Post by rainman on Sept 16, 2007 9:10:22 GMT -5
Mountaineer defense flexes some muscle against Terps
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— You are an outcast.
Oh, it’s true you play on what may be the most acclaimed football team in West Virginia University history, a team with a pair of Heisman Trophy candidates, a team television is screaming to show as often as they sell their souls to be on the tube.
But you play defense and that makes you an outcast.
You have been dissected, infected, insulted, barbecued and ridiculed.
There were those who said you weren’t the weak link in West Virginia’s drive toward a national championship.
They said you were the missing link.
It was in the newspapers. It was on the radio. It was television. It was on the Internet.
The rumor was that the television show “Without a Trace” even had a script written about you, but decided instead to write it about other defenses and their efforts to track down Noel Devine.
Then along came a Thursday night in College Park, Md.
You showed your stuff there.
You’d heard all the rumblings and didn’t like them. But you also realized there wasn’t much you could say about it as long as you were having trouble pressuring passers, covering defenders, allowing third-down completions.
You promised you’d get better and on Thursday, when you did, you proved an entire state wrong.
“A lot of people saying, ‘Defense this, defense that‚’ trying to criticize us, but when the lights come on, we come out and play,” Johnny Dingle, the defensive lineman, said after WVU beat Maryland, 31-14.
Dingle could talk. He recovered a fumble on the game’s first play that led to a touchdown. He had sack. He had 2.5 tackles for losses among the six tackles — five of them unassisted — he was credited with.
Mortty Ivy had some words to say, too.
“A lot of people were doubting our defense, talking about the pass rush and our secondary is sluggish and everything. But our secondary came out and did what they had to do. We put pressure on and got a couple of coverage sacks. We were out there making plays. That’s all we can do,” the linebacker said.
At last these guys had a reason to crow. They finally were first-class citizens again, not only in their minds, not only in the coaches’ minds, but in the public’s mind.
“It’s been miserable,” Tony Gibson, the primary secondary coach, said of the criticism. “We’ve won what now, 25 out of 28 games. And yet all we hear is how bad our defense is. I don’t understand it. I don’t know where people are going with that.
“Our kids see it. Their families see it. We’re supposed to be getting support. I don’t understand. People have their opinion. They can say and do what they want. But that’s why I was glad to see the kids play well tonight.”
The truth is they’ve been good enough to win with.
Or, if you prefer, not bad enough to lose with.
The odd stack scheme West Virginia runs has been criticized, but on Thursday it showed it can work.
After allowing a first-quarter touchdown after recovering Jordan Steffy’s fumbled snap, the Mountaineers settled in.
“We had a mindset of, ‘Hey, those boys just drove right down the field and scored quick on us. We can't have that,’” Ivy said. “We had to step it up and make plays, which we didn’t do on that drive. But we made some corrections and we made some plays.”
What is becoming obvious is that the defensive line is going to be a force this season. Keilen Dykes put on a courageous performance in the middle, playing virtually on one leg for half the game, while Dingle was a monster and Scooter Berry and Doug Slavonic took care of business.
The heart of the defense, though, has become three tough linebackers.
Reed Williams is a tackling machine, recording nine in the Maryland game to go with eight against Western Michigan and 13 against Marshall.
At the same time, Marc Magro has become a prime pass rusher with three sacks in three games while Ivy is all over the lot with 23 tackles.
“Confidence-wise, we felt we were an OK defense,” said senior safety Eric Wicks, who had a pair of interceptions. “I think now we know if we continue to work hard, we can be a great defense.”
Confidence may have been the missing factor in the defense.
“It’s going to give them some confidence, and they needed that,” coach Rich Rodriguez said. “I thought they were aggressive and made some big plays and some big hits. Even when Maryland got a drive or two together, our guys were still flying around and hitting people. It should give them some confidence because we’ve got a lot of guys who can play over there.”
The thing is, this doesn’t have to be a great defense. The offense provides the greatness, the defense simply needs to provide the victories.
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— You are an outcast.
Oh, it’s true you play on what may be the most acclaimed football team in West Virginia University history, a team with a pair of Heisman Trophy candidates, a team television is screaming to show as often as they sell their souls to be on the tube.
But you play defense and that makes you an outcast.
You have been dissected, infected, insulted, barbecued and ridiculed.
There were those who said you weren’t the weak link in West Virginia’s drive toward a national championship.
They said you were the missing link.
It was in the newspapers. It was on the radio. It was television. It was on the Internet.
The rumor was that the television show “Without a Trace” even had a script written about you, but decided instead to write it about other defenses and their efforts to track down Noel Devine.
Then along came a Thursday night in College Park, Md.
You showed your stuff there.
You’d heard all the rumblings and didn’t like them. But you also realized there wasn’t much you could say about it as long as you were having trouble pressuring passers, covering defenders, allowing third-down completions.
You promised you’d get better and on Thursday, when you did, you proved an entire state wrong.
“A lot of people saying, ‘Defense this, defense that‚’ trying to criticize us, but when the lights come on, we come out and play,” Johnny Dingle, the defensive lineman, said after WVU beat Maryland, 31-14.
Dingle could talk. He recovered a fumble on the game’s first play that led to a touchdown. He had sack. He had 2.5 tackles for losses among the six tackles — five of them unassisted — he was credited with.
Mortty Ivy had some words to say, too.
“A lot of people were doubting our defense, talking about the pass rush and our secondary is sluggish and everything. But our secondary came out and did what they had to do. We put pressure on and got a couple of coverage sacks. We were out there making plays. That’s all we can do,” the linebacker said.
At last these guys had a reason to crow. They finally were first-class citizens again, not only in their minds, not only in the coaches’ minds, but in the public’s mind.
“It’s been miserable,” Tony Gibson, the primary secondary coach, said of the criticism. “We’ve won what now, 25 out of 28 games. And yet all we hear is how bad our defense is. I don’t understand it. I don’t know where people are going with that.
“Our kids see it. Their families see it. We’re supposed to be getting support. I don’t understand. People have their opinion. They can say and do what they want. But that’s why I was glad to see the kids play well tonight.”
The truth is they’ve been good enough to win with.
Or, if you prefer, not bad enough to lose with.
The odd stack scheme West Virginia runs has been criticized, but on Thursday it showed it can work.
After allowing a first-quarter touchdown after recovering Jordan Steffy’s fumbled snap, the Mountaineers settled in.
“We had a mindset of, ‘Hey, those boys just drove right down the field and scored quick on us. We can't have that,’” Ivy said. “We had to step it up and make plays, which we didn’t do on that drive. But we made some corrections and we made some plays.”
What is becoming obvious is that the defensive line is going to be a force this season. Keilen Dykes put on a courageous performance in the middle, playing virtually on one leg for half the game, while Dingle was a monster and Scooter Berry and Doug Slavonic took care of business.
The heart of the defense, though, has become three tough linebackers.
Reed Williams is a tackling machine, recording nine in the Maryland game to go with eight against Western Michigan and 13 against Marshall.
At the same time, Marc Magro has become a prime pass rusher with three sacks in three games while Ivy is all over the lot with 23 tackles.
“Confidence-wise, we felt we were an OK defense,” said senior safety Eric Wicks, who had a pair of interceptions. “I think now we know if we continue to work hard, we can be a great defense.”
Confidence may have been the missing factor in the defense.
“It’s going to give them some confidence, and they needed that,” coach Rich Rodriguez said. “I thought they were aggressive and made some big plays and some big hits. Even when Maryland got a drive or two together, our guys were still flying around and hitting people. It should give them some confidence because we’ve got a lot of guys who can play over there.”
The thing is, this doesn’t have to be a great defense. The offense provides the greatness, the defense simply needs to provide the victories.
