West Virginia University
Coach Dana Holgorsen Media Conference
September 29, 2015
Oklahoma Week
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (September 29, 2015) - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses members of the media on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
We are moving on to Oklahoma. They are the first of nine challenging Big 12 football games. We will take it one game at a time. It doesn’t matter who is next, or who was the previous opponent. It’s always going to be about Oklahoma. It’s the first road trip of the season. Last year, I think we approached these games the right way, and we turned out to have a 4-1 record on the road. It’s not going to be a lot different than that, as far as our approach. We know what we are getting into, just like anything else. We have a bunch of guys on our team that have been to Norman. They were on this same trip two years ago. They played against the Sooners for the last three years, and they have familiarity with who they are, their personnel and what their stadium looks like. They have great tradition. They have an awesome fan base. They have a lot of things going for them. They have great players and great coaches.
My history with Oklahoma has always been about what they do defensively more than anything. They look like they are as good as they have been on defense. (Associate head coach/defensive coordinator/outside linebackers) Mike Stoops has been there for a while. (Head coach) Bob Stoops has a hand in the defense as well. It’s the same type of scheme that they used against us last year, and they have almost the same players that they had against us last year. We know we have our work cut out for us. They are big. They are physical. They want to stop the run. They have no problem playing man coverage with the talented athletes that they have on the back end.
Offensively, everyone is well aware that they switched up coordinators. (Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Lincoln Riley came in from East Carolina. He has a history of doing some of the same things that I have done in the past. The biggest thing with them is that they have some new personnel, starting with their (junior) quarterback (Baker Mayfield) who is a playmaker. He is fun to watch. He keeps it alive as good as anyone in the country. He has a talented, live arm. He can also run the ball, so it starts with him. A lot has been said about him coming in and installing the air raid as opposed to what they have been doing the last few years, which was a version of the air raid if I’m not mistaken. We know that they have talented running backs. We saw the (sophomore running back Samaje) Perine guy go for over 200 (yards) on us last year. It was the difference in the game, especially in the second half. After the game, I thought we changed some things up to do a better job at stopping the run. I think we are more capable of being able to stop the run now, then we were at that point with the evolution of this defense a year ago. The receivers are talented. They can make plays down field. (Senior wide receiver) Sterling Shepard is as good as it gets. He is another senior that has made plays, and he is as good as any receiver in the country. He reminds me a lot of the (Tyler) Lockett kid from Kansas State. He is the same type of guy, and is maybe a little bit undersized, but he can make plays down field. He is good in the return game as well.
Special teams has always been solid with them. They have a new kicker who is a highly recruited guy, he was one of the best guys in the country coming out of high school, and he has lived up to that label put on him. He is their place kicker guy and their punter, which is a little ironic because not a lot of guys do that. He has been almost perfect. Then there is the return game, as I mentioned with (senior wide receiver Sterling) Shepard, and we also saw what happened last year. The (redshirt junior running back Alex) Ross kid took one back on us to go up seven last year, after we seized all the momentum in that game, they seized it right back with the kick return. That will be something that will be addressed this week.
With that said, I’ll take some questions.
On what caused Tulsa to have 603 yards on offense against Oklahoma
That’s a good question. We studied the tape. Defensively, they played great against Tennessee. Its two different defenses that you watched against Tennessee and what you watched against Tulsa. I think everybody would rather have Tennessee’s guys then Tulsa’s guys. Tulsa does have one good receiver, but Tennessee has been recruiting at such a high level for the last three or four years. They have a lot of players running around out there, and Oklahoma shut them down. They jumped on them earlier and kept them out of the game for almost three quarters. Did they relax? There is probably an element to that. You can say the same thing for us in our games, too.
On the offensive line’s play last week and if they are ready for Oklahoma’s pass rush
They better get ready. Going back and looking at it, I don’t remember saying it was just the second half. Did I say that in postgame? I don’t think I did, but it wasn’t very good all game. We did a poor job at pass protecting, and that is something that has been addressed with our offense. I’m pretty anxious to get out there and work on it for the next three or four hours because having (senior linebacker Eric) Striker, (senior defensive end Charles) Tapper and a couple of those safeties coming off the edge is going to be a whole different speed. It was last year, and it is again this year.
On the turning point of the defense and stopping the run game
By no means do we have everything figured out, but we held a good Georgia Southern team down from what their rushing total number is. Looking back at it last year, we held TCU and Kansas State to well below their average number as well. We have more experienced guys. We have guys that take more snaps in defense, and they are going to continue to get better at it. I think we did a good defensive job against the run other than him (redshirt junior running back Alex Ross) getting out on that one long run. We did a pretty good job against the run this past week as well.
On redshirt sophomore tight end Elijah Wellman being a common dominator in WVU’s red zone success
He caught two balls. They were relatively easy balls to catch. It’s all about setting up the run, and I’m not trying to take anything away from him. If you set up the run, and they stop the run, then you can slip things in the pass game. It’s a bunch of run/pass options that we have, whether it’s him (redshirt sophomore tight end Elijah Wellman), (redshirt senior tight end) Cody (Clay) or wide outs. (Junior wide receiver) Daikiel (Shorts Jr.) making that catch in the back of the end zone is the same thing. It’s a run/pass option. They take away the run, and then you throw it to guys that slip behind them.
On if the run game up the middle was due to redshirt sophomore tight end Elijah Wellman blocks
One hundred percent. He blocked better than I have seen him. If you want to write about him scoring a touchdown, then go ahead. That’s fine. That’s good. That’s good for him, but we are a little more interested with him working good pad level and being pointed in the right direction. We want him to block the right guy, and we want him to do it with great pad level and finish the block. That is way more important than him slipping into the end zone and catching an uncontested pass.
On how the team has had success on the road
I keep the routine the same. We travel the right way. The guys are excited about going to a different place. We tend to get to the hotel at the same time whether it is home or away. The guys know what the routine is going to be. They are going to spend some quality time together. We are going to stay in a nice hotel and eat good food. We are going to see a lot of different venues which is always exciting. Hopefully, we are able to rise to the occasion and meet the challenge of being able to play on the road. I think our guys look forward to it.
On if home field advantage is overrated
I don’t know. Last year, it seemed that the percentage of home teams winning was lower than in years past. I guess we had something to do with that. We think Mountaineer Field is a home field advantage for us. I’m sure the Sooners think that home field advantage is something for them. It’s a big stadium. It’s loud. They have great fans. I think the Mountaineers thrive off of that. I think we are going to hit that field excited. We are anxious to play, and are excited about being there.
On teaching the freshman on the team how to travel the right way
Fortunately, we don’t have many. There is two that I can think of, and maybe a junior college guy like (redshirt junior cornerback) Rasul (Douglas). We have (freshman wide receiver) Gary (Jennings), (freshman wide receiver) Jovon (Durante) and (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Ka’Raun (White). There are four or five, and that’s a far cry from 15-25 that we had in the past. I don’t know. They have to lean on the older guys, and those guys will make sure they are at the right place at the right time.
On preparing for the crowd noise
We had to change all of our signals. We had to change all of our cadences. That’s always an issue with Big 12 opponents that know you as well as you know them, and they know us. We have been preparing for this for over a year now. We constantly have to keep changing things. I am not worried about the crowd noise. We can do everything silent. We have been able to do everything silent since I have been here. We can be multiple in our snaps count. We can be multiple in our signals. It’s an issue versus these guys. They know us so well. We have to huddle more. We have to use different cadences and different signals to make sure they don’t know exactly what we are doing. It’s going to be the same thing the week after. It’s going to be the same thing the week after, and it’s going to be the same thing the week after that.
On if he has seen a four-game stretch like the one coming up in October
Yes, I see it every year. Every game is hard. Every game is challenging. You can say that last year wasn’t hard, because we went to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, and they weren’t ranked. Let me tell you something, those games were as tough as any other game that we played in last year. It’s all the same. Going to Iowa State is hard. Going to Kansas and Kansas State is hard. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care who is on our schedule. We are going to focus on who the next opponent is. We are not going to worry about what is ahead of us until it’s time to worry about what is ahead of us.
On his relationship with offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Lincoln Riley
Our background is the same. Lincoln is a dear friend of mine, and we spent a lot of time together back in my Texas Tech days. He is a great kid from a great family. He married up. He has some good kids running around now. I am proud of them. His wife was my nanny for a while, so we go way back. I am happy for them, and I am happy for his family. He did great at East Carolina. He is very deserving of where he is at. In 20 years from now, we will probably sit down and talk about the good ole days. Until then, we aren’t talking.
On how much has offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Lincoln Riley evolved the air raid offense
He has evolved it in his own way. In my own way, I have. We haven’t been on the same staff in eight years, so it has been awhile. I think we will see a constant evolution based on o-line having more experience and staff continuity developing. He is working with (assistant head coach/director of recruiting/inside receivers) Cale Gundy for the first time. He is working with (offensive line coach) Bill Bedenbaugh for the first time in 10 years. He is working with (outside receivers coach) Dennis Simmons. He is another good friend of mine. He was at East Carolina with him for a couple years. They are going to continue to mold their staff, and take their players and (head coach) Bob’s (Stoops) input. I don’t know what the final product is going to be. I think it is still a working progress.
On cracking the AP’s Top 25 poll and if this team is in a better place than the last time they were in the rankings
We did? That’s great news. When was the last time we were there? We are in a better place now than we have been in a while. I know that. Our team feels good about where we are at. Our goal was to be 3-0. We cruised past the non-conference portion of our schedule to meet our goal of a 3-0 record. We are anxiously awaiting Big 12 football. Our team is in a good place. We are healthy. We continue to improve. I think we are in a good spot.
On Oklahoma’s redshirt junior cornerback Zack Sanchez
Yeah, he is a good player. He went toe-to-toe with Kevin (White) the whole game. He got Kevin (White) a couple of times. Kevin (White) got him a couple of times. He’s a ball hawk. He has a bunch of interceptions. He’s going to get thrown at a lot just because of the nature of what they do defensively. Hopefully, we have some success like we did last year, and hopefully, he doesn’t have as much success.
On if Oklahoma’s junior quarterback Baker Mayfield reminds him of junior quarterback Skyler Howard
They are similar type players. They are both a little undersized. Neither one of them was recruited very hard out of what is pretty good Texas high school football. They both play with a chip on their shoulder, and they are very mobile. They have good arms, and they are accurate. They like to play the game. Both are exciting. There are some similarities in the two. I guess that is the only appropriate way of putting it.
On relying on run game with junior running back Wendell Smallwood and redshirt junior running back Rushel Shell in the backfield
It would be nice. It’s a lot easier to call a run play and get 15 or 20 yards than anything else. (Junior running back) Wendell (Smallwood) had his best game since he’s been here. He was explosive out of the backfield. Again, our o-line did a relatively good job. They did a really good job in run blocking. (Redshirt senior tight end) Cody (Clay) and (redshirt sophomore tight end) Elijah (Wellman) did some good things as well. We want to be able to run the ball, when they give us the numbers to run the ball. There is going to be a lot of times this Saturday where they are going to try and take away the run. We have to be creative and figure out how to have production in the run game even when they try to stop it.
On knowing what the opponent’s defense is going to do
I don’t think you ever truly know. That’s part of the reason why you game prep all week long. We watch a bunch of tape, and you try to come to a conclusion on what you think we are going to get, but you better have in-game adjustments if that’s not what you end up with. I think I have an idea on what Oklahoma is going to do against us, and we will have set plays that we know we can call and attempt to execute against a pretty good defense. If they change some things up, we better have the knowledge, and we better be able to change what we are doing. There is a game prep portion of it and there is an in-game adjustments portion of it. We know these guys as well as we know anybody else, and they know us pretty well as well.
On how much football is preparation and how much it is adjusting to the game
There is a responsibility of the player that goes into it as well. It is not all coaching. I know you guys like to pin it on me most of the time, but preparation is important. You have to know your opponent. How you practice all week is important, and preparing the guys to play is our job. Then preparing them to play physically is our job, and their job as well. They have to invest an interest in this as well. Then you get into the game and a player has to play. We put them in position to play, and they have to get out there and make plays. Then you have to communicate on the sidelines and make some adjustments coaching wise and having players understand that is important. There is an experience factor to that as well. I can’t name percentages or anything.
On if it matters that Oklahoma has played a tough game against Tennessee and that West Virginia hasn’t had a competitive game yet
I think you can draw upon the previous years. Our game against these guys was competitive in the second half, and we can learn from that, and so were the other games that we played last year. I have been in these games a lot. It’s football. We have played a lot of football.
Coach Dana Holgorsen Media Conference
September 29, 2015
Oklahoma Week
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (September 29, 2015) - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses members of the media on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
We are moving on to Oklahoma. They are the first of nine challenging Big 12 football games. We will take it one game at a time. It doesn’t matter who is next, or who was the previous opponent. It’s always going to be about Oklahoma. It’s the first road trip of the season. Last year, I think we approached these games the right way, and we turned out to have a 4-1 record on the road. It’s not going to be a lot different than that, as far as our approach. We know what we are getting into, just like anything else. We have a bunch of guys on our team that have been to Norman. They were on this same trip two years ago. They played against the Sooners for the last three years, and they have familiarity with who they are, their personnel and what their stadium looks like. They have great tradition. They have an awesome fan base. They have a lot of things going for them. They have great players and great coaches.
My history with Oklahoma has always been about what they do defensively more than anything. They look like they are as good as they have been on defense. (Associate head coach/defensive coordinator/outside linebackers) Mike Stoops has been there for a while. (Head coach) Bob Stoops has a hand in the defense as well. It’s the same type of scheme that they used against us last year, and they have almost the same players that they had against us last year. We know we have our work cut out for us. They are big. They are physical. They want to stop the run. They have no problem playing man coverage with the talented athletes that they have on the back end.
Offensively, everyone is well aware that they switched up coordinators. (Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Lincoln Riley came in from East Carolina. He has a history of doing some of the same things that I have done in the past. The biggest thing with them is that they have some new personnel, starting with their (junior) quarterback (Baker Mayfield) who is a playmaker. He is fun to watch. He keeps it alive as good as anyone in the country. He has a talented, live arm. He can also run the ball, so it starts with him. A lot has been said about him coming in and installing the air raid as opposed to what they have been doing the last few years, which was a version of the air raid if I’m not mistaken. We know that they have talented running backs. We saw the (sophomore running back Samaje) Perine guy go for over 200 (yards) on us last year. It was the difference in the game, especially in the second half. After the game, I thought we changed some things up to do a better job at stopping the run. I think we are more capable of being able to stop the run now, then we were at that point with the evolution of this defense a year ago. The receivers are talented. They can make plays down field. (Senior wide receiver) Sterling Shepard is as good as it gets. He is another senior that has made plays, and he is as good as any receiver in the country. He reminds me a lot of the (Tyler) Lockett kid from Kansas State. He is the same type of guy, and is maybe a little bit undersized, but he can make plays down field. He is good in the return game as well.
Special teams has always been solid with them. They have a new kicker who is a highly recruited guy, he was one of the best guys in the country coming out of high school, and he has lived up to that label put on him. He is their place kicker guy and their punter, which is a little ironic because not a lot of guys do that. He has been almost perfect. Then there is the return game, as I mentioned with (senior wide receiver Sterling) Shepard, and we also saw what happened last year. The (redshirt junior running back Alex) Ross kid took one back on us to go up seven last year, after we seized all the momentum in that game, they seized it right back with the kick return. That will be something that will be addressed this week.
With that said, I’ll take some questions.
On what caused Tulsa to have 603 yards on offense against Oklahoma
That’s a good question. We studied the tape. Defensively, they played great against Tennessee. Its two different defenses that you watched against Tennessee and what you watched against Tulsa. I think everybody would rather have Tennessee’s guys then Tulsa’s guys. Tulsa does have one good receiver, but Tennessee has been recruiting at such a high level for the last three or four years. They have a lot of players running around out there, and Oklahoma shut them down. They jumped on them earlier and kept them out of the game for almost three quarters. Did they relax? There is probably an element to that. You can say the same thing for us in our games, too.
On the offensive line’s play last week and if they are ready for Oklahoma’s pass rush
They better get ready. Going back and looking at it, I don’t remember saying it was just the second half. Did I say that in postgame? I don’t think I did, but it wasn’t very good all game. We did a poor job at pass protecting, and that is something that has been addressed with our offense. I’m pretty anxious to get out there and work on it for the next three or four hours because having (senior linebacker Eric) Striker, (senior defensive end Charles) Tapper and a couple of those safeties coming off the edge is going to be a whole different speed. It was last year, and it is again this year.
On the turning point of the defense and stopping the run game
By no means do we have everything figured out, but we held a good Georgia Southern team down from what their rushing total number is. Looking back at it last year, we held TCU and Kansas State to well below their average number as well. We have more experienced guys. We have guys that take more snaps in defense, and they are going to continue to get better at it. I think we did a good defensive job against the run other than him (redshirt junior running back Alex Ross) getting out on that one long run. We did a pretty good job against the run this past week as well.
On redshirt sophomore tight end Elijah Wellman being a common dominator in WVU’s red zone success
He caught two balls. They were relatively easy balls to catch. It’s all about setting up the run, and I’m not trying to take anything away from him. If you set up the run, and they stop the run, then you can slip things in the pass game. It’s a bunch of run/pass options that we have, whether it’s him (redshirt sophomore tight end Elijah Wellman), (redshirt senior tight end) Cody (Clay) or wide outs. (Junior wide receiver) Daikiel (Shorts Jr.) making that catch in the back of the end zone is the same thing. It’s a run/pass option. They take away the run, and then you throw it to guys that slip behind them.
On if the run game up the middle was due to redshirt sophomore tight end Elijah Wellman blocks
One hundred percent. He blocked better than I have seen him. If you want to write about him scoring a touchdown, then go ahead. That’s fine. That’s good. That’s good for him, but we are a little more interested with him working good pad level and being pointed in the right direction. We want him to block the right guy, and we want him to do it with great pad level and finish the block. That is way more important than him slipping into the end zone and catching an uncontested pass.
On how the team has had success on the road
I keep the routine the same. We travel the right way. The guys are excited about going to a different place. We tend to get to the hotel at the same time whether it is home or away. The guys know what the routine is going to be. They are going to spend some quality time together. We are going to stay in a nice hotel and eat good food. We are going to see a lot of different venues which is always exciting. Hopefully, we are able to rise to the occasion and meet the challenge of being able to play on the road. I think our guys look forward to it.
On if home field advantage is overrated
I don’t know. Last year, it seemed that the percentage of home teams winning was lower than in years past. I guess we had something to do with that. We think Mountaineer Field is a home field advantage for us. I’m sure the Sooners think that home field advantage is something for them. It’s a big stadium. It’s loud. They have great fans. I think the Mountaineers thrive off of that. I think we are going to hit that field excited. We are anxious to play, and are excited about being there.
On teaching the freshman on the team how to travel the right way
Fortunately, we don’t have many. There is two that I can think of, and maybe a junior college guy like (redshirt junior cornerback) Rasul (Douglas). We have (freshman wide receiver) Gary (Jennings), (freshman wide receiver) Jovon (Durante) and (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Ka’Raun (White). There are four or five, and that’s a far cry from 15-25 that we had in the past. I don’t know. They have to lean on the older guys, and those guys will make sure they are at the right place at the right time.
On preparing for the crowd noise
We had to change all of our signals. We had to change all of our cadences. That’s always an issue with Big 12 opponents that know you as well as you know them, and they know us. We have been preparing for this for over a year now. We constantly have to keep changing things. I am not worried about the crowd noise. We can do everything silent. We have been able to do everything silent since I have been here. We can be multiple in our snaps count. We can be multiple in our signals. It’s an issue versus these guys. They know us so well. We have to huddle more. We have to use different cadences and different signals to make sure they don’t know exactly what we are doing. It’s going to be the same thing the week after. It’s going to be the same thing the week after, and it’s going to be the same thing the week after that.
On if he has seen a four-game stretch like the one coming up in October
Yes, I see it every year. Every game is hard. Every game is challenging. You can say that last year wasn’t hard, because we went to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, and they weren’t ranked. Let me tell you something, those games were as tough as any other game that we played in last year. It’s all the same. Going to Iowa State is hard. Going to Kansas and Kansas State is hard. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care who is on our schedule. We are going to focus on who the next opponent is. We are not going to worry about what is ahead of us until it’s time to worry about what is ahead of us.
On his relationship with offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Lincoln Riley
Our background is the same. Lincoln is a dear friend of mine, and we spent a lot of time together back in my Texas Tech days. He is a great kid from a great family. He married up. He has some good kids running around now. I am proud of them. His wife was my nanny for a while, so we go way back. I am happy for them, and I am happy for his family. He did great at East Carolina. He is very deserving of where he is at. In 20 years from now, we will probably sit down and talk about the good ole days. Until then, we aren’t talking.
On how much has offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Lincoln Riley evolved the air raid offense
He has evolved it in his own way. In my own way, I have. We haven’t been on the same staff in eight years, so it has been awhile. I think we will see a constant evolution based on o-line having more experience and staff continuity developing. He is working with (assistant head coach/director of recruiting/inside receivers) Cale Gundy for the first time. He is working with (offensive line coach) Bill Bedenbaugh for the first time in 10 years. He is working with (outside receivers coach) Dennis Simmons. He is another good friend of mine. He was at East Carolina with him for a couple years. They are going to continue to mold their staff, and take their players and (head coach) Bob’s (Stoops) input. I don’t know what the final product is going to be. I think it is still a working progress.
On cracking the AP’s Top 25 poll and if this team is in a better place than the last time they were in the rankings
We did? That’s great news. When was the last time we were there? We are in a better place now than we have been in a while. I know that. Our team feels good about where we are at. Our goal was to be 3-0. We cruised past the non-conference portion of our schedule to meet our goal of a 3-0 record. We are anxiously awaiting Big 12 football. Our team is in a good place. We are healthy. We continue to improve. I think we are in a good spot.
On Oklahoma’s redshirt junior cornerback Zack Sanchez
Yeah, he is a good player. He went toe-to-toe with Kevin (White) the whole game. He got Kevin (White) a couple of times. Kevin (White) got him a couple of times. He’s a ball hawk. He has a bunch of interceptions. He’s going to get thrown at a lot just because of the nature of what they do defensively. Hopefully, we have some success like we did last year, and hopefully, he doesn’t have as much success.
On if Oklahoma’s junior quarterback Baker Mayfield reminds him of junior quarterback Skyler Howard
They are similar type players. They are both a little undersized. Neither one of them was recruited very hard out of what is pretty good Texas high school football. They both play with a chip on their shoulder, and they are very mobile. They have good arms, and they are accurate. They like to play the game. Both are exciting. There are some similarities in the two. I guess that is the only appropriate way of putting it.
On relying on run game with junior running back Wendell Smallwood and redshirt junior running back Rushel Shell in the backfield
It would be nice. It’s a lot easier to call a run play and get 15 or 20 yards than anything else. (Junior running back) Wendell (Smallwood) had his best game since he’s been here. He was explosive out of the backfield. Again, our o-line did a relatively good job. They did a really good job in run blocking. (Redshirt senior tight end) Cody (Clay) and (redshirt sophomore tight end) Elijah (Wellman) did some good things as well. We want to be able to run the ball, when they give us the numbers to run the ball. There is going to be a lot of times this Saturday where they are going to try and take away the run. We have to be creative and figure out how to have production in the run game even when they try to stop it.
On knowing what the opponent’s defense is going to do
I don’t think you ever truly know. That’s part of the reason why you game prep all week long. We watch a bunch of tape, and you try to come to a conclusion on what you think we are going to get, but you better have in-game adjustments if that’s not what you end up with. I think I have an idea on what Oklahoma is going to do against us, and we will have set plays that we know we can call and attempt to execute against a pretty good defense. If they change some things up, we better have the knowledge, and we better be able to change what we are doing. There is a game prep portion of it and there is an in-game adjustments portion of it. We know these guys as well as we know anybody else, and they know us pretty well as well.
On how much football is preparation and how much it is adjusting to the game
There is a responsibility of the player that goes into it as well. It is not all coaching. I know you guys like to pin it on me most of the time, but preparation is important. You have to know your opponent. How you practice all week is important, and preparing the guys to play is our job. Then preparing them to play physically is our job, and their job as well. They have to invest an interest in this as well. Then you get into the game and a player has to play. We put them in position to play, and they have to get out there and make plays. Then you have to communicate on the sidelines and make some adjustments coaching wise and having players understand that is important. There is an experience factor to that as well. I can’t name percentages or anything.
On if it matters that Oklahoma has played a tough game against Tennessee and that West Virginia hasn’t had a competitive game yet
I think you can draw upon the previous years. Our game against these guys was competitive in the second half, and we can learn from that, and so were the other games that we played last year. I have been in these games a lot. It’s football. We have played a lot of football.
