Rich Rodriguez press conference summary: Pitt week
West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez addressed the media ahead of the Pittsburgh game and WVSports.com provides a summary of what was said.
–Big week for West Virginia it’s going to be a sold out crowd. Big week for guys to step up. Jaden Bray is the same injury he had before which is unfortunate with his foot. He’ll get it fixed again and expect a full recovery. He was one of the hardest workers at practice. Jahiem White got hurt on a penalty and it’s unfortunate because he worked hard to come back. Somebody else is going to have to take their place for this year and they have a lot of candidates but not a lot of them have played a lot. At running back they’re going to try to figure it out this week. Kannon Katzer is getting closer and they’re hoping he can go this week. Diore Hubbard is going to have a chance to get reps as well.
–Jimmori Robinson is going to be cleared but he thought he would be cleared for this weekend but there is still a question about that.
–Diore Hubbard has some speed and he got banged up in camp which set him back a little bit. They don’t look at running back by committee they said they want to give all those guys a chance.
–Rodriguez said he’s been in a bunch of rivalries but none as intense as this one. There’s a lot of parallels and while maybe it’s not as known nationally as a rivalry as it should be. It’s hard to get more intense as West Virginia and Pitt.
–Rodriguez said that he’s known Narduzzi for a while. He did say he would like to see the Backyard Brawl played every year after 2029. He said that he doesn’t know if you could bring this game to a higher level because it already is high.
–Rodriguez said they have a bunch of recruits here and it’s a big recruiting weekend. They will have one official visit and a lot of unofficial visits.
–Rodriguez remembers his first time playing Pitt, Dan Marino was the quarterback. He lined up 25-yards deep expecting a post pattern. He said you could feel that week was different.
–Last week was different because Parker Navarro was such a unique guy so the plan for him and everybody else was a little different. They can’t let Eli Holstein get around.
–Reid Carrico is day-to-day and they hope he can do some stuff tomorrow.
–West Virginia is playing Pittsburgh again in 2029 and it would be great for that to continue then.
–Nicco Marchiol is still learning and it’s important to him. He’s a freshman in the system and it’s still a little bit of a process. He appreciates the way he’s bought in and competing and Nicco wants to be great and they have to help him in certain spots. The quarterback position is very unique here but you get a lot of answers in games where players are good at some things and they need others to get better. He isn’t a typical just play one quarterback they want to give everybody opportunities.
–Rodriguez isn’t naming a starter because they have a long week of practice and evaluating guys. Jaylen Henderson got a couple series and his best play got called back on a penalty.
–Rodriguez said they did OK assignment wise on the offensive line but didn’t get as much push as they wanted. Some of that was how they were playing them. He thinks they are coming along OK. Its the first time for all of those guys starting and playing and they’re going to keep getting better.
–For Rodriguez there really isn’t any lingering effects from what unfolded in 2007. It’s still a sore spot when it’s brought up and it’s the worst moment of his professional career.
–The rivalry games are more important than the others but the way he’s always approached it is if they’re keeping score it’s really, really important so it’s hard to do your best. He doesn’t look at that from that standpoint any differently.
–Pittsburgh is extremely athletic and purposefully defensively. He knew they felt pretty good coming into the season with the experience they have coming back and they’ve shown it the first two games of the season. Saturday they have to get their best shot and for them to win the game they have to give them their best version.
–Rodriguez would like to think whatever happens the focus would be lazer focused on what’s next but it’s not going to be hard to motivate them this week. He needs to tell the team don’t cost them with a foolish penalty. He has to make sure the players understand the intensity.
–Every week for the three guys with the injunction are getting more and more into the mix of playing more than just special teams.
–Cyncir Bowers is one of the fastest guys on the team but he’s still learning what he’s doing. He said he is getting more and more comfortable.
–Rodriguez wishes he had more starters coming back. He won’t have that many new ones every year. They’ll have more high school guys than transfer guys and they’ll develop in the program and they’ll retain them. A challenge is a challenge they have to embrace it and accept it. You have to work on it harder from a culture standpoint.
–Rodriguez is anxious to see how his team responds. He will have a meeting today with his team and he doesn’t care if you have one year or three years, this is Pitt week it has to be different in your preparation and he is expecting them to respond.
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