One of the first things that Jordan Lesley looks at when recruiting cornerbacks is his memory.
No, not with a quiz, but instead by examining on film how that defensive back responds on the field from play to play throughout the course of a game. Whether they give up a long catch or bat a ball down, how does that player line up for the next snap?
While skill set is obviously the most important factor, that memory portion is a close second in large part because being playing cornerback at the highest level you simply don’t have any other choice.
Regardless how good a cornerback is, there are times where they will get beat. The opposition provides scholarships to talented wide receivers as well, and it’s just simply the nature of the beast.
“You’re not going to go 100-percent. If you go great, kudos. But odds are, you’re not,” Lesley said.
West Virginia asked their defensive backs to be aggressive against TCU and it paid off with a pair of interceptions from the cornerbacks as well as a forced fumble from the safety position. Each of those were plays that were made in large part because the players made the play themselves.
“We had three takeaways and I really feel like that they all three were takeaways. We created those,” head coach Neal Brown said. “Daryl Porter steps in front and snatches the ball on his pick. Charles (Woods) with an aggressive play on his interception.”
That stems back from how the players were able to adjust, recover and forget some of the things that occurred earlier in the game or even earlier in the season. It also allowed the Mountaineers to play tighter coverage on the outside and take more risks than normal against the Horned Frogs.
Woods, who entered the game after an injury to starter Nicktroy Fortune in the first half, finished the game as the highest graded player on the defense according to PFF. He played a total of 54 snaps, a while he did allow 3 of 4 passes thrown his way to be completed for 80 yards, 49 of that came on a single play.
It speaks to the bigger point that after that play, Woods recorded his interception and was able to jump on the ball for the fumble recovery that essentially sealed the game for West Virginia.
Porter only permitted one pass for 25 yards to be completed in the four times he was targeted including an interception and finished as the third highest graded player across his 55 snaps.
That will be no different this weekend against an Iowa State team that features another talented wide receiver in Xavier Hutchinson. On the year, Hutchinson has garnered a 27-percent target share and leads the Cyclones with 46 catches for 539 yards and five touchdowns.
That makes the lesson Lesley is trying to get across all the more important.
“As a player starts to grow, that’s one thing that helps them. Got to have a short memory,” he said.
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