smith, have done a great job with defensive schemes the past two years and the players always have responded well to answer the challenge.
WVU leads the all-time series by a 16-2 margin.
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Skip Holtz, East Carolina’s head coach, said Monday he has never played a team with the offensive speed of West Virginia that the Pirates face here Saturday.
“They’re one of the fastest teams I’ve seen, and I had the pleasure to play some really good Tennessee teams that won national championships and Florida teams and Florida State and Notre Dame,” he told the media on the Conference USA weekly teleconference.
Holtz said the fifth-ranked Mountaineers “flat-out make people look stupid. I mean, they get in the open field and what they do ...
“I’ve been watching Pat White and Steve Slaton play for the last two years, and now I’m getting an opportunity to see them play three years in a row, which don’t jump up and down about. Now you look at (freshman) Noel Devine. Watch him on film, and he may be better than all of them.”
He believes Rich Rodriguez has done a great job putting his program together since becoming the head coach in 2001.
“They’ve got great speed and athleticism, and you know they’re going to score a lot of points,” Holtz continued. “I know they’re averaging about 363 yards a game rushing — or whatever it is — and you know the only chance you have is to try to wind up outscoring them.”
But he thinks that, defensively, the Mountaineers pose a lot of problems with their front because it has become more aggressive. “They’re doing a lot of zone blitzing, and doing it a little bit different from everybody else,” he said.
“So that’s going to be a heck of a challenge for us. They’re a very talented football team. And this is Week No,. 4 that we have to play a very emotional game.”
Holtz said he worries a little bit about his team and the emotional letdown from last Saturday’s 28-21 loss to Southern Mississippi, which snapped a 21-all tie with just 32 seconds left in the contest.
“At some point, the bottom is going to drop out,” he ventured. “You just have to keep pushing because each and every week you have another big, emotional game to play.”
The Pirates limited WVU to 127 yards rushing on 46 plays in a 20-15 win here two years ago and to 153 yards rushing on 42 plays last year winning by 27-10.
“One of the things we’ve tried to do is really challenge our players in the way we’re going to have to play them,” Holtz explained. “We can’t play an average game and we know we’re playing the Top 5 team in the country.
“I’m sure West Virginia is getting a lot of this right now with the program they have built. They know that each and every week they’ve got to take their game to another level because they know everybody coming in there is going to give them their best shot.
“When you play a really good team like this, you really challenge your players and they step up to the challenge. That is kind of what we’ve done with our players.”
Holtz said his defensive coaches, Greg Hudson and Rick Smith, have done a great job with defensive schemes the past two years and the players always have responded well to answer the challenge.
WVU leads the all-time series by a 16-2 margin.
