Coach Dana Holgorsen Media Conference
September 22, 2015
Maryland Week
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (September 22, 2015) - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses members of the media on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
It seems to be pretty lively in here. It must be game week. It must be Maryland, and hopefully, it is as exciting for you all as it for us. We’re pretty eager to get going, finish our preparation and head into an electric weekend here in Morgantown. It seems like forever since we had the Terps over here. We’ve been at Maryland for the last couple of years. Since I’ve been here, we played over there three times and over here once, so I am excited about them coming over. Our team is excited about them coming over, and I know our fans are excited about them coming over. It is one of the few regional rivals that we have on the schedule. I don’t think it is a mistake that this game sold out fairly quick. I know it means a lot to our fan base, and WVU. It is the same for their program as well. It’s going to be fun. Saturday is going to be fun. I know it’s going to be an electric crowd. It is going to be a live atmosphere. Every seat is going to be taken, and it is going to be something that will fire them up as well. I know we’re going to be pretty excited.
A good Maryland team is coming. They are very well coached. Coach (Randy) Edsall has been there for as long as I’ve been here. They are very well coached, and they have a lot of depth. Their sound in what they do on all three sides of the ball. They have been doing the same thing offensively for a while now with coach (Mike) Locksley. Coach (Randy) Edsall has a hand in what the team is doing defensively. He’s a defensive guy. There are some similarities (in the defense), but the (defensive) coordinator (Keith Dudzinski) has changed and, and their scheme is a little different. It’s simpler, so I know it makes sense to them, because they are never out of position. They are in position to make plays every time they snap the ball.
Special teams is very sound as well, and we know we have a challenge with that. I’ll start with the special teams’ aspect of it. We have another battle of two good kickers. Hopefully, we win this one just like we did the last one. (Senior kicker) Brad (Craddock) is coming over. He is a (2014) Lou Groza Award Winner. He was an all-American. We feel like we have a pretty good kicker with (redshirt sophomore kicker) Josh (Lambert), but he’s a weapon for them (Maryland). He has a strong leg, and he does some good things for them. Then there is the return game with (junior defensive back William) Likely that I made reference to last week. We have to do a great job at covering kicks. It’s going to be a challenge, but we better get used to it, because there is going to be a lot of good returners in the Big 12. They are fantastic at it.
It looks like they settled on their quarterback with (redshirt junior quarterback) Caleb Rowe. He came in and threw for a bunch of yards last week. They have been moving the ball offensively pretty well now. They are averaging almost 500-yards a game, and they are putting up some points. Having some familiarity in the quarterback and settling with (redshirt junior quarterback Caleb) Rowe has given them a little bit more of a comfort level. It starts up front for them. They are big and physical. They protect the quarterback as good as anybody. They have three or four backs that they don’t mind handing the ball, too. The one thing with the new guy is that, they don’t run the ball as much as they used to in the last couple of years with the old guy as well as the (junior quarterback Perry) Hills kid. They are going to put the ball in other people hands, which is why they are throwing the ball a lot more.
Defensively, a lot of the same bodies and same names that I have seen. It starts with their front. They get after the quarterback as good as anybody. They have great rush guys. Their interior d-linemen are big, thick people that get to the quarterback as well. They have active linebackers, and they have a secondary that can cover. They have the two best corners that we have seen to date, with (junior defensive back William) Likely and (senior defensive back Sean) Davis. They have veteran guys that have played a lot. I’m sure that they are going to get in our younger guys faces and challenge them. I’m pretty fired up to see how our young guys respond to that, because I expect them to play against anybody.
Overall, I know it’s going to be a test. It should be a very, very live atmosphere in Morgantown. We have the West Virginia University Hall of Fame as well. Congratulations to coach (Bobby) Bowden, Ken Herock and Amos Zereoue for coming back into the Hall of Fame. I know that is going to mean a lot to them and the program as well. I can’t tell you how excited we are for the upcoming game. Other than that, I would like to open it up for some questions.
On the progress the team has made from the 37-0 defeat at Maryland two years ago
I’ve reminded my team with what happened two years ago. It’s not something that I can hide from, or run from. It’s the worst defeat that I have ever taken, but we weren’t in a good place. We played a couple of different quarterbacks that game, and we played one with a torn pec. It is hard to throw the ball with a torn pec. I didn’t know about it. We turned the ball over six times. They outplayed us. They strained harder. Their effort was better. Everything that could’ve went wrong, went wrong. It motivated us, and I think we improved a whole bunch going into the game a year later. We fixed a lot of those problems. There were snap issues. There were quarterback problems. Clint (Trickett) played really well against them last year. Offensively, we played really well against them last year. We played a lot faster. We played up-tempo. We took care of the ball. We made plays downfield. We ran the ball effectively. I think we are as good right now, as we were back then.
On how the guys responded to Sunday’s practice with a couple days off
They were energetic. I think they were bored for one, potentially, two weeks. They were ready to get back to work. We had a pretty high spirited practice on Sunday night, under the lights, and I anticipate that being the same here today and tomorrow.
On if Maryland did anything differently against South Florida that he didn’t prepare for
No, not much. It looked like it was the same stuff on all three sides of the ball. Other than the fact that they are probably going to throw the ball a little bit more with (redshirt junior quarterback) Caleb Rowe. They don’t run him as much. He’s had two season ending knee surgeries. He scrambled a little bit and had a first down or two last week, but they are not going to do a ton of zone read or quarterback draws with him like they did with (junior quarterback Perry) Hills or the guy from last year.
On if redshirt senior linebacker Jared Barber is ready to go
Yes. I think we talked about this. He was pretty close to being good to go two weeks ago. With Jared being an old guy like me, we obviously want to be careful with him. Coach Barber. When we have opportunities to be careful with him then we want to be able to be careful with him. He played a lot last week, and he is good to go.
On if patience is the key to coach Randy Edsall’s defense
It depends. I don’t know. We will have to get into the game and see. There is always going to be that little guessing game going into a game that you don’t really know what their plan is going to be until you get into it. They have shown that they are going to play off like Liberty, on normal downs, and then they are going to get after it a little bit on critical downs. That is more along the lines of what Georgia Southern did for the entire game. We will have to see if they are going to change that, but we have to anticipate both, and I hope we can get to a point where we are good enough to attack both of them. We have to be patience and put the ball in play where we need too as well as be able to handle pressure and defeat man coverage, which is what they’ve shown on critical downs.
On the Maryland game being the worst defeat that he ever been a part of
We lost 37-0. We turned the ball over six times. We didn’t play very well. The weather was bad. I joked around and said that it poured every time we had the ball, and it didn’t pour when they had the ball. That’s what it felt like. They just played much better than we did.
On the punt game plan
We will probably just kick it sideways right out of bounds. You can’t play like that. I can’t tell you what our plan is, but you can’t play scared. You can’t play the game of football scared. I give him (junior defensive back William Likely) all the credit and respect in the world. He (junior defensive back William Likely) is as good as I seen, but we are going to face some pretty good ones all year long. It is a big week for (senior punter) Nick (O’Toole). He has to place the ball where we want him to place the ball, and I can’t emphasis enough the importance of the front seven guys to be able to get off their blocks. They do as good a job holding people at the line of scrimmage than I have seen. It creates space. I said this a lot, if you want to be have a good punt returner, you have to give him some time to catch the punt. That’s step one. We have to get downfield and be able to get in position to make plays.
On his comment last year about redshirt sophomore kicker Josh Lambert
You know that was a joke, right? It was a joke. I thought everybody got the joke.
On his coaching relationship has changed with redshirt sophomore kicker Josh Lambert
Absolutely not. I don’t mess with him one bit. That part of it is true. Luckily, we have a guy like (assistant coach/special teams/safeties) Joe DeForest that has coached more than one Lou Groza Award winner, so we have a guy that knows how to handle kickers on a day-to-day basis. I’m not going to meddle with that. All joking aside, there is a psychological aspect to kickers, punters, deep snappers and holders that I don’t know what I’m talking about, therefore, it is everyone’s best interest that I leave it alone. I know they are handled, and I have a guy that knows how to handle them, and we are going to just leave it at that.
On Texas Tech’s game vs. Arkansas helping the Big 12 Conference
It certainly doesn’t hurt. We are going to think of West Virginia first, and we are going to try to get to 3-0 in non-conference. That was our first goal of this season with our team. That is first and foremost. We talked scheduling in here, and we are going to continue to schedule power five opponents. When you have them on your schedule, you need to do everything you can to win. I know this game means a lot based on history. The one thing with the Big 12 is that we don’t have a huge history with a lot of these teams. Starting with Oliver (Luck) and whole heartedly supported by Shane (Lyons), is that they want to continue to have regional opponents play in the non-conference schedule. That means something. That trumps what they are saying in Dallas at the Big 12 office right now. At the Big 12 office, they are talking about all games against power five opponents being able to state our case for being the best conference out there.
On what he tells his wide receiver going against an experienced defensive back
Get used to it. There are a lot of good corners out there. There are a lot of good corners in the Big 12. Are you a guy that is pretending, or are you a real guy? This is a pretty good opportunity to show that you are a real guy, whoever it is. We have more than just (freshman wide receiver) Jovon (Durante) and (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Shelton (Gibson). (Freshman wide receiver) Gary Jennings has practiced his tail off every day. (Redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Ka’Raun White is practicing his tail off, and he is getting better every day. We have more than just two young guys. We have those other guys, and we are going to continue to add to that as well.
On Maryland’s in-state recruiting efforts
It is a pretty fertile recruiting ground. We try to dabble into that a little bit as well. I’m sorry. Did that answer your question?
On playing up-tempo against Maryland last year
We were successful with playing fast last year because we got first downs. If you get first downs then you can keep pressing the pedal down and keep going. You have to execute in order to do that. If you go back and look at the offensive performances over the last two years, we had zero success two years ago, because we were bad. Last year, we were on the verge of getting pretty good, and we had success. That’s what allows you to continue to go fast. Don’t hurry up and screw it up.
On if he had enough snaps this year
Yes, and we are going to continue to get better at it.
On the importance of Saturday’s game with the heavy schedule coming up in October
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
On October’s schedule with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU and Baylor
Who? I know what’s ahead, but we are not worried about it. I am going to focus on this one. It is our goal to get to 3-0. We haven’t even talked about the Big 12 yet. It is our goal to get to 3-0, and we are giving everything that we have to win this game. After that, we will figure out who is next on the schedule.
On if he sees the Maryland series continuing after the four-year break
Is it four years? We have to spread it around. I think they are going to want to spread it around as well. Having a couple of games every couple of years is probably about right. It doesn’t have to disappear. It means too much to everybody, but where are you going to stick it? We just penned in a four game schedule with Pitt from 2022-25. Scheduling is hard, but I definitely support it. I know it has to continue in some type of fashion.
On Maryland’s offensive line not allowing a sack this season
I think they have played good teams. They are pretty good up front. They are big. They average around 305-pounds. They have three returning starters. They have been doing the same scheme for quite some time, and they have coached up the quarterbacks to get the ball out of their hands. It’s going to be a challenge to get there, and we have to figure out a way to get there. That’s something I have been talking about for quite some time because we need to get to the quarterback. I am looking forward to getting out there today and work on it.
On if he notices penalty habits when he scouts other teams
I really don’t. We coach our guys, and we pay attention to our guys. We talk about technique, and that they have to play smart. We tell them not to put the team in a bad situation. We do that with our team a lot, but I never done that with an opponent. Is that what you’re asking? I’ve always taken the approach to ignore referees. That has always been my approach. If you obsess over them, then you are costing yourself time. You are costing yourself work. You can probably lose your mind out there on the sidelines, more than I intend too. I try to ignore all that and play the next play.
September 22, 2015
Maryland Week
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (September 22, 2015) - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses members of the media on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
It seems to be pretty lively in here. It must be game week. It must be Maryland, and hopefully, it is as exciting for you all as it for us. We’re pretty eager to get going, finish our preparation and head into an electric weekend here in Morgantown. It seems like forever since we had the Terps over here. We’ve been at Maryland for the last couple of years. Since I’ve been here, we played over there three times and over here once, so I am excited about them coming over. Our team is excited about them coming over, and I know our fans are excited about them coming over. It is one of the few regional rivals that we have on the schedule. I don’t think it is a mistake that this game sold out fairly quick. I know it means a lot to our fan base, and WVU. It is the same for their program as well. It’s going to be fun. Saturday is going to be fun. I know it’s going to be an electric crowd. It is going to be a live atmosphere. Every seat is going to be taken, and it is going to be something that will fire them up as well. I know we’re going to be pretty excited.
A good Maryland team is coming. They are very well coached. Coach (Randy) Edsall has been there for as long as I’ve been here. They are very well coached, and they have a lot of depth. Their sound in what they do on all three sides of the ball. They have been doing the same thing offensively for a while now with coach (Mike) Locksley. Coach (Randy) Edsall has a hand in what the team is doing defensively. He’s a defensive guy. There are some similarities (in the defense), but the (defensive) coordinator (Keith Dudzinski) has changed and, and their scheme is a little different. It’s simpler, so I know it makes sense to them, because they are never out of position. They are in position to make plays every time they snap the ball.
Special teams is very sound as well, and we know we have a challenge with that. I’ll start with the special teams’ aspect of it. We have another battle of two good kickers. Hopefully, we win this one just like we did the last one. (Senior kicker) Brad (Craddock) is coming over. He is a (2014) Lou Groza Award Winner. He was an all-American. We feel like we have a pretty good kicker with (redshirt sophomore kicker) Josh (Lambert), but he’s a weapon for them (Maryland). He has a strong leg, and he does some good things for them. Then there is the return game with (junior defensive back William) Likely that I made reference to last week. We have to do a great job at covering kicks. It’s going to be a challenge, but we better get used to it, because there is going to be a lot of good returners in the Big 12. They are fantastic at it.
It looks like they settled on their quarterback with (redshirt junior quarterback) Caleb Rowe. He came in and threw for a bunch of yards last week. They have been moving the ball offensively pretty well now. They are averaging almost 500-yards a game, and they are putting up some points. Having some familiarity in the quarterback and settling with (redshirt junior quarterback Caleb) Rowe has given them a little bit more of a comfort level. It starts up front for them. They are big and physical. They protect the quarterback as good as anybody. They have three or four backs that they don’t mind handing the ball, too. The one thing with the new guy is that, they don’t run the ball as much as they used to in the last couple of years with the old guy as well as the (junior quarterback Perry) Hills kid. They are going to put the ball in other people hands, which is why they are throwing the ball a lot more.
Defensively, a lot of the same bodies and same names that I have seen. It starts with their front. They get after the quarterback as good as anybody. They have great rush guys. Their interior d-linemen are big, thick people that get to the quarterback as well. They have active linebackers, and they have a secondary that can cover. They have the two best corners that we have seen to date, with (junior defensive back William) Likely and (senior defensive back Sean) Davis. They have veteran guys that have played a lot. I’m sure that they are going to get in our younger guys faces and challenge them. I’m pretty fired up to see how our young guys respond to that, because I expect them to play against anybody.
Overall, I know it’s going to be a test. It should be a very, very live atmosphere in Morgantown. We have the West Virginia University Hall of Fame as well. Congratulations to coach (Bobby) Bowden, Ken Herock and Amos Zereoue for coming back into the Hall of Fame. I know that is going to mean a lot to them and the program as well. I can’t tell you how excited we are for the upcoming game. Other than that, I would like to open it up for some questions.
On the progress the team has made from the 37-0 defeat at Maryland two years ago
I’ve reminded my team with what happened two years ago. It’s not something that I can hide from, or run from. It’s the worst defeat that I have ever taken, but we weren’t in a good place. We played a couple of different quarterbacks that game, and we played one with a torn pec. It is hard to throw the ball with a torn pec. I didn’t know about it. We turned the ball over six times. They outplayed us. They strained harder. Their effort was better. Everything that could’ve went wrong, went wrong. It motivated us, and I think we improved a whole bunch going into the game a year later. We fixed a lot of those problems. There were snap issues. There were quarterback problems. Clint (Trickett) played really well against them last year. Offensively, we played really well against them last year. We played a lot faster. We played up-tempo. We took care of the ball. We made plays downfield. We ran the ball effectively. I think we are as good right now, as we were back then.
On how the guys responded to Sunday’s practice with a couple days off
They were energetic. I think they were bored for one, potentially, two weeks. They were ready to get back to work. We had a pretty high spirited practice on Sunday night, under the lights, and I anticipate that being the same here today and tomorrow.
On if Maryland did anything differently against South Florida that he didn’t prepare for
No, not much. It looked like it was the same stuff on all three sides of the ball. Other than the fact that they are probably going to throw the ball a little bit more with (redshirt junior quarterback) Caleb Rowe. They don’t run him as much. He’s had two season ending knee surgeries. He scrambled a little bit and had a first down or two last week, but they are not going to do a ton of zone read or quarterback draws with him like they did with (junior quarterback Perry) Hills or the guy from last year.
On if redshirt senior linebacker Jared Barber is ready to go
Yes. I think we talked about this. He was pretty close to being good to go two weeks ago. With Jared being an old guy like me, we obviously want to be careful with him. Coach Barber. When we have opportunities to be careful with him then we want to be able to be careful with him. He played a lot last week, and he is good to go.
On if patience is the key to coach Randy Edsall’s defense
It depends. I don’t know. We will have to get into the game and see. There is always going to be that little guessing game going into a game that you don’t really know what their plan is going to be until you get into it. They have shown that they are going to play off like Liberty, on normal downs, and then they are going to get after it a little bit on critical downs. That is more along the lines of what Georgia Southern did for the entire game. We will have to see if they are going to change that, but we have to anticipate both, and I hope we can get to a point where we are good enough to attack both of them. We have to be patience and put the ball in play where we need too as well as be able to handle pressure and defeat man coverage, which is what they’ve shown on critical downs.
On the Maryland game being the worst defeat that he ever been a part of
We lost 37-0. We turned the ball over six times. We didn’t play very well. The weather was bad. I joked around and said that it poured every time we had the ball, and it didn’t pour when they had the ball. That’s what it felt like. They just played much better than we did.
On the punt game plan
We will probably just kick it sideways right out of bounds. You can’t play like that. I can’t tell you what our plan is, but you can’t play scared. You can’t play the game of football scared. I give him (junior defensive back William Likely) all the credit and respect in the world. He (junior defensive back William Likely) is as good as I seen, but we are going to face some pretty good ones all year long. It is a big week for (senior punter) Nick (O’Toole). He has to place the ball where we want him to place the ball, and I can’t emphasis enough the importance of the front seven guys to be able to get off their blocks. They do as good a job holding people at the line of scrimmage than I have seen. It creates space. I said this a lot, if you want to be have a good punt returner, you have to give him some time to catch the punt. That’s step one. We have to get downfield and be able to get in position to make plays.
On his comment last year about redshirt sophomore kicker Josh Lambert
You know that was a joke, right? It was a joke. I thought everybody got the joke.
On his coaching relationship has changed with redshirt sophomore kicker Josh Lambert
Absolutely not. I don’t mess with him one bit. That part of it is true. Luckily, we have a guy like (assistant coach/special teams/safeties) Joe DeForest that has coached more than one Lou Groza Award winner, so we have a guy that knows how to handle kickers on a day-to-day basis. I’m not going to meddle with that. All joking aside, there is a psychological aspect to kickers, punters, deep snappers and holders that I don’t know what I’m talking about, therefore, it is everyone’s best interest that I leave it alone. I know they are handled, and I have a guy that knows how to handle them, and we are going to just leave it at that.
On Texas Tech’s game vs. Arkansas helping the Big 12 Conference
It certainly doesn’t hurt. We are going to think of West Virginia first, and we are going to try to get to 3-0 in non-conference. That was our first goal of this season with our team. That is first and foremost. We talked scheduling in here, and we are going to continue to schedule power five opponents. When you have them on your schedule, you need to do everything you can to win. I know this game means a lot based on history. The one thing with the Big 12 is that we don’t have a huge history with a lot of these teams. Starting with Oliver (Luck) and whole heartedly supported by Shane (Lyons), is that they want to continue to have regional opponents play in the non-conference schedule. That means something. That trumps what they are saying in Dallas at the Big 12 office right now. At the Big 12 office, they are talking about all games against power five opponents being able to state our case for being the best conference out there.
On what he tells his wide receiver going against an experienced defensive back
Get used to it. There are a lot of good corners out there. There are a lot of good corners in the Big 12. Are you a guy that is pretending, or are you a real guy? This is a pretty good opportunity to show that you are a real guy, whoever it is. We have more than just (freshman wide receiver) Jovon (Durante) and (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Shelton (Gibson). (Freshman wide receiver) Gary Jennings has practiced his tail off every day. (Redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Ka’Raun White is practicing his tail off, and he is getting better every day. We have more than just two young guys. We have those other guys, and we are going to continue to add to that as well.
On Maryland’s in-state recruiting efforts
It is a pretty fertile recruiting ground. We try to dabble into that a little bit as well. I’m sorry. Did that answer your question?
On playing up-tempo against Maryland last year
We were successful with playing fast last year because we got first downs. If you get first downs then you can keep pressing the pedal down and keep going. You have to execute in order to do that. If you go back and look at the offensive performances over the last two years, we had zero success two years ago, because we were bad. Last year, we were on the verge of getting pretty good, and we had success. That’s what allows you to continue to go fast. Don’t hurry up and screw it up.
On if he had enough snaps this year
Yes, and we are going to continue to get better at it.
On the importance of Saturday’s game with the heavy schedule coming up in October
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
On October’s schedule with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU and Baylor
Who? I know what’s ahead, but we are not worried about it. I am going to focus on this one. It is our goal to get to 3-0. We haven’t even talked about the Big 12 yet. It is our goal to get to 3-0, and we are giving everything that we have to win this game. After that, we will figure out who is next on the schedule.
On if he sees the Maryland series continuing after the four-year break
Is it four years? We have to spread it around. I think they are going to want to spread it around as well. Having a couple of games every couple of years is probably about right. It doesn’t have to disappear. It means too much to everybody, but where are you going to stick it? We just penned in a four game schedule with Pitt from 2022-25. Scheduling is hard, but I definitely support it. I know it has to continue in some type of fashion.
On Maryland’s offensive line not allowing a sack this season
I think they have played good teams. They are pretty good up front. They are big. They average around 305-pounds. They have three returning starters. They have been doing the same scheme for quite some time, and they have coached up the quarterbacks to get the ball out of their hands. It’s going to be a challenge to get there, and we have to figure out a way to get there. That’s something I have been talking about for quite some time because we need to get to the quarterback. I am looking forward to getting out there today and work on it.
On if he notices penalty habits when he scouts other teams
I really don’t. We coach our guys, and we pay attention to our guys. We talk about technique, and that they have to play smart. We tell them not to put the team in a bad situation. We do that with our team a lot, but I never done that with an opponent. Is that what you’re asking? I’ve always taken the approach to ignore referees. That has always been my approach. If you obsess over them, then you are costing yourself time. You are costing yourself work. You can probably lose your mind out there on the sidelines, more than I intend too. I try to ignore all that and play the next play.
