Holgorsens Take: Post-Liberty Bowl

Earlier today, West Virginia and Head Coach Dana Holgorsen lost momentum in the second half of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl and fell to Texas A&M 45-37.

The Aggies beat the Mountaineers by using a run game to wear down the defense. Texas A&M and Aggies Head Coach Kevin Sumlin leaned on running backs Tra Carson and Trey Williams throughout the game to open up the passing game for quarterback Kyle Allen.

Carson ran for 133 yards while Williams ran for 86 yards and a touchdown.

"Congratulations to Coach Sumlin and Texas A&M, obviously they are doing some good things. He did a heck of a job recruiting because their guys looked pretty good and played pretty good," said Holgorsen. "They we're bigger, stronger and faster than we were."

Allen threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns outdueling West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard.

Howard struggled at times to lead West Virginia into the end zone. He completed just 20 of 45 pass attempts, but still threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns.

"I thought Skyler (Howard) showed some improvements, but he was off a bit. I thought he threw some high balls. The way he operated, the way he communicated and ran the offense, I saw improvement," Holgorsen said. "Kyle (Allen) ran the ball more than I anticipated, but he's athletic and a good football player. He'll continue to get better."

While West Virginia and Howard we're able to move the ball, Holgorsen was disappointed with the lack of the ability to finish drives.

West Virginia had the ball in the red zone four times and only got nine points out of those trips inside the 20-yard line.

"The thing that stands out we're the field goals. I don't know how many field goals we attempted but there were too many stalled drives," Holgorsen added. "We play a game that needs 46 points to win it, you cannot settle for that many field goals."

The Mountaineers finish the 2014 season at 7-6 after falling to the Aggies. Holgorsen led West Virginia to three more wins than they had in 2013 and got the team back to a bowl game for the first time since the 2012 Pinstripe Bowl.

West Virginia will return many of their key players in 2015.

"The one thing I appreciate with this team more than anything is that the effort is there. They like to play the game. They were competitive and we won more games than we did last year," he said. "We'll field a full roster and have a ton of guys in the spring. We'll improve from there."