You can’t win the Kentucky Derby by screaming “whoa.”

That’s a phrase that West Virginia offensive coordinator Gerad Parker, a native of the Bluegrass State, remembers hearing quite often growing up. And it’s the perfect phrase to describe what the Mountaineers have to do in order to begin connecting on passing plays down the field.

You can’t hit on vertical shots unless you first pick the right spots and try them. That seems basic enough, but perhaps even more importantly you must have confidence doing it in the first place.

“The trick is being able to do it and not get real tore up if a ball hits the ground,” Parker said. “If it does, we just need to do it again and if we hit or five or six out of ten, we got to feel really good about that.”

Parker equates it to the confidence of a good three-point shooter in the game of basketball. Yes, they could miss but it’s the fact that they are ready to take more looks without hesitation next time.

“That is the key to pushing the ball vertically and pushing it down the field. You have to be so confident and believe if you don’t hit the first one, the next one is going to go,” he said.

The offense did attempt to push the ball against Kansas to mixed results completed 1-6 for 33 yards and a touchdown. However, it was an improvement over the previous two Big 12 Conference game in the sense that they completed one attempt.

The Mountaineers want to avoid hitting the brakes on those plays, or metaphorically commanding the horse to slow down, and instead push that aspect.

That was certainly the case against Baylor when the offense only attempted one throw over 20+ yards in the air. It fell incomplete, but it continued a trend of misfires after that total was 0-8 against Oklahoma State the week before.

It’s a mentality change for an offense still looking to discover its identity.

“We want to say go, go, go,” Parker said.

Last season, Doege connected on 7/20 attempts over 20+ yards in the air despite only appearing in four games but now the challenge is to find a way to duplicate that. Some of that falls directly on the shoulders of the coaches when it comes to dialing those plays up, while it’s also about timing as well as protection.

Still, confidence in what they're doing lies at the heart of it all.

It’s important not to become too enamored with changing the narrative because at times letting certain stats enter your mental real estate can have negative effects. But it’s a slippery slope over the course of the season if the Mountaineers can’t turn the tide on that front.

“Our guys have put in way too much investment being able to make plays down the field and run vertically and we’ve got some talented guys,” Parker said.

Now it’s about proving it and avoiding stopping the proverbial horse from competing in the race.

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