Rich Rodriguez press conference summary 11-4
West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez addressed the media in his weekly press conference Tuesday and here is a summary of what was said.
–Rodriguez said that the offensive line played a better and the point of emphasis has been coming off the ball a little better for everybody on offense and he felt they did that to some degree. There is still progress that can be made and there were a couple easy pass protection things they gave up. They want to be good and have really listened. They tried to do that all week in practice and did a better job in the game with getting more push up front and coming off the ball.
–Everybody was into the game Saturday and it’s what they’ve been trying to get all year. It bothers him when it’s not the case but in that moment when Donovan Haslam pulled Diore Hubbard for a first down he saw that all around on the sidelines.
—Scotty Fox has played beyond his years the past two games. He might be the most talented on the roster in terms of arm strength and talent.
–Rodriguez said the effort has been up to the standard that they expect. Everybody gravitates to average and from an effort standpoint. They can’t let up until that’s the case with them doing what they need to do from an effort standpoint.
–Big picture wise he will look at the possibility of making a bowl game for about five minutes, but his biggest focus is on them. The lack of competitiveness at times is what really drives him crazy. That’s part of his job in coaching to factor that and teach that.
–When you can anticipate the checks and what the next call is going to be or the adjustments will be the next step for Fox under center. That usually takes a year or two to get that down. Fox is a true freshman that’s going to get there some day.
–Colorado is really athletic. They have upgraded their talent level and when you lose a couple games you can lose some confidence. Rodriguez has only met Deion Sanders once and talked to him a long time ago when he was mentoring Noel Devine. If you look at where the program was when he got there and where they’re at right now it’s an amazing job to get to that level.
–They’re going to do a deep dive on every player on the roster during the open week and evaluate all of it for next year. They will probably scrimmage the young guys during the open week to get an evaluation.
–Big momentum kick on the 50-yard field goal and they felt Kade Hensley could make it.
–The perimeter blocking at tight end was a whole lot better. The tight end’s perimeter blocking was the best it’s been all year.
–Rodriguez said all they need to worry about is us. Come off the ball, do what they’re supposed to do and not make mistakes. They don’t have to play perfect but if you play with great effort and conviction it gives you a shot.
–Fox was thrust into the role while Pat White had a redshirt year. Where they are most similar is their love for football and their competitive nature. He made a couple plays in the Houston game that was like a three-year vet. White could out run a mistake and erase those with his speed and athletic ability. Fox is a good runner but has next level arm talent and they’re trying to feature what they do well.
–Rodriguez feels that his team is playing better but they’d have to play well and get some breaks to win that game and that’s what happened. Any win is big.
–Rodriguez said he likes the fact that the players can’t gamble on anything but there’s a reason why the gambling sites are so nice. They’re not losing very often. The prop bets are what makes everybody nervous. It’s something he talks about with the players in fall camp. He likes the fact they had rules against student’s gambling against sports. There’s a lot of NCAA rules that he did not agree with but the rules against gambling is one that made a lot of sense. He doesn’t know why that’s being changed now.
–Rodriguez said they won one game on the road, but they can play better than what they did and they need to realize that. Take the same approach in practice and play as hard as they can in the game.
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