Holgorsens Take: Big 12 Coaches Teleconference

West Virginia (3-5, 1-4) will travel to TCU (3-5, 1-4) in a critical matchup for both team's bowl chances and head coach Dana Holgorsen addressed the media Monday morning on the Big 12 Conference Coaches Teleconference.

Holgorsen, whose team is 5-9 in conference play since West Virginia entered the league last season, believes that the football program will need to continue to develop in a lot of areas to better handle life in the Big 12 Conference.

Long term that means upgrading facilities, recruiting and other areas of the program, while in the short term that means working towards improvement each and every week.

"We knew it was going to be challenging. Obviously the Big 12 has some of the best ball that's going to be played across the country," he said.

The Mountaineers continue to adjust to their opponents in the Big 12 and Holgorsen said he does not buy into the theory that teams have an advantage one way or the other after only one season in the league. The key will be the familiarity of playing each team and getting a feel for what it's like on an annual basis.

"I've been pretty vocal on this. I think it's going to take a couple years for everybody to understand the magnitude of the Big 12," he said.

Holgorsen said that the struggles offensively for West Virginia this season is something he hasn't dealt with before, but is in large part due to how many new faces are playing.

"We've got new people at every single spot, a coaching staff that continues to learn how to coach together and game plan together and call plays and react …," he said. "…We need to continue to coach them hard, which we are."

The Mountaineers will make their first trip to TCU this weekend with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m.