Work ahead for WVU, Holgorsen during bye week

SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest in Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

The listless performance against Iowa State is in the past.

Done, finished and there is nothing that West Virginia can do about the 30-14 road loss now.

But what happens next is completely in the hands of the Mountaineers, a point that isn’t lost on head coach Dana Holgorsen as the football team heads into a timely bye week.

“There are some things obviously offensively that we need to get worked out. It’s still the same offense and still the same personnel that has been very effective at times this year,” the eighth year head coach said. “So we got to get the back on track that’s my job.”

Offensively the Mountaineers put together their worst performance of the Holgorsen era and the worst overall performance since the 1995 season generating only 152 yards, including 100 passing.

Senior quarterback Will Grier was sacked a total of seven times and the offense also was tagged with a safety. He completed only 11 passes for 100 yards.

That means there is some work ahead during the bye week.

“I didn’t have them ready to go, we didn’t have a good afternoon, we didn’t block the appropriate way and we didn’t get off coverage. There is a lot of things we didn’t do but I know this group has it in them,” Holgorsen said. “…It’s my job to take as much time as we have and get these guys ready to go.”

The off week comes at the right time for a Mountaineers team that will need to lick its wounds, both literally from an injury perspective, and figuratively after being dominated by the Cyclones. It was a performance that admittedly Holgorsen didn’t see coming based off how the team practiced.

“I’ve got to do a better job with getting them ready to go,” he said.

That he does and the coaching staff also will lean on the leaders of this team that were bantered about during the course of the off-season. That will now be put to the test as the Mountaineers, now 5-1 and ranked 13th nationally, still have their ultimate goal of a Big 12 title well within grasp.

It’s a role that Holgorsen completely understands.

“Everybody is going to blame the quarterback, the play caller and the head coach. All of that needs to come my way no question,” he said.

The Mountaineers will have nine days to get ready for the Baylor game and what happens after that will come to define this season. Iowa State is in the past, but the future is still yet to be written.

What will it say about the 2018 Mountaineers?

“We know the schedule and we’ll know what to do to get it right,” Holgorsen said.

“…We’ve got to trust what we’re doing,” he added.

Enter the contest by clicking on the following link and choosing to subscribe to the channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=VideoGlide