Rich Rodriguez Radio Show Summary 11-24
West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez joined his weekly radio show Monday night and WVSports.com provides a summary of what was said.
–Rodriguez felt his team competed against Arizona State but they had plenty of opportunities to score points and get ahead. The guys fought but they’re not into close games and it’s going to be O.K. He was really ticked but at the same time they’re making some steps from before. The open week was good they were able to catch up on recruiting with eight official visitors in and this weekend they’ll have 10-12. The biggest challenge will be playing Texas Tech this weekend. All the stats bare it out they are the best team in the league. They are going to give it their best shot but there is no question they’re really good. It’s a great challenge, but it’s a great opportunity for them to go out and play their best and see what happens.
–Rodriguez always goes back to when he was at Glenville State and played Central State Ohio. They had no chance to win that game but it was muddy and wet and neutralized some things and they ended up winning the game. They had 99 scholarships and Glenville had 9. He was hoping Texas Tech wouldn’t be as motivated but all they can worry about is what they can control. West Virginia has a lot of seniors and they’ve done a good job and worked hard and he wants them to have a great day.
–Rodriguez jokes that they will have to start announcing the 40-member senior class at 10 a.m. He hopes they have a great crowd. A total of 26 of the seniors have already graduated. A lot of those guys are already into their graduate degrees. They have a great academic support system here. All of the 14 others are on track to graduate in the spring or by the mid-term.
–One position they lost the most starters is running back Diore Hubbard is out for the year. That means more opportunities for Cyncir Bowers and Curtis Jones.
–On the Bowers 90-yard touchdown against Arizona State that was sprung by downfield blocking.
–Rodriguez said they are at 28 signees and there could be seven or eight more that will sign Dec. 3. There will be another 12 they want to sign. He doesn’t know how many high school or J.C. guys they want to sign in February. They think the quality of the class that signs will be very good.
–Rodriguez said they hope they don’t lose anybody they want to keep but there are some they will slightly nudge out the door. You hate to do that but they’re running a business now. There will be some guys they have conversations with and those are hard.
–Rodriguez hopes that everything will improve with this class. He thinks they will be noticeably different with speed. That has to come in recruiting but they need to get bigger as well.
–The whole month of December will be dead in recruiting.
–Rodriguez said they’re trying to win every game they play. He doesn’t think he isn’t going to use a play because he wants to save it to win later. They’re playing one of the best defenses in the league and maybe the country this weekend so you better have a backup plan. The Red Raiders defense starts up front. They have great length and the linebackers are good and good on the back end. They have all the pieces together and they fit seamlessly. There has been nobody that they’ve played where their defense hasn’t been dominant so it’s a great challenge for his team. They have to be patient and do their thing without having any negative yardage plays or no turnovers but that’s really hard to do.
–Texas Tech went heavy on the big guys up front.
–A win would give you some confidence. It would be a great memory for the players especially the seniors. He wants the seniors to remember West Virginia in a great way and a win would be something they would remember for the rest of their lives.
-Rodriguez said the fake punt against Georgia was pretty good when asked about his favorite play he’s called.
–Rodriguez said they keep a list of every position they need in terms of numbers with the 105. Of the 105, the Mountaineers want 18-19 offensive linemen. They want 10 that are ready to play and scout team guys. That’s why the guards have to learn right and left and tackles the same. They need to not be afraid to play guys both ways. They need running back, offensive line, defensive line because it all starts up front. They need some fast guys on the perimeter offensively and they got a bunch of secondary guys that will graduate. They got to replace a lot of guys in the secondary. Rodriguez wants to have six or seven running backs on the roster. They couldn’t play two backs because of the injury situation. Curtis Jones is a guy that’s going to play a whole lot on defense but there is a role for him to play two-way.
—Chase Wilson is a guy that has acted like he’s been here the whole time and same with Jeff Weimer. He’s really proud of the senior class and they did what they had to.
–Thanksgiving schedule is the same but everything is moved up an hour. They’ll be done with everything by noon Thursday and then they’ll have a big Thanksgiving meal.
–Rodriguez likes giving the players Monday off and putting the game away Sunday. Rodriguez said whether they win them all or lose them all everything is getting evaluated every day. At the end of the season he will do a deep dive on everything they can do better and what they need to do to win.
–Rodriguez said at least 25-27 of the signees will enroll early and it could be 30.
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