West Virginia defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley isn’t one to mince words.
So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise how he approaches the issues with the secondary struggling at times through the first two games of the season.
“Plain and simple, a few not all, guys have to play better. That’s what it is,” Lesley said. “I’m not saying anything to you all that I haven’t said to them in a group setting or individually and they know what the consequences are.”
Lesley isn’t going to single out any players by name, it’s not his style, but there are expected to be both demotions and promotions at certain spots in the backend based off play through the first two games.
“We’ve got a couple guys that have to play better. They’re capable and that’s the ultimate evaluation of guys that made mistakes in practice and then it carries over into a game those are demotions,” he said.
The struggles can be boiled down to two major issues first with eye violations and then simply not getting hands on opposing wide receivers and allowing them a free run.
The first part of that can be different depending on the look, but for example in zone drops sometimes the defensive backs haven’t been looking at the quarterback when they should.
And not improving isn’t an option.
“It’s really a few guys that are playing with some bad fundamentals,” head coach Neal Brown said.
In fact, if things don’t take a leap forward it’s going to be the area that’s exposed as the West Virginia defense proceeds through the schedule according to Brown.
“Unless we get that fixed,” he said.
West Virginia will be without transfer cornerback Montre Miller and it’s unclear when he will return but the rest of the group is expected to be counted on there while all of the safeties are on deck. Through two games, the coaches have been able to look at the film and there are going to be decisions made based on how players have performed across those snaps.
“There are going to be some demotions and promotions so decreased snaps for some people,” Brown said.
Now, that doesn’t mean that anybody is going to be fired or erased off the board, however it’s about getting those players that make the most of their opportunities in games on the field. Playing well in practice is critical, but it doesn’t matter unless that translates over into games.
One example of that is what’s unfolded with Malachi Ruffin. The former walk-on started the season behind some others at cornerback but got an extended opportunity against Duquesne and was thrown at six times without allowing a completion. He also was active in challenging the ball.
“Better at the end of the day what matters more than anything is how you play. He came in and did a really nice job and will be the guy we look to moving forward,” Lesley said.
On the plus side, the defense as a whole has taken responsibility amongst themselves for what’s unfolded. That’s something that Lesley hasn’t seen in his time atop the defense.
Brown believes that while there have been some evaluation mistakes in the secondary, his current personnel is better than how they’ve performed to date.
And schematically there’s a couple things that West Virginia plans to introduce that they’ve worked on since the Penn State game but didn’t want to put on film in the second game against FCS opponent Duquesne.
“Hopefully that makes a difference,” Brown said.
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