--Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson has a lot of different ideas for his game plan against Tennessee but it's something where he wants to try to keep it base early in the game to allow them to play fast and then see how things unfold to make adjustments. The focus for West Virginia is going to be about them due to the unknown and Gibson really doesn't see Tennessee mixing it up too much regardless of which quarterback gets the call. He does expect them to do a little quarterback run, move the pocket in order to get them out and give them an option early in the game. So there is going to be a lot of battling back and forth.
--Gibson is excited to watch his defense play and believes that he has a mature group that wants to get on the field and hit somebody else at this stage. There are always concerns, with tackling always at the top of that list in the first game, but he believes they have done a good job in that department in live situations.
--There are still some battles unfolding with one defensive end spot, a cornerback battle and a safety battle still rolling. They aren't getting any clearer at this point. Gibson wouldn't hint at the safety battle but when asked if redshirt senior Toyous Avery and junior JoVanni Stewart he said that you "could be onto something." Still regardless who wins the battles, expect all of them to play. He said 100-percent the only players that are going to be out there as much as possible is redshirt junior David Long, redshirt sophomore Dylan Tonkery and redshirt senior Dravon Askew-Henry. The rest of the defense is going to see a lot of players rolling in and out with platooning. That helps with keeping guys fresh and will help with tackling as well.
--Freshmen defensive end Dante Stills is going to play this fall and so will linebacker Josh Chandler, but he was here in the spring. Outside of that, no other freshmen are locks to play past the four allotted games in order to keep their redshirt in-tact.
--When it comes to back end communication, Gibson said that the group has been good and he really hasn't moved anybody around since the start of camp. It's a lot of different players playing in different spots from a year ago but they understand their assignments and what to do now.
--Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said that while Tennessee has youth at the their cornerback spots, they have veteran safeties that can help and Nigel Warrior really stands out on tape. Up front they have a lot of skilled, experienced players that can cause disruption.
--Because of the unknown, Spavital said that they've got a plan to be ready for everything basically blitzes, man coverage or zone coverage as well as when the Volunteers switch fronts. They think they'll get a certain look but if they don't they have things installed in order to move to other looks. They have a lot more situational stuff than they typically do for season openers.
--Tennessee uses a hybrid linebacker position that can set the edge in the run but is athletic enough to get out in the flats and do some things against the pass. He fills the c-gap in run fits and while you can do a lot of things it makes it more versatile in the passing game. You can look to that spot to get an idea of how they're going to look with their front but Spavital believes that Tennessee is going to use both in the game.
--When it comes to deciding the winner of a position battle, it comes down to evaluating each player on production to strengths and weaknesses in each attribute. But even with the on-going battles, Spavital expects that you could see multiple players at guard and center through the first couple games until that situation sorts itself out.
--Spavital said that this is a big game for recruiting in North Carolina just to get the West Virginia brand out there more. There is a gigantic alumni base down there and the reception has been very good because of how many alumni and people from the state are down there. He said in the winter he took head coach Dana Holgorsen to about 20 schools and there was at least one person in each of them with ties to the state. It's an area they are going to continue to recruit hard.
--Spavital said he has a good idea of what Tennessee will do on defense but you really won't know until the game starts. They have a lot of tape from different spots but they're ready for it.
--Cornerbacks coach Doug Belk said that West Virginia will roll with a top four of redshirt junior Hakeem Bailey, sophomore Derrek Pitts, junior Josh Norwood and redshirt junior Keith Washington. A fifth option would be redshirt junior Jordan Adams, but he said right now they plan to roll out a two deep at the position with each of those guys getting opportunities.
--The plan there is going to situational, as Belk plans to play all four of them throughout the year but he isn't going to count reps through games. The hope is that they all play well enough where they can roll them in without drop off, but playing cornerback always comes down to confidence.
--Even with only four options, Belk said that he feels better about his group that he thought when you consider missing on some junior college players in recruiting, a graduate transfer not making it and then injuries. There are four options that he trusts and while depth is going to be an issue especially moving forward, they are in a better spot than people would expect.
--Belk said that Tennessee has plenty of players that can challenge them on the edge or down the field so his group is going to have to be able to affect the game when the ball is in the air. They have a lot of size, so it's going to be a challenge to match their physical element and contest every pass. When it comes to quarterback, both of the Tennessee options in Jarrett Guarantano and Keller Chryst do a lot of the same things so he isn't expecting them to change the offense if one quarterback is in the game.
--Assistant Mark Scott said that redshirt sophomore Evan Staley has won both the field goal kicking job as well as the right to kick off for the Mountaineers heading into the season. He has been consistent in both areas throughout camp and has had the structure throughout certain days to keep him fresh throughout camp. He separated himself to be the guy from the rest of those in the mix throughout the past couple weeks especially.
--Scott said with the new kickoff rules now in effect when it comes time to kickoff how it's handled will all depend on situations, return team alignments and how dangerous the player is returning the football back there. Tennessee has no shortage of skill players so they have a plan to combat that and they don't want to throw too much at the players at once because you don't know what they want to do. They have some built in changes based in off what they will do, but it's wait and see.
--When it comes to the punt return team, head coach Dana Holgorsen heads up the unit but safeties coach Matt Caponi is the lead coach there along with defensive assistants. Kick return is split up between the offensive assistants.
--Wide receivers coach Tyron Carrier said that Tennessee has bigger body cornerbacks that use their hands well and he wouldn't be surprised if they walked them up and tried to man them on the outside.
--Redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier said he still has the green light and will do whatever he can to win games. He said he wouldn't change anything about himself after the Texas game where we was injured outside of being more efficient.
--Grier said he believes the offense is equipped to handle any in-game adjustments depending on what happens with Tennessee on defense.
--Gibson is excited to watch his defense play and believes that he has a mature group that wants to get on the field and hit somebody else at this stage. There are always concerns, with tackling always at the top of that list in the first game, but he believes they have done a good job in that department in live situations.
--There are still some battles unfolding with one defensive end spot, a cornerback battle and a safety battle still rolling. They aren't getting any clearer at this point. Gibson wouldn't hint at the safety battle but when asked if redshirt senior Toyous Avery and junior JoVanni Stewart he said that you "could be onto something." Still regardless who wins the battles, expect all of them to play. He said 100-percent the only players that are going to be out there as much as possible is redshirt junior David Long, redshirt sophomore Dylan Tonkery and redshirt senior Dravon Askew-Henry. The rest of the defense is going to see a lot of players rolling in and out with platooning. That helps with keeping guys fresh and will help with tackling as well.
--Freshmen defensive end Dante Stills is going to play this fall and so will linebacker Josh Chandler, but he was here in the spring. Outside of that, no other freshmen are locks to play past the four allotted games in order to keep their redshirt in-tact.
--When it comes to back end communication, Gibson said that the group has been good and he really hasn't moved anybody around since the start of camp. It's a lot of different players playing in different spots from a year ago but they understand their assignments and what to do now.
--Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said that while Tennessee has youth at the their cornerback spots, they have veteran safeties that can help and Nigel Warrior really stands out on tape. Up front they have a lot of skilled, experienced players that can cause disruption.
--Because of the unknown, Spavital said that they've got a plan to be ready for everything basically blitzes, man coverage or zone coverage as well as when the Volunteers switch fronts. They think they'll get a certain look but if they don't they have things installed in order to move to other looks. They have a lot more situational stuff than they typically do for season openers.
--Tennessee uses a hybrid linebacker position that can set the edge in the run but is athletic enough to get out in the flats and do some things against the pass. He fills the c-gap in run fits and while you can do a lot of things it makes it more versatile in the passing game. You can look to that spot to get an idea of how they're going to look with their front but Spavital believes that Tennessee is going to use both in the game.
--When it comes to deciding the winner of a position battle, it comes down to evaluating each player on production to strengths and weaknesses in each attribute. But even with the on-going battles, Spavital expects that you could see multiple players at guard and center through the first couple games until that situation sorts itself out.
--Spavital said that this is a big game for recruiting in North Carolina just to get the West Virginia brand out there more. There is a gigantic alumni base down there and the reception has been very good because of how many alumni and people from the state are down there. He said in the winter he took head coach Dana Holgorsen to about 20 schools and there was at least one person in each of them with ties to the state. It's an area they are going to continue to recruit hard.
--Spavital said he has a good idea of what Tennessee will do on defense but you really won't know until the game starts. They have a lot of tape from different spots but they're ready for it.
--Cornerbacks coach Doug Belk said that West Virginia will roll with a top four of redshirt junior Hakeem Bailey, sophomore Derrek Pitts, junior Josh Norwood and redshirt junior Keith Washington. A fifth option would be redshirt junior Jordan Adams, but he said right now they plan to roll out a two deep at the position with each of those guys getting opportunities.
--The plan there is going to situational, as Belk plans to play all four of them throughout the year but he isn't going to count reps through games. The hope is that they all play well enough where they can roll them in without drop off, but playing cornerback always comes down to confidence.
--Even with only four options, Belk said that he feels better about his group that he thought when you consider missing on some junior college players in recruiting, a graduate transfer not making it and then injuries. There are four options that he trusts and while depth is going to be an issue especially moving forward, they are in a better spot than people would expect.
--Belk said that Tennessee has plenty of players that can challenge them on the edge or down the field so his group is going to have to be able to affect the game when the ball is in the air. They have a lot of size, so it's going to be a challenge to match their physical element and contest every pass. When it comes to quarterback, both of the Tennessee options in Jarrett Guarantano and Keller Chryst do a lot of the same things so he isn't expecting them to change the offense if one quarterback is in the game.
--Assistant Mark Scott said that redshirt sophomore Evan Staley has won both the field goal kicking job as well as the right to kick off for the Mountaineers heading into the season. He has been consistent in both areas throughout camp and has had the structure throughout certain days to keep him fresh throughout camp. He separated himself to be the guy from the rest of those in the mix throughout the past couple weeks especially.
--Scott said with the new kickoff rules now in effect when it comes time to kickoff how it's handled will all depend on situations, return team alignments and how dangerous the player is returning the football back there. Tennessee has no shortage of skill players so they have a plan to combat that and they don't want to throw too much at the players at once because you don't know what they want to do. They have some built in changes based in off what they will do, but it's wait and see.
--When it comes to the punt return team, head coach Dana Holgorsen heads up the unit but safeties coach Matt Caponi is the lead coach there along with defensive assistants. Kick return is split up between the offensive assistants.
--Wide receivers coach Tyron Carrier said that Tennessee has bigger body cornerbacks that use their hands well and he wouldn't be surprised if they walked them up and tried to man them on the outside.
--Redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier said he still has the green light and will do whatever he can to win games. He said he wouldn't change anything about himself after the Texas game where we was injured outside of being more efficient.
--Grier said he believes the offense is equipped to handle any in-game adjustments depending on what happens with Tennessee on defense.
