Between The Eers: How WVU Beats UCF
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 It is between the ears.
00:13 I'm Skylar Callahan and we are almost to the game day here.
00:16 It's West Virginia Central Florida this Saturday noon kickoff on FS1.
00:21 And I'm not surprising anybody by saying this, but
00:25 this is a must win game here for the Mountaineers as they sit four and
00:30 three on the season and two and two in Big 12 Conference play.
00:34 And it seems like this team is reeling right now.
00:37 They're trying to search for answers defensively.
00:39 The offense finally got going after the bye week against Houston that carried over
00:44 last week against Oklahoma State, but the defense has gone MIA.
00:50 And I'm not exactly sure if there is a perfect formula to get them back on track.
00:57 But we're gonna try and figure that out here today as we go over our keys
01:02 to the game in how WVU beats Oklahoma State.
01:05 That's really where we're gonna pretty much put most of our emphasis or
01:11 our focus here on today's show.
01:14 We'll dabble a little bit into the offensive side.
01:16 We really touched a lot of this stuff here on the walkthrough game day show
01:19 yesterday, but wanna kinda get some more in depth here with some of this stuff.
01:27 Look at some of the numbers and try and figure out what West Virginia
01:31 has to do in order to beat Central Florida on Saturday.
01:35 So let's start with, again, let's go to the defensive side.
01:38 The pressure has been really kind of non existent over the last two weeks.
01:45 And I think Neil did a really good job of kind of explaining as to why that
01:48 pressure has been MIA, if you will, over the last two weeks.
01:53 Houston, they just did not play well.
01:56 And after he made these comments about how they didn't play well against Houston,
02:01 and then the Oklahoma State game, how they just they get the ball out quick.
02:05 That's just how they operate.
02:07 I went back and rewatched both of those games.
02:10 And it's pretty much exactly what Neil was talking about.
02:15 The front seven for the Houston game, I did not see consistent pressure.
02:20 I didn't see consistent push.
02:23 Even in the run game, they were not dominating the line.
02:26 They weren't winning the line.
02:27 Occasionally, you would see maybe Eddie Vesterinen or
02:31 somebody would win their one on one matchup.
02:34 But the rest of the guys were getting tied up in blocks.
02:38 They weren't getting off.
02:39 They weren't shedding and just couldn't make plays.
02:42 They were not getting enough shove up front, which is why you saw really
02:47 the linebackers play really poorly in that game.
02:50 And they were getting blocked up.
02:53 The offensive line was getting downhill.
02:55 They were getting to that second level quick.
02:57 And it was just a bad, bad game defensively.
03:00 And you go to the Oklahoma State game, and
03:04 it was really, really bad in terms of tackle.
03:10 I think there were some instances where they could have been put in
03:15 better positions by Jordan Leslie, but I don't wanna put much blame on Jordan for
03:22 that because I would say probably 75 to 85% of the time,
03:29 they had the right call in or the right coverage or whatever.
03:34 They had guys in the area.
03:36 They had guys that could have made plays at or behind the line of scrimmage.
03:40 And they just didn't.
03:42 They didn't execute.
03:44 They were taking terrible angles, poor pursuit, bad technique,
03:48 overshooting things off the edge.
03:51 And they were getting sucked in on the read game, which was,
03:55 I don't really understand because Bowman's not much of a running threat.
03:59 But there was just a lot, a lot of bad in that Oklahoma State game,
04:03 as you can imagine, especially in that fourth quarter.
04:07 Olly Gordon just, I mean, those two runs just replay in my head.
04:11 And I still can't for the life of me understand how he goes untouched,
04:16 basically untouched, on both of those two big runs that he ripped off in that quarter.
04:21 So how do you fix it?
04:25 Well, it's back to the basics.
04:28 It's literally just drilling fundamentals, drilling technique,
04:33 and simplifying things maybe from a game plan perspective,
04:38 from a role perspective.
04:40 Guys have to do less.
04:43 If they're starting to do more and it's not working, or even if you're just doing
04:48 what you've been doing all season long and all of a sudden it's not working,
04:51 because you may have some different personnel out there.
04:53 Obviously at linebacker, you have Ben Cotter out there, he's a true freshman.
04:57 It can be a lot.
04:59 So I think the one thing Leslie can do this week, and
05:03 I think it's probably already been implemented, is they're gonna do
05:08 a little bit more of a, I wouldn't say vanilla defense.
05:11 They're still gonna draw up some exotic looks and try and confuse UCF and
05:16 John Rice Plumlee, but they're gonna do some things that aren't really
05:21 that complicated for the defensive players to really kind of execute or do.
05:27 It's gonna be, here's your role and that's what you're gonna do.
05:31 Very plain and simple, and it's not probably gonna be as much
05:37 feeling out where you may have linebackers who kind of have a call,
05:41 pre-snap or just kind of judging based off of what the offense
05:47 is looking at where, okay, you may or may not drop.
05:49 I think it's gonna be very clear cut to the defense as to what they need to do.
05:56 So when I look at UCF and their offense,
06:01 I mean, my goodness, there is just speed everywhere.
06:05 Where do you start?
06:06 I mean, really, cuz I mean, it's all over the place from RJ Harvey,
06:12 Johnny Richardson, both in the backfield, you got Javon Baker,
06:15 Kobe Hudson, the receiver, those are just the top four guys.
06:18 I mean, and I can go on and on, but those four guys alone are problems.
06:26 And that any one of them can beat you vertically, they can beat you in space,
06:32 they can just beat you by running right by.
06:36 And I think Gus Malzahn understands he's a very smart offensive coach in
06:42 terms of scheming up the runs and finding ways to get the running game going.
06:47 That's what they live off of is the run game.
06:50 They average what, 232 yards a game on the ground.
06:54 That's second in the Big 12, essentially tied for first, in my opinion.
07:00 They're only 0.3 yards behind, I believe it's Kansas State at 232.7.
07:06 But he understands, look, when you flip that tape on,
07:11 you see guys just playing with poor technique and not tackling well.
07:17 Not taking great angles and just kind of playing like your hair's on fire and
07:23 you have no control.
07:24 He's gonna love seeing that when he sees that on tape.
07:29 So they're gonna do everything they can to get the ball out quick because they can
07:34 take some of that game plan that Oklahoma State had last week in terms of just
07:38 getting the ball out quick.
07:40 Because, I mean, it's not a secret, if you just get the ball out quick,
07:44 it doesn't matter what type of edge rushers you have,
07:48 what type of interior pass rushers you have.
07:51 It doesn't matter because if the ball's out, there's nothing those guys can do.
07:56 You take them out of the game, you take that element out of the game, and
08:00 now you have the advantage.
08:03 And I don't know that West Virginia's defensive line really
08:08 has a distinct advantage over UCF's offensive line.
08:13 I mean, I think when you look at the depth,
08:15 you could potentially say that they have a small edge.
08:18 But again, as I assume the game plan will be for Gus Malzahn is to get the ball out
08:23 quick if they're gonna throw the ball, and then all of a sudden,
08:26 you're taking those guys out of the game.
08:28 You're taking Eddie V out of the game, you're taking Tommy Wadurajie out of
08:32 the game, you're taking Dillon Thornton out of the game,
08:36 you're taking Sean Martin out of the game.
08:38 And you're putting those speed guys in open field situations where
08:44 they just gotta beat Beanie Bishop and Andrew Wilson Lamper,
08:50 whoever's out there, Marcus Floyd at safety.
08:54 That's gonna be what they wanna do.
08:57 So if you're Jordan Leslie,
09:00 the best way to attack this is probably funnel everything inside.
09:07 You want everything to kinda go toward Lee Coba, go toward Ben Cotter.
09:12 And that's probably the best thing anyways, at least right now for
09:16 Cotter because he's easy, again, he's a young linebacker that's still
09:21 trying to learn this level of college football or this level of football.
09:25 And his best thing is just to go out there and make tackles, not to think.
09:29 Just go out there, play, make tackles, make plays, and
09:32 odds are you're probably gonna get the results that you want.
09:37 So if you can find a way to funnel those guys inside, number one,
09:43 you're funneling them to your best tackler on the team, Coba.
09:47 And you're eliminating some confusion or
09:50 you're eliminating some, I guess, disadvantages with Cotter out in space.
09:57 So again, UCF's gonna dictate this.
10:00 They're gonna dictate how they run their offense and
10:04 kind of how the game flows when they have the ball, obviously.
10:07 But if you're Leslie, you wanna shut down the outsides.
10:11 Take away the screen game, take away the quick passes,
10:16 take away the whatever, the jet sweeps or just the quick slants.
10:21 You've gotta be able to find a way to make John Rice Plumlee throw the ball over
10:26 the middle of the field.
10:27 You've gotta find a way to make RJ Harvey and
10:30 Johnny Richardson run in between the tackles.
10:33 Now again, these guys are small, they're slippery, they're hard to tackle.
10:38 So even running them inside is not necessarily going to be a guarantee for
10:44 success, but you like your odds much better when they're going into the teeth of
10:48 that defense that for the most part this season has been their strength, okay?
10:53 Obviously, the secondary has always been kind of a concern.
10:56 And you like your chances better with those guys running into the thick of
11:02 that defense rather than on the outside where the corners and
11:05 the safeties have to make plays and hold the edge.
11:09 That to me is gonna be the key, is funneling everything inside.
11:13 The second key for me defensively, I think for WVU has to be,
11:19 where do I wanna go here?
11:22 Let's go with first down defense, because last week it was not great.
11:31 They were, Oklahoma State I believe was averaging around seven-ish yards
11:36 on first down.
11:38 And if you're getting into second and three, second and two, second and one,
11:43 hell even second and four.
11:45 I mean, that's putting yourself in a very,
11:48 very tough spot to get two stops in a row and get off the field.
11:54 You've got to be able to put them in second and longs.
11:58 And again, with how good this team runs the football,
12:02 it's not like you're gonna get them in second and 15 very often.
12:06 You're not gonna get them in second and eight or second and nine very often.
12:10 Because naturally, they're not gonna throw the ball 50 times a game, so
12:15 they're not gonna drop back a ton.
12:17 And when they do run, they know how to run the dang ball, obviously, and
12:20 they're gonna fall forward and at least get positive yards.
12:23 The thing you need to eliminate is getting into those second and three,
12:26 second and twos and ones.
12:29 So even if you operate at a second and medium, second and five or six,
12:33 I mean, it sounds like we're splitting hairs here, but
12:35 it makes a world of difference.
12:37 So they have to do that because not only is it putting you in a better position,
12:43 but it's also putting the opposing offense in a tougher spot.
12:47 And UCF on the season, they're fourth in the Big 12,
12:53 converting 45.1% of their third down attempts.
12:58 No surprise when you run the ball as well as they do,
13:02 because they get into those third and shorts.
13:05 And if they get into these third and shorts consistently,
13:07 it's gonna be potentially a long day.
13:13 So when they do drop back to pass, you gotta hope that you've got some sort of
13:18 a free blitzer coming off the edge.
13:21 You've got some interior pressure being generated to push the nose of the pocket.
13:26 Something to where you can affect the pass to where it goes over the middle or
13:30 you can get the plumbly and get a sack.
13:33 Because that's probably gonna be the best way you keep them out of these second and
13:39 twos and threes and so on.
13:40 So third down is gonna be a huge key.
13:43 But again, the key to that is getting a better position on second down.
13:52 Which they did not do very well last week at all against Oklahoma State.
13:56 The last thing I will probably say about the defense
14:03 is probably gonna be, I can go a number of ways here,
14:11 but I don't wanna spend all day on the defense.
14:13 I would say the field position game is gonna be huge.
14:20 It proved to be last week,
14:21 they were horrendous in terms of getting good field position.
14:25 And even when they got stops, I mean, they were, Oklahoma State was getting
14:29 the midfield or even plus territory and back to West Virginia up,
14:34 I don't know how many times.
14:35 And it was kind of the case in the Houston game a little bit as well.
14:39 This offense for West Virginia, I mean, yes, they've kind of pieced some things
14:44 together over the last couple of weeks, but this is not an offense engineered
14:48 to go 90 plus yards multiple times a game or
14:53 80 plus yards multiple times a game.
14:56 You have to get some three and outs or even if it's not a three and out,
14:59 get a quick stop.
15:01 If they get a first down, whatever,
15:03 don't let them get to the 45 near midfield or even the 40.
15:09 If you can get them to get off the field in time to where you can get the ball,
15:15 I would say on the better side of your 20, then that's where you wanna live.
15:22 It's cliche as it sounds, I mean,
15:26 it's just plain simple football that West Virginia just didn't do last week.
15:32 Really the last two weeks.
15:34 They're setting themselves up for long drives.
15:37 And again, that's just not how this offense is engineered to go.
15:42 So help the offense, the offense will help you.
15:46 Moving over to the offensive side.
15:49 The offensive line is gonna be challenged in this game.
15:54 You look at UCF's front, it's not the best from top to bottom in the league
16:00 by any means, and you can even take them as a whole as a starting unit.
16:04 It's still probably not top three or four in the league,
16:09 but they've got two bad dudes up front.
16:12 And again, we mentioned this on the Walk the Game Day Show.
16:15 Tremont, Morris, Brash, Malachi, Lawrence, the two combined,
16:19 have 11 sacks on the season, and Brash leads
16:22 the Big 12 with 13 tackles for loss.
16:27 These two just wreak havoc.
16:31 So last week with Garrett Green, we saw some more downfield things.
16:37 We saw Devin Carter, we saw EJ Horton, we saw a bunch of attempts, or
16:42 at least a bunch of play calls where there was designs to go deep down the field or
16:46 over the middle of the field.
16:48 Don't know if that's gonna happen this week.
16:50 UCF's gonna play some man coverage, actually probably a lot of man coverage.
16:57 So you can take those shots.
17:00 Are they gonna be necessarily crazy designs?
17:05 Probably not, it's probably gonna be just your go balls and whatnot.
17:08 But when they're able to get to the quarterback, you can play man coverage all
17:13 day, and that's why Garrett Green's probably gonna live underneath and
17:19 in the intermediate in this game, because you've gotta account for
17:22 those two guys up front.
17:23 And if you go off of, what, two weeks ago,
17:26 offense line didn't play well against Houston at all.
17:30 Zach Frazier did not play his best game.
17:33 Go to the Oklahoma State game.
17:36 It was okay, it was better than Houston, in my opinion, but we'll see.
17:43 The good news is you're potentially getting Tomas Remak back this week, and
17:47 that should help.
17:48 So he's gotta be able to complete some of these layup passes,
17:53 which has been a very big problem for him this season.
17:56 Chad Scott said it earlier in the week, that's probably his number one,
18:01 I wouldn't say issue, but that's probably the number one thing that he needs to get
18:06 ironed out.
18:07 Because if he can't complete those layups that the defense has given him,
18:10 whether it's four or five yards, it's gonna be hard for
18:13 this team to move the football.
18:15 That's why you're seeing Garrett's completion percentage around 51,
18:20 52%, because a lot of these passes are either having to happen downfield or
18:25 on third down, where there's gonna be pressure, and he's gonna get the ball out.
18:31 And sometimes you just gotta throw it.
18:33 So to me, I think it's gonna have to be, he's gotta complete these layups,
18:39 and the receivers are gonna have to make plays in space,
18:43 which they really haven't done much of all this season, which is concerning.
18:48 The run game, which will be the last thing I touch on,
18:53 I think you're gonna see it be more of a by committee approach.
18:59 Because I think the coaching staff is realizing, look,
19:02 CJ Donaldson is best when he is fresh.
19:07 And right now, that kid is not fresh.
19:10 At least it looks like it on tape.
19:11 He is not running the same way he ran against Pitt.
19:15 He's not running the same way he ran, what game was it?
19:19 Either Texas Tech or TCU, I can't remember which one it was,
19:21 I get them mixed up.
19:22 But the fact of the matter is,
19:24 he's not running the way he was earlier in the season.
19:27 And Justin Johnson, the way he played last week,
19:30 he's not absorbed a ton of hits this season because he's been out.
19:35 He's gonna get some more carries.
19:37 I think Jaheim White will get some more looks.
19:40 Jalen Anderson could potentially get more looks as well.
19:44 So it's gonna be a by committee approach.
19:46 The thing with this is though, they've gotta be able to understand and
19:50 recognize when to have certain guys on the field,
19:53 have the right personnel on the field.
19:55 There's times last week I was scratching my head when CJ Donaldson was on
20:01 the field, and particularly for certain play calls, certain run schemes.
20:06 I understand CJ is their go to back, but there's some run schemes or
20:12 run plays that are probably not best designed for CJ.
20:17 And I think they probably need to go back and
20:22 evaluate those plays and try and find a way to,
20:27 that's where you get Jaheim White on the field.
20:30 That's where you get Justin Johnson on the field, or Jalen Anderson.
20:34 So they've gotta do a better job of, I think, managing those and
20:38 not getting CJ so gassed early on.
20:41 Because we've seen it to where he's got 10, 11, 12, 13 carries in the first half.
20:47 Second half, he's just not effective at all.
20:51 If you space those out a little bit, it should lead to a more productive outing
20:56 for him, for the rest of the running back room, and the offense as a whole.
21:01 So West Virginia's got the work cut out for them this week, they really do.
21:06 The Owen Ford Knights of UCF are more challenging than they appear on paper,
21:13 I promise you.
21:15 And this has kind of the makings of a game that could get into the 30s again.
21:21 So if the defense fails to get good field position for the offense,
21:26 if they fail to clean up their tackling issues from the last two weeks,
21:31 who knows, West Virginia could be staring at a four and
21:36 four record by Saturday evening.
21:38 So that's gonna do it here for me today on Between the Ears.
21:43 This is our last episode of the week.
21:45 And we will be back though on Saturday to recap West Virginia UCF on
21:50 the Mountain Ears Now post game show.
21:52 I have Gene with me, Eugene Napoleon, West Virginia great legendary running back.
21:57 He'll be on the show with me.
21:58 So make sure you hit that subscribe button @MountainEarsNow.
22:01 Follow us on X @MountainEarsNow also.
22:04 And we'll see you guys on Saturday.
22:06 Take care.
22:07 [MUSIC]
22:17 (upbeat music)