Will WV be able to rise above the pressure?!

#1
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10acvols

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#1
Will pressure become a factor if we make it to the 4th quarter within striking distance? IMO WV could be vulnerable for several reasons.

1.Their fans, media, and players are drinking the kool-aid
You could argue that I have no idea what the team thinks and you are correct.
however, having been 21 years old myself (years ago) I know they do pay
attention to what the fans and media say and think. It's hard to be humble
when everyone tells you how great you are.

2. Their fans expect to hang 50+ on our defense.
Again, it's hard to be humble when expectations are so high. Most of their fans
see the numbers from last year and can't see how their high octane offence can
be stopped. They don't realize we are a team not void of talent. We won 9
games two years in a row. Our talent didn't leave. Besides being mismanaged,
last year was an anomaly related primarily to poor coaching, S & C and injury.

3. Their, less than humble, QB is launching his Heisman campaign.
Winning the highest honor in CFB is a big deal. While I am aware of WG's
mature nature, if things start out rough ( like maybe a couple of first half INT's
by our new found toughness and very much under estimated talent on
defense) he may start to push too hard toward the end of the game.

4. While formidable at home WV is less than magical otherwise.
Last year was a very typical example of WV away from home. While they were
3-1 on the road their wins included beating Kansas giving up 34 points,
beating Baylor giving up 36 and beating Kansas State by only 5. They lost their
only neutral site bowl game to Utah scoring just 14 points.

That all said, pressure will start to rise when game week gets here. The big
question, IMO, will be how high and how long can turn up and maintain the
pressure.

GBO


\
 
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#3
#3
No West Virginia will have another typical season for them

Tennessee L

Youngstown State W

North Carolina State W

Kansas State W

Texas Tech W

Kansas W

Iowa State L

Baylor W

Texas L

TCU L

Oklahoma State L

Oklahoma L



Texas Bowl: Texas A&M L

Final 2018 record for West Virginia 6-7 and Dana Holgorsen is fired after the Texas Bowl
 
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#4
#4
As for last year, I've struggled to make the kinds of comparisons that I like to make to get a feel for an early season game.

They played very small in the front 6/7 on D last year. Supposedly they have some grad transfers plus a talented Fr that gives them size without sacrificing too much athleticism. They had defenders injured last year and some of them will return. Very difficult to say how much impact that will have but they were starters for a reason. Benton (LB) and White (DB hybrid) are HUGE losses for their D. Long (LB) was probably their best overall defender and he returns... but the other two easily round out their top 3 defenders. There were a few games where it seemed White just took over and showed up on every play. Daniels was probably their best cover guy last year and he's also gone.

The most difficult part of looking at UT's O vs their D though is that they didn't face an O that ran under center for their base O. Every game I found was against some form of the spread. But even considering that, anyone including bad teams that lined up and ran at WVU had success. Their philosophy is to get runners to go lateral before breaking the LOS so they can pursue with speed. Assuming UT incorporates some degree of power and downhill running... it will be different from what WVU faced last year.

WVU's O returns most or all of its OL. They lose their top rusher and having watched them... he was significantly better than his back ups. Ka'Raun White (also gone) was their best all around WR. IMO, his ability to stretch D's vertical made Sills V and Jennings better who are more possession types. But the latter two had 980 and 1096 yds respectively and combined for over 150 catches. Sills V is a tall WR with better than expected athleticism who tied for the most TD catches in the NCAA. Jennings seemed to get a lot of YAC's.

Iowa State for a team lacking elite talent on D frustrated WVU. They went "bend don't break" in the extreme. Lots of times they had 3 DL's and two LB's with no one else visible in the TV frame. They were determined to make Grier and WVU's coaches patient. If not for some misplays in the 1st half... ISU would have won. WVU had over 500 yds of O but only 20 pts.


Of course it might not matter if WVU is as good as hyped if UT doesn't have the talent I think they have or if Pruitt hasn't developed that talent into a good football team by 9/1. If he has though.... this is a very, very winnable game.

I plan to watch the Ok State game some time today. They and TTU are the only teams to hold WVU's O under 400 yards with Grier playing.
 
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#5
#5
NO....
Our defense will be coached up and ready..CJP and staff will have a game plan for them...
We will actually see what it looks like to have IN GAME ADJUSTMENTS...
They will score but our defense will hold them at bay...
I believe they are grossly underestimating our talent and abililty cause of last year...
WGWTFA
GBO
 
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#7
#7
Um....

I think they have 3 WRs on the Fred Biletnikoff award list for the nation's best receiver and their QB is on the pre-season short list for Heisman. Soooooooo..... I'd say our talent will be extremely stretched on defense whilst our offense contends with an under-performing QB or a x-fer QB.
 
#8
#8
utvols74 said:
Um....

I think they have 3 WRs on the Fred Biletnikoff award list for the nation's best receiver and their QB is on the pre-season short list for Heisman. Soooooooo..... I'd say our talent will be extremely stretched on defense whilst our offense contends with an under-performing QB or a x-fer QB.
Click to expand...
And West Virginia has their own version of Botch Jones at head football coach
 
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#9
#9
sjt18 said:
As for last year, I've struggled to make the kinds of comparisons that I like to make to get a feel for an early season game.

They played very small in the front 6/7 on D last year. Supposedly they have some grad transfers plus a talented Fr that gives them size without sacrificing too much athleticism. They had defenders injured last year and some of them will return. Very difficult to say how much impact that will have but they were starters for a reason. Benton (LB) and White (DB hybrid) are HUGE losses for their D. Long (LB) was probably their best overall defender and he returns... but the other two easily round out their top 3 defenders. There were a few games where it seemed White just took over and showed up on every play. Daniels was probably their best cover guy last year and he's also gone.

The most difficult part of looking at UT's O vs their D though is that they didn't face an O that ran under center for their base O. Every game I found was against some form of the spread. But even considering that, anyone including bad teams that lined up and ran at WVU had success. Their philosophy is to get runners to go lateral before breaking the LOS so they can pursue with speed. Assuming UT incorporates some degree of power and downhill running... it will be different from what WVU faced last year.

WVU's O returns most or all of its OL. They lose their top rusher and having watched them... he was significantly better than his back ups. Ka'Raun White (also gone) was their best all around WR. IMO, his ability to stretch D's vertical made Sills V and Jennings better who are more possession types. But the latter two had 980 and 1096 yds respectively and combined for over 150 catches. Sills V is a tall WR with better than expected athleticism who tied for the most TD catches in the NCAA. Jennings seemed to get a lot of YAC's.

Iowa State for a team lacking elite talent on D frustrated WVU. They went "bend don't break" in the extreme. Lots of times they had 3 DL's and two LB's with no one else visible in the TV frame. They were determined to make Grier and WVU's coaches patient. If not for some misplays in the 1st half... ISU would have won. WVU had over 500 yds of O but only 20 pts.


Of course it might not matter if WVU is as good as hyped if UT doesn't have the talent I think they have or if Pruitt hasn't developed that talent into a good football team by 9/1. If he has though.... this is a very, very winnable game.

I plan to watch the Ok State game some time today. They and TTU are the only teams to hold WVU's O under 400 yards with Grier playing.
Click to expand...
Also, look out for TJ Simmons at WR, who is a Alabama transfer that had to sit out last year. Apparently, he would of been a starter on last years team. I think we are incorporating a tight end this year too, he s 6'4 245 pounds named Jovani Haskins, who had to sit out last year because he transferred from the U.
 
#11
#11
VolFreakJosh said:
WV’s Pass Happy Big 12 Offense won’t be nearly effective if Pruitt puts an actual SEC Defense on the field.
Click to expand...
well, i think he'll have one. now will the know all the ins and outs and be able to diagnose and just play....ehhhh that's another story.

i do feel confident in saying that we won't be lining up a full yard off the ball to start this year off though...lol.

i expect the defense will show some growing pains in this game. and htey'll probabl flash a bit too. i'm not 'scared' of WVU, but that doesn't mean i don't respect what they can do with the ball either. they have a good offense, and great skill position players.
 
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#13
#13
utvols74 said:
Um....

I think they have 3 WRs on the Fred Biletnikoff award list for the nation's best receiver and their QB is on the pre-season short list for Heisman. Soooooooo..... I'd say our talent will be extremely stretched on defense whilst our offense contends with an under-performing QB or a x-fer QB.
Click to expand...


You can’t assume that our offense will be dealing with a under-performing qb before we’ve even played a game. Let Keller or Jarrett play some football THIS yEAR before you start spewing bs like this. And the only reason those guys are on award watch lists is because they run a NCAA 08 video game offense and they play in the big 12. In case you didn’t know, the big 12 is were defenses go to die.
 
#14
#14
beachmaster said:
Am I wrong in thinking our DB's are the strength of our defense this year?
Click to expand...
yes. at least based on what we know regarding personnel. CB is still a concern, though there may be a light at the end of the tunnel with the additionis of alontae taylor and bryce thompson. also KJ jr. being in the mix in the two deep could be really good news too. problem is, we haven't seen any of those cats play. so as we sit here today, it's at least still a question.

at safety and nickel i think we're in, really, pretty good shape with the personnel we have.

depth at DT is an issue, but we've actually improved the depth at LB, especially at OLB, and that will help at the DE spots.

all in all i think we're going to be pretty good up the middle of the defense, with some questions on the perimter that we just wont' have answered til we see them play.

i think the defense will probably be a bit of a work in progress as we go thru the season. staying healthy on the DL is really important again this year.
 
#16
#16
beachmaster said:
Am I wrong in thinking our DB's are the strength of our defense this year?
Click to expand...
Going in?

Probably the most unsettled position group on the team.

If they stay healthy I think the will be much improved by Nov. Gonna take some time, but Pruitt is investing plenty of it right now.
 
#17
#17
speaking of DB's...I believe WV's DB's are their weakness...we should be able to work them over, if, of course our line can block...:)

GO VOLS!
 
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#18
#18
Realistic WVU Fan said:
Also, look out for TJ Simmons at WR, who is a Alabama transfer that had to sit out last year. Apparently, he would of been a starter on last years team. I think we are incorporating a tight end this year too, he s 6'4 245 pounds named Jovani Haskins, who had to sit out last year because he transferred from the U.
Click to expand...
It will be an interesting test. Pruitt majors in DB's and especially CB's. He likes press man and likes very physical CB's who play with their hands. I can't compare talent or skill yet but you can see his "style" stamped on Bama's CB's for the past couple of years. If he holds true to form, the CB's will play up to prevent free releases by outside receivers much of the game. I haven't seen a game yet from last year where an opponent tried that against WVU. Inexplicably unless the DB's are just not that athletic... the teams I've watched so far played a good bit of zone. WVU appeared to use a lot of sight adjustments when pressure was threatened. Lots of decent gains on simple slants... but it seems someone would have thought pressure plus man would be worth a try?
 
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#19
#19
They are entering this season with their coach on somewhat of a hot seat. There's more pressure on them than us, no doubt.

It's entirely possible that they start 8-0. What's their toughest game before October 25...against us? At NC St? Kansas St? They should win all of those games.

Their problem is that they are likely to finish 1-3. If they finish 1-3 and have a slip up before then, I think some big team heat will be on Holgorsen. Last year he largely wiped out the goodwill he built up in 2016.
 
#20
#20
sjt18 said:
I haven't seen a game yet from last year where an opponent tried that against WVU. Inexplicably unless the DB's are just not that athletic... the teams I've watched so far played a good bit of zone.
Click to expand...
That's because those Big 12 defenses they play against are soft garbage for the most part. That's always been their style.
 
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#21
#21
IMO OUR DB'S ARE SOLID BUT WE LACK DEPTH. TO BE HONEST, A BAD SEC DEFENSE IS BETTER THAN MOST ANY DEFENSE WV WILL FACE ALL YEAR BESIDES OKLAHOMA.
 
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#22
#22
05_never_again said:
They are entering this season with their coach on somewhat of a hot seat. There's more pressure on them than us, no doubt.

It's entirely possible that they start 8-0. What's their toughest game before October 25...against us? At NC St? Kansas St? They should win all of those games.

Their problem is that they are likely to finish 1-3. If they finish 1-3 and have a slip up before then, I think some big team heat will be on Holgorsen. Last year he largely wiped out the goodwill he built up in 2016.
Click to expand...
West Virginia will start off 5-1 and finish 6-7. I don't know why everyone is going out of their way to try to build up a mediocre team like West Virginia.
 
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#23
#23
Realistic WVU Fan said:
Also, look out for TJ Simmons at WR, who is a Alabama transfer that had to sit out last year. Apparently, he would of been a starter on last years team. I think we are incorporating a tight end this year too, he s 6'4 245 pounds named Jovani Haskins, who had to sit out last year because he transferred from the U.
Click to expand...

I’m going to take off my orange colored glasses for just a sec to say that we are nowhere close to where we would like to be to play in the SEC . Nobody has a clue what we are going to look like that first game with you guys but I will say that we have zero pressure right now , new coaches , new systems on both sides of the ball and we were a dumpster fire last year . I’ll put my glasses back on to say , you guys have all the pressure on you to win and to look good doing it . Only beating us by a few points will kill your rating , over look us with an automatic win check mark and it could be bad .
 
#25
#25
Well, a common denominator last year between UT and WVU was UGA and OU during the CFP. I'm not one to link games to results because there is always exceptions. But some here tend to do that, so then I will to. UGA played OU and it was pretty close for 4 quarters. Now compare WVU's results against OU (away game) vs UT's results vs UGA (at HOME). Not even close.
 
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