Football Notebook WVU

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By Christopher Marshall for MSNsportsNET.com
October 16, 2007



MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Fresh off a bye week, West Virginia gets set to tackle an improving Mississippi State team on Homecoming weekend in Morgantown this Saturday.

The Bulldogs show a 4-3 record that includes a banner victory at suddenly resurgent Auburn. Sylvester Croom has his charges playing with a lot of confidence, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez believes the defense his team will see this weekend is every bit as fast and athletic as the South Florida unit that befuddled his Mountaineers late last month.

“Defensively, they look a lot like South Florida as far as their speed goes. Their two defensive ends … even the Tennessee coach has said before and after the game that they are as fast as they have played all year,” Rodriguez said. “We knew that last year and it is the same this year. You can see on the film that they are very athletic and I think that is where they have made their mark defensively by getting a lot of fast guys. A lot of people talk about the SEC speed, but I think there is speed throughout the country, but they have made an emphasis of that.”

Mississippi State is coming off a hard-fought 33-21 home defeat to SEC East division-leading Tennessee. Rodriguez sees the Bulldogs playing with a bit of a swagger as they get set to invade Morgantown.

“Their form is to get lot of fast, athletic guys on defense, play tough, hard-nosed football, pound the ball offensively, and not make any mistakes. So far, that form has worked for them since they’ve already won four games and they played very, very well against Tennessee and are coming into this game with a lot of confidence,” Rodriguez said. “That will be a challenge and our guys know that. You can talk all you want about records and scenarios but when they watch the film that is what gets their attention.”

The game comes at an odd time for West Virginia after a bye week and in the middle of the conference season, but Rodriguez doesn’t think that will have any bearing on the outcome when the ball is kicked off Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The seventh-year Mountaineer mentor has been routinely pleased with his players’ focus this season.

“We always want to play our non-conference games first, and then play your other seven,” Rodriguez said. “That is ideal but because of other reasons, that usually isn’t going to happen. But they are all equally important.”

The staple of this Bulldog team is a fast, aggressive defense that isn’t afraid to take chances. Rodriguez is preparing his offense for a defensive unit that will show a variety of looks to try and get the Mountaineers out of their rhythm.

“There base is an even front but they will get into odd fronts like everyone does on occasion. They cover everyone up and will play man-coverage and they aren’t afraid to play press-man coverage on the two yard line coming in or coming out,” Rodriguez said. “They will challenge the wide receivers. We see some press-man coverage but we don’t see a lot. We have to be prepared. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw quite a bit of press-man coverage.

Many teams that play West Virginia for the first time can be overwhelmed by the Mountaineers’ speed at the skill positions. That won’t be the case this weekend and Rodriguez thinks the familiarity of having played both Steve Slaton and Pat White last year will help the Bulldogs as they prepare for this tilt.

“It probably gives them a little bit of an advantage. You play someone the second time you have adjusted to their speed. Having seen Steve, Pat and the system before, it’s not going to be something new,” Rodriguez said. “I think it is always an advantage offensively when you play someone for the first time. The second time, you can adjust to the system. How they played us last year won’t be the same way they play us this year. Offensively we have to be prepared for a little bit more.”

In evaluating Mississippi State from last year to now Rodriguez sees a physical team that is a year older, a year wiser, and one that simply doesn’t beat itself anymore. Anything the Mountaineers get on Saturday afternoon they will have to earn.

“They aren’t making the mistakes to beat themselves. Other than their first game against LSU, where they had turnovers, they haven’t made a whole lot of mistakes to hurt themselves offensively and put their defense in a bad situation,” Rodriguez said. “That’s probably the biggest thing. They are taking care of the football and they are running the football and stopping the run.

“They have gotten to a point where their offense has been able to control some of the games and they were able to control a lot of the drives. Mississippi State is very physical and it will be a very physical game.”

Briefly:


Rodriguez said that quarterback Patrick White's shoulder is improving and the junior is expected to practice Tuesday and should be ready for this weekend.