--Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said he wasn’t sure if the effort from West Virginia was any better in the second half against Missouri because the Tigers had jumped out to such a lead that they sort of took their foot off the gas some. The Mountaineers did execute some things better but they were doing some things outside the framework of the defense with the front seven which caused a lot the issues. They tried to make some adjustments and simplify some things but they obviously made a mistake with that because the players weren’t able to just play and froze up. The message from Koenning was ‘Just do your job’ to his defense because too many guys were not doing what they were supposed to do.
--West Virginia missed 22 tackles and had 5 opportunities for sacks on Kelly Bryant slip through their hands. That simply can’t happen if you want to win at this level especially when Missouri ended up scoring on three of those drives that the opportunities were missed. They also baited Bryant into what should have been a pick-six but the Mountaineers were unable to make the play. They practice tackling or some phase of it every day but most of that was being in the wrong angles or having their eyes in the wrong place which led to some mistakes.
--Koenning wants his group to have more courage to make plays, be relentless and tough but within the rules and finally do what they’re supposed to do. West Virginia had running plays coming right at defensive linemen and they were running twists that they’d do in pass which allowed for lanes.
--West Virginia is not as deep as they need to be at any position but the loss of Taijh Alston isn’t going to help things up front. They’re going to have to use a mix of Reuben Jones and Jeffery Pooler there.
--Asked him about the play of the linebackers and Koenning didn’t hold back saying that it’s way below what he expected them to do. He takes blame for trying to simplify things for them and froze them up. The Mountaineers struggled with getting lined up against the tempo.
--Koenning doesn’t anticipate any sweeping changes for his defensive unit because he thinks that nobody has gotten to the point where he thinks they can’t or won’t get things down. He showed them each how to do the right thing on film and now it’s about putting it into action. The one thing he said is this will not be a soft outfit.
--West Virginia co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Matt Moore said, as head coach Neal Brown discussed during his presser, the staff will be getting other players in the mix these next two days on the offensive side of the ball to see what they can do, especially on good vs. good sessions in practice. He said they have to make some changes and you can’t expect anything different to happen if you keep the same guys in there, continuity would then have to come later.
--Moore said N.C. State has good players on their defensive front and which plays mostly three down linemen and four linebackers. This look along with their movement and blitzes create different issues for West Virginia. But this week is more about getting themselves right than who they’re going against.
--Against James Madison, Moore said the o-line was easing off the ball and making sure they had hats-on-hats. This past week, they talked about straying, playing hard and coming off the ball which Moore said they did against the Tigers, but they lost all of their technique, didn’t keep their eyes up and were missing d-linemen. Colton McKivitz was the one who played really well but the rest of the guys need to step up and play better.
--Moore said wide receiver Sam James did a nice job against Missouri on his releases on the line and secondary releases. James, according to Moore, is the closest thing the offense has to an “eraser.” When a quarterback misses a read or when the offensive line misses a blitz, offenses will begin to fall apart unless you have an eraser, a guy who can make a big play despite something breaking down on the play. If you don’t have erasers, you gotta be better up front on the line by getting hats-on-hats and get movement at the point of attack. Moore said he himself has to do a better job of coaching these players up to get them where they’re supposed to be.
--When it comes to the team’s lack of physicality, Moore said you just gotta keep dragging it out of the players in practice and push them. The big plays that were made last year aren’t just going to happen.
--Every Monday night, the reserves play a scrimmage and the coaches go back and grade the film and look at who may be ready to play. The freshman tackles, Brandon Yates and Parker Moorer, are physical and move well but they’re just not far enough along. Briason Mays’ snaps have gotten better and he’s been more physical as well.
--Moore said the good thing is the o-line responded to what they didn’t do well during the JMU game. They knew that they weren’t coming off the ball, they knew that they were playing too careful. Against the Tigers, Moore said they were coming off the ball, but when they were coming off the ball, they weren’t doing it with correct technique which resulted in guys missing blocks and having guys unblocked at the point of attack. Moore believes they’re going to get better and they’re going to continue to work and get better at something every single day.
--Alec Sinkfield was a positive according to Moore, saying he was decisive, ran downhill and ran north and south and made a guy miss on the edge when he bounced a run. This was when this Missouri had their starters out, so the offense saw a bit of a different defensive look.
--Redshirt junior defensive end Jeffery Pooler said that with Alston out of the lineup they are making sure to keep him involved by talking football with him when they can. Now, the onus is on the defensive ends to take a larger role and make the most of it. He expects that he will likely see a bigger role now at the defensive end spot but that is something he is prepared to do.
--Redshirt junior Josh Sills said you have to do what you’re coached to do. You will get beat when you get your feet crossed up or don’t handle your responsibilities the right way. They have to find the middle ground between fundamentals and playing with technique and effort. You have to come off the ball hard but make sure you’re doing the right things to avoid misfiring. He said the most disappointing thing would be too hard to list because there were too many of them. Now it’s about correcting it.
--Sills admitted it hurt to hear that the offensive line wasn’t physical but the biggest way to get back at it is to practice hard and come off the ball and drive opponents while being technically sound. He said they’ve done it in practice so now it is about taking what they’re doing there and applying it to games. They were able to watch the film together Monday and if that didn’t do the job, then they shouldn’t be here if they don’t want to try to improve on what they did.
--West Virginia plans to use some different combinations on the offensive line this week and Sills is embracing it because he thinks it will cause players to raise their level of play.
--Asked George Campbell if he was one of those players that could benefit from others getting opportunities to see the field and he said regardless of what is asked of him he is ready to step into that role. He just wants to do whatever he can to help the team.
--Sophomore wide receiver Sean Ryan said he just felt he needed to make a change when it came to leaving Temple. He said that during his waiver process, Neal Brown kept him in high spirits about it. He’s had to make adjustments on and off the field which was tough at the beginning but things have settled.
--West Virginia missed 22 tackles and had 5 opportunities for sacks on Kelly Bryant slip through their hands. That simply can’t happen if you want to win at this level especially when Missouri ended up scoring on three of those drives that the opportunities were missed. They also baited Bryant into what should have been a pick-six but the Mountaineers were unable to make the play. They practice tackling or some phase of it every day but most of that was being in the wrong angles or having their eyes in the wrong place which led to some mistakes.
--Koenning wants his group to have more courage to make plays, be relentless and tough but within the rules and finally do what they’re supposed to do. West Virginia had running plays coming right at defensive linemen and they were running twists that they’d do in pass which allowed for lanes.
--West Virginia is not as deep as they need to be at any position but the loss of Taijh Alston isn’t going to help things up front. They’re going to have to use a mix of Reuben Jones and Jeffery Pooler there.
--Asked him about the play of the linebackers and Koenning didn’t hold back saying that it’s way below what he expected them to do. He takes blame for trying to simplify things for them and froze them up. The Mountaineers struggled with getting lined up against the tempo.
--Koenning doesn’t anticipate any sweeping changes for his defensive unit because he thinks that nobody has gotten to the point where he thinks they can’t or won’t get things down. He showed them each how to do the right thing on film and now it’s about putting it into action. The one thing he said is this will not be a soft outfit.
--West Virginia co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Matt Moore said, as head coach Neal Brown discussed during his presser, the staff will be getting other players in the mix these next two days on the offensive side of the ball to see what they can do, especially on good vs. good sessions in practice. He said they have to make some changes and you can’t expect anything different to happen if you keep the same guys in there, continuity would then have to come later.
--Moore said N.C. State has good players on their defensive front and which plays mostly three down linemen and four linebackers. This look along with their movement and blitzes create different issues for West Virginia. But this week is more about getting themselves right than who they’re going against.
--Against James Madison, Moore said the o-line was easing off the ball and making sure they had hats-on-hats. This past week, they talked about straying, playing hard and coming off the ball which Moore said they did against the Tigers, but they lost all of their technique, didn’t keep their eyes up and were missing d-linemen. Colton McKivitz was the one who played really well but the rest of the guys need to step up and play better.
--Moore said wide receiver Sam James did a nice job against Missouri on his releases on the line and secondary releases. James, according to Moore, is the closest thing the offense has to an “eraser.” When a quarterback misses a read or when the offensive line misses a blitz, offenses will begin to fall apart unless you have an eraser, a guy who can make a big play despite something breaking down on the play. If you don’t have erasers, you gotta be better up front on the line by getting hats-on-hats and get movement at the point of attack. Moore said he himself has to do a better job of coaching these players up to get them where they’re supposed to be.
--When it comes to the team’s lack of physicality, Moore said you just gotta keep dragging it out of the players in practice and push them. The big plays that were made last year aren’t just going to happen.
--Every Monday night, the reserves play a scrimmage and the coaches go back and grade the film and look at who may be ready to play. The freshman tackles, Brandon Yates and Parker Moorer, are physical and move well but they’re just not far enough along. Briason Mays’ snaps have gotten better and he’s been more physical as well.
--Moore said the good thing is the o-line responded to what they didn’t do well during the JMU game. They knew that they weren’t coming off the ball, they knew that they were playing too careful. Against the Tigers, Moore said they were coming off the ball, but when they were coming off the ball, they weren’t doing it with correct technique which resulted in guys missing blocks and having guys unblocked at the point of attack. Moore believes they’re going to get better and they’re going to continue to work and get better at something every single day.
--Alec Sinkfield was a positive according to Moore, saying he was decisive, ran downhill and ran north and south and made a guy miss on the edge when he bounced a run. This was when this Missouri had their starters out, so the offense saw a bit of a different defensive look.
--Redshirt junior defensive end Jeffery Pooler said that with Alston out of the lineup they are making sure to keep him involved by talking football with him when they can. Now, the onus is on the defensive ends to take a larger role and make the most of it. He expects that he will likely see a bigger role now at the defensive end spot but that is something he is prepared to do.
--Redshirt junior Josh Sills said you have to do what you’re coached to do. You will get beat when you get your feet crossed up or don’t handle your responsibilities the right way. They have to find the middle ground between fundamentals and playing with technique and effort. You have to come off the ball hard but make sure you’re doing the right things to avoid misfiring. He said the most disappointing thing would be too hard to list because there were too many of them. Now it’s about correcting it.
--Sills admitted it hurt to hear that the offensive line wasn’t physical but the biggest way to get back at it is to practice hard and come off the ball and drive opponents while being technically sound. He said they’ve done it in practice so now it is about taking what they’re doing there and applying it to games. They were able to watch the film together Monday and if that didn’t do the job, then they shouldn’t be here if they don’t want to try to improve on what they did.
--West Virginia plans to use some different combinations on the offensive line this week and Sills is embracing it because he thinks it will cause players to raise their level of play.
--Asked George Campbell if he was one of those players that could benefit from others getting opportunities to see the field and he said regardless of what is asked of him he is ready to step into that role. He just wants to do whatever he can to help the team.
--Sophomore wide receiver Sean Ryan said he just felt he needed to make a change when it came to leaving Temple. He said that during his waiver process, Neal Brown kept him in high spirits about it. He’s had to make adjustments on and off the field which was tough at the beginning but things have settled.
