Post by rainman on Sept 15, 2007 5:54:27 GMT -5
Rod praises defense
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Coach Rich Rodriguez praised No. 4-ranked West Virginia’s defense Friday after watching tapes of Thursday night’s 31-14 victory over Maryland at College Park, Md.
“The defense played better than they had in the first couple games,” he said. “They got some nice third-down stops and a nice rush on the quarterback. They were moving around pretty good.”
WVU held the Terps to just 269 yards in total offense, including 89 rushing, and intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble. It also sacked the quarterback five times.
But Rodriguez said he was very disappointed in how the WVU offense performed at times, especially during the first half. In that connection, he agreed with Patrick White that the veteran quarterback did not perform very well in the first half.
“He didn’t have his best game,” he observed. “He still competes and makes plays. But he wasn’t as sharp as he normally is. He can play better than what he did Thursday. He’ll learn from it.”
As for the offense in general, the veteran coach noted that there were some missed blocks, some missed reads and a lack of overall sharpness.
“We were just messing around for a good bit, but we still won the game,” he continued.
“So I guess it is encouraging to do that. I know we can play a lot better than we did.”
Even so, the Mountaineers (3-0) had 21 first downs to 15, rushed for 353 yards to 89 and added 95 passing compared to 180 for Maryland. They did lose two fumbles.
Rodriguez said WVU did make some adjustments during the halftime intermission, but made very few along the sideline while the game was played.
“You don’t have much time on the sideline, maybe three minutes during TV timeouts, for adjustments,” he noted. “You really don’t have a whole lot of time out there. We didn’t make as many adjustments, offensively, as we did in the Marshall game.”
Asked why WVU isn’t drawing nearly as many penalties this season, Rodriguez said he thinks his pupils are playing a little smarter.
“We had a lot of penalties last year, and that was frustrating,” he recalled. “It’s been a point of emphasis, which it also was last year.
“I just think we’re smarter at times now. We did have a couple penalties that hurt us (Thursday night), but for the most part it has been much better.”
Rodriguez said wide receiver Darius Reynaud fell on his shoulder earlier in the week and bruised it and that defensive tackle Keilen Dykes still is nursing a foot sprain. But both saw some action against Maryland.
He praised wideout Dorrell Jalloh for his blocking. On Noel Devine’s 76-yard run, Jalloh blocked out two Maryland defenders.
WVU coaches were recruiting Friday and will gather Saturday to begin preparations for next Saturday’s home game with East Carolina.
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Coach Rich Rodriguez praised No. 4-ranked West Virginia’s defense Friday after watching tapes of Thursday night’s 31-14 victory over Maryland at College Park, Md.
“The defense played better than they had in the first couple games,” he said. “They got some nice third-down stops and a nice rush on the quarterback. They were moving around pretty good.”
WVU held the Terps to just 269 yards in total offense, including 89 rushing, and intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble. It also sacked the quarterback five times.
But Rodriguez said he was very disappointed in how the WVU offense performed at times, especially during the first half. In that connection, he agreed with Patrick White that the veteran quarterback did not perform very well in the first half.
“He didn’t have his best game,” he observed. “He still competes and makes plays. But he wasn’t as sharp as he normally is. He can play better than what he did Thursday. He’ll learn from it.”
As for the offense in general, the veteran coach noted that there were some missed blocks, some missed reads and a lack of overall sharpness.
“We were just messing around for a good bit, but we still won the game,” he continued.
“So I guess it is encouraging to do that. I know we can play a lot better than we did.”
Even so, the Mountaineers (3-0) had 21 first downs to 15, rushed for 353 yards to 89 and added 95 passing compared to 180 for Maryland. They did lose two fumbles.
Rodriguez said WVU did make some adjustments during the halftime intermission, but made very few along the sideline while the game was played.
“You don’t have much time on the sideline, maybe three minutes during TV timeouts, for adjustments,” he noted. “You really don’t have a whole lot of time out there. We didn’t make as many adjustments, offensively, as we did in the Marshall game.”
Asked why WVU isn’t drawing nearly as many penalties this season, Rodriguez said he thinks his pupils are playing a little smarter.
“We had a lot of penalties last year, and that was frustrating,” he recalled. “It’s been a point of emphasis, which it also was last year.
“I just think we’re smarter at times now. We did have a couple penalties that hurt us (Thursday night), but for the most part it has been much better.”
Rodriguez said wide receiver Darius Reynaud fell on his shoulder earlier in the week and bruised it and that defensive tackle Keilen Dykes still is nursing a foot sprain. But both saw some action against Maryland.
He praised wideout Dorrell Jalloh for his blocking. On Noel Devine’s 76-yard run, Jalloh blocked out two Maryland defenders.
WVU coaches were recruiting Friday and will gather Saturday to begin preparations for next Saturday’s home game with East Carolina.
