The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Sports

September 7, 2008

Time to regroup for WVU

By Mickey Furfari

MORGANTOWN — Coach Bill Stewart said Sunday afternoon corrections and changes already were in the works for the West Virginia football team following Saturday’s stunning 24-3 setback at East Carolina.

He and his assistants had met in the morning to view game tapes, see what needs to be corrected and discuss some changes that might be beneficial to both the struggling offense and the leaky defense.

The players were going to be shown the tapes later in the day, observe the mistakes they made, then participate in a light practice session Sunday night. West Virginia does not return to action until Thursday, Sept. 18, against Colorado at Boulder, Colo.

“We wanted to see what we did well and what we didn’t do well,” said Stewart, who’s in his first season as head coach here. “After viewing the film, I was pleased with some of our execution and some I was not pleased with.

“I was disappointed we only had 54 offensive plays (to ECU’s 71). There are things we have to build on and things we have to work on. I thought our running game was better than I had hoped it would be. But I was not pleased with our pass-blocking and dropped passes.

“Defensively, I thought Chris Nield played pretty well up front and that Mortty Ivy had a heck of a game. But we just have to get better in the secondary.”

Stewart said the Mountaineers need to continue working on open-field tackling, breaking on the ball and things like that if the defense is to improve. But he liked the way Pat McAfee punted and kicked.

“We’re .500 now (with a 1-1 record),” he noted. “It never is as good or as bad as it seems. It is what it is. We just need to get better.”

He readily admitted that his defensive unit must begin stopping opponents quicker and not give up so many offensive plays. He noted that the Pirates converted on 8 of 16 third-down plays and the Mountaineers on just 3 of 12.

Such ratios obviously make a difference in the number of offensive plays one team earns and the number of plays its defense gives up. Stewart stressed that both the WVU offense and defense must do a better job on third downs.

“But what you do on first down is really the key,” he said.

He recalled that on a third-and-16 offensive play, ECU threw a swing pass that kept a drive going with a 17-yard gain. And on another play, he saw 10 Pirates in pursuit of the WVU ball carrier.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Stewart said. “It’s us keeping drives going (on offense) and stopping opponents’ drives on third downs. You’ve got to maintain reach. Our guys play hard but they’ve also got to play smart.

“We’ve got to do a better job on first downs both offensively and defensively. We have to try to keep people off track. If you get five yards on first down, it makes it easier on second and third downs.

“I think we’re giving up too much on first downs at times and not getting enough ourselves on first downs when we have the ball.”

He said practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be in full pads this week to work on changes, correcting mistakes and preparing for Colorado, which won its first two games.

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