Holgorsen's Take: Youngstown State 9/8
Saturday’s win over Youngstown State didn’t see a perfect performance from West Virginia, but what matters most to head coach Dana Holgorsen is that the team’s 2-0.
During his postgame press conference, Holgorsen admitted that he was glad this week was over and that this week leading up to the Youngstown State game was a difficult one coming off a 40-14 win over Tennessee last week in Charlotte.
“It was just kind of a tough week for all of us after coming off that big win last week,” Holgorsen said. “We talked about respecting our opponent, which I think we did. At the end of the day, we got through with the victory.”
One of the reasons for West Virginia’s early offensive struggles in the first half was due to a different look from Youngstown State’s defense, which threw the offense off early.
Holgorsen also said that quarterback Will Grier, who leads an offense known for making big plays, overall managed the game well, but he had to tell Grier not to get frustrated and get thrown off his game because the offense was getting about five or six yards per play in the first half.
“Coach (Bo) Pelini is a really good football coach, he did some things defensively that had us kind of scrambling a little bit early,” Holgorsen said. “They showed us a 4-0 box or 4-1 box most of the time and I thought Will Grier did a great job of getting us into the right plays and then just rallied to it.”
One of the highlights of the night was senior wide receiver Gary Jennings hauling in three touchdown passes from Grier.
Last season, Jennings led the team with 97 catches and had over 1,000 receiving yards, but only found the end zone once. Holgorsen said the team teased him about only having one touchdown last season, but he was happy to see him score three times.
“We gave him so much crap last year for having one touchdown,” Holgorsen said. “One hundred catches and one touchdown, so he’s tired of hearing it. I can’t explain that because he’s a really good player and we focused on that and targeted him more in those situations. It was good to see him get in the end zone.”
Speaking of getting into the end zone, senior wide receiver Dominique Maiden found himself in the end zone for the first time in his college career. The celebration following drew a penalty which was enforced on the ensuing kickoff.
Penalties were another thing that stood out during the game as West Virginia committed 12 penalties for 114 yards. This surpassed West Virginia’s total from last week (four penalties for 35 yards), but Holgorsen wasn’t sure if the penalties were due to technique or effort.
“I don’t think our effort was bad,” Holgorsen said. “I don’t know, but we have to look at it. It’s not good we didn’t play smart.”
Rotations and lineup changes also continued on the offensive line and defense as junior safety JoVanni Stewart found himself filling in at linebacker for the injured Charlie Benton and on the offensive line, redshirt sophomore Chase Behrndt got the start, but last week’s starter, redshirt junior Joe Brown, rotated in as well.
Holgorsen said that these moves had to do with getting the best 11 players on the field and experimenting players at different positions.
Overall, Holgorsen admitted that the team’s play wasn’t spectacular, but they played OK.
Holgorsen closed the press conference by praising the crowd for attending the game on a rainy day and also let it known that the Mountaineer Mantrip will have a different start that will continue on.
“I don’t know who saw it, but it started out with a little wave to the WVU Children’s Hospital over there,” Holgorsen said. “The crowd was great so we really appreciate Mountaineer Nation coming out.”
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