Head Coach Randy Edsall
On closing the non-conference slate against West Virginia:
“It’s a big opportunity because it’s the next team that we’re playing…there’s a history between the schools playing each other for a number of years, we’re bordering states, there are implications from recruiting as well, so it’s a big game because it’s the next one on the schedule. The guys are looking forward to it and we know that they have an outstanding football team there and we’re going to have to play well in order to win.”
“My whole philosophy is that I want to get better each and every week. We’re going to start playing conference games earlier in the year now that they’ve changed the schedule. We’re going into our fourth game and all I want to try to do is continue to get better as we go throughout the season. That’s the goal regardless if it’s a conference or non-conference game. The goal is to improve each and every week regardless of who we’re playing. I think that’s why we structure our practices the way that we do, to continue to work on all of the little things that can make a difference when you put the whole thing together. It’s important that we play better this week than we did the week before. We want to get better and we want to continue to get better. As a team, you want to continue to grow, keep getting better, and by the end of the season be playing the best football that you can be playing.”
On returning to Morgantown:
“It’s a tough environment. Their fans are passionate about their team and it’s a sold out game, so we know it will be loud. What we are going to have to do is go in and focus on ourselves and do the things that we have to do.”
On stability in passing game:
“I thought we were very much improved in the passing game, but we still have things that we need to work on to continue to get better. We made the move to accomplish what we were able to accomplish in terms of getting the ball down the field a little bit more and understanding that we have to be able to throw the ball effectively and efficiently. Now we have to just clean some things up in terms of receivers, the quarterback and eliminating the turnovers. We have some weapons that we can get the ball to: Caleb [Rowe] has the arm to be able to do that and there are guys that can make plays if they get the ball.”
On his young defense:
“We still need some work. When you take a look at us, we are still very young on defense. When you take a look up front, we really have no returning starters. There are no returning linebackers, A.J. Hendy is starting for the first time in the secondary and Sean [Davis] is still learning as a corner. I thought we improved defensively, and that’s the thing. If we can continue to improve each and every week, then I think that we’ll be doing the things that we need to do. Its gets back to just doing the little things right. I think we made progress last week defensively, there were some communication issues that we need to clean up, but we just have to keep focusing on the fundamentals and the techniques. If we do that, we’ll be okay. We’re going to continue to play a lot of guys because we feel that we need to. It also helps to develop our depth and helps us continue to grow as a program. ”
On the success of the offensive line:
“One of the biggest things that has happened with the offensive line is their communication. Guys have really worked hard to use good technique. We still can get better in that regard, but it all starts with communication and then goes down to moving your feet and the fundamentals of pass protection. We spend a lot of time on it. I think the guys take pride in the fact that they don’t want the quarterback to be hit, so I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. We’re seeing movement up front from defenses, we’re seeing blitzes, but I think our guys have handled them pretty well and we have another tough test this Saturday against West Virginia.”
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