Rich Rodriguez Pittsburgh press conference summary
West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez addressed the media following the 31-24 win over Pittsburgh and WVSports.com provides a recap of what was said.
–Rodriguez said he is so happy for the players and the fans and hung in there and never quit. The longer the game goes, it goes to their advantage because of how hard they work. The Mountaineers made a lot of mistakes but the defense played their tails off. Nicco Marchiol played his heart out. He is really proud for his players. They were looking for a spark switching quarterbacks. To come back after a tough week to beat your rival, he’s really proud of the team.
–Rodriguez said they worked overtime a bunch in camp and ran a bunch of plays but they executed better. They are still figuring some stuff out offensively but Tye Edwards ran well. The Mountaineers ran the ball better than they did.
–Edwards has gotten a lot more work the past two weeks since he has gotten eligible. He thought Clay Ash ran well and up front the offensive line is tough to play.
–The genesis of line play is big guys moving other big guys against their will. They got big guys like Donovan Haslam and a bunch of other big guys in that big package.
–Rodney Gallagher is a great young man.
–Rodriguez said that this state is full of hard working, gritty tough people that support the program. Winning is important to them and beating Pitt is really important to them. The crowd was into it when they weren’t into it and they made a big difference in overtime and played a part in West Virginia winning.
–Marchiol said sometimes you want a spark and they went to other guys. Jaylen only got one series. Nicco Marchiol is the best thrower and he was really, really sharp when he needed to be. He didn’t hang his head and showed that he was a competitor and pulled his team to the win.
–Rodriguez wants all five quarterbacks to stay involved in the game even if they’re not in the game.
–Rodriguez jokes that he is concerned about all the Pitt players going down and wonders if they have any guys left for next week. He is showing a level of concern. They have a rule and Rodriguez said for their health and safety they should sit out the rest of the series or the quarter.
–When you know you have to throw it more you call some things based off what they have to be in but the bottom line was just executing better. Sometimes athletes perform better in those situations and they did.
–Rodriguez said he has coached a long time and he’s never seen a penalty not have a consequence. There was a personal foul it’s move it right then and kick the field goal or the second half.
–Rodriguez said that the guys that get an opportunity to play made the most of it and they are really proud of them. Rodriguez said he is sure there were questions but to their guys credit nobody was happy a week ago and they worked. Everybody is happy this week.
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