Ben Cutter confident WVU can reset after bye week
Last week’s bye came at a perfect time for the struggling West Virginia football team. Junior linebacker Ben Cutter used the time off to recover and reflect on what’s gone wrong during the first half of the season. Cutter believes the team is in the right frame of mind to earn its first conference victory Saturday.
Back to the basics
Cutter explained how the defensive unit revisited their core foundation they had worked on during fall camp, but got away from as the season progressed, while getting his body right.
“Rest, get my body back, and just getting back to the basics of the fundamentals of our defense, easy fits, stuff that we shouldn’t be missing, and stuff that we kind of lost track of as the season went on, just simple stuff that we were doing back in fall camp,” Cutter said in a press conference on Oct. 14.
Resetting the run defense
WVU is ranked 12th in the conference in rushing yards allowed per game at 155. Cutter spoke on what the defense did to correct its alignment to ensure opponents’ rushing attacks are neutralized.
“I think just getting clouded in run fits, different formations that come out, change the way that we fit stuff, and I think just getting back to knowing three by one, fit here, two by two, fit here, it’s simple stuff like that that kind of got lost.”
Alley’s complex scheme
Cutter is one of the few returning players to the Mountaineer roster. But even as a returner, he is new to defensive coordinator Zac Alley’s complex scheme. He talked about the differences between Alley’s plans compared to the last two seasons’ regime.
“I wouldn’t say hard. It was definitely more demanding, just because the scheme is more complex than anything that I’ve ever been in before. With the last staff, it was a lot simpler,” Cutter said.
Looking ahead
WVU faces a similar opponent this week, as UCF is also winless in conference play. Cutter believes the team gained confidence in the bye week and needs to come together to earn its first league play victory.
“We just have to come together as a team and really believe that we can do it,” he said. …” [During] the bye week, I think we got some more confidence going into these games, and just came together and had a full team win.”
A win could gain momentum and turn the season around for the Mountaineers. After correcting mistakes during the bye week, Cutter understands the importance of this Saturday’s contest.
“It’s huge. We’ve got to have a good game,” Cutter said. “We worked on a lot of stuff this bye week, and the next half of the season has to be better and different than the first half was. And I think we can do that.”
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