Opening Statement

TCU is going to be a fun and exciting one. We're pretty fired up about being able to host TCU. I know everybody knows this, but I just want to mention it - it's ironic to see two teams that are as similar as they are. Two programs that are as similar as they are, coming from two non-power five conferences. They are winning - dominating could be the word used. What they're doing in the conferences that they were in - they were in a couple of different conferences prior to the Big 12. Obviously, we were in the Big East. Being able to win conference championships and then have the opportunity to move forward to the Big 12, we were all excited about that. Not only we were here at WVU, but they were pretty ecstatic at TCU, as well. Identical records. (TCU and WVU had) first-year identical records. The first year they beat us in overtime here. The second year we beat them in overtime there. Now we're both sitting here with six wins and are doing pretty good - things here on all three sides of the ball. As far as with what we're concerned, it's another big game. It's another Big 12 game. It doesn't matter where it's at, shoot, it's going to be a big game. Last week we had a pretty big game against Oklahoma State that we were able to do what we needed to do to be able to win. To be able to come back home - we know it's going to be a great game. It's going to be great, exciting weekend. For us, it's business as usual. We like playing at home. We know the game is sold out. There are going to be a lot of national attention on this game. That's great. That's great for us and great for the program. We need to worry about what we can control as a team and get good preparation in this week. We've got our work cut out for us, because of what TCU brings to the table. 

 

When you think of (TCU head coach) Gary Patterson, it’s defense. He's been there 14 years. I've gone against him a bunch of times, whether we were at Texas Tech or here over the last three years. He's one of the best defensive minds in college football. When you look at them on tape this year, they're no different. They're sound. They're not trying to trick you, they're just trying to beat you with what they do defensively. They've got a great d-line - good experience with the linebackers. The safeties are active. The corners are athletic. They really do a great job defensively. The biggest difference in them from this year to last year is obviously what they're doing offensively. And before we talk about 82 points or any of that, you don't score 82 points just by being good on offense. Their defense does a great job of getting them the ball back. Their special teams are solid. Obviously they're playing well on offense, but they're playing well as a team. They are confident as a team, which puts them into position to be able to win. 

 

Offensively, it starts with (Trevone) Boykin - their quarterback. Probably - well, not probably - he is the most improved player in college football. He is playing well. I thought he was good two years ago. As a true freshman, he came out here and beat us in overtime. Last year, i thought he was the best receiver on the field - possibly the best player on the field. I texted those guys earlier in the week and told them to move him back to receiver because he was so dang good. He's obviously playing good. I can't give (co-offensive coordinator) Doug Meacham and (co-offensive coordinator) Sonny Cumbie enough credit. They're doing a great job. They have a plan. They know what they want to do offensively. Sonny went to TCU so he could coach quarterbacks. He's doing a great job of that. They've got great skill. They've had great skill. Their running backs - (BJ) Catalon and (Aaron) Green - are dynamic, fast and can take it to the house at any point. Their receivers are fast. Boykin is accurate, and their o-line is playing pretty good. They're well-rounded, and it's not just up-tempo, spread, and throw-the-ball type deals. They're averaging 200-hundred and some yards a game rushing, as well. I think Gary is going to put his two sense work in and say you better run the ball as well. They're doing a great job of all that. 

 

On special teams, they're solid. Their kicker has got a big leg. He missed i think a 60-yarder against us last year that would have been good from about 70. He's got a big leg. They've got their dangerous return guys - Catalon took one to the house against Baylor. They're solid and fast in their coverage units. They've got a lot of depth - a lot of overall team speed. They're well-coached on special teams which puts them in a good place. It's a well-rounded team, deserving of their record, deserving of their national ranking. It will be a good one. 

 

On what two TCU offensive coordinators are doing differently this season

I'd have to go back and study what they did last year or the year before. I deleted that from my memory. Coach Meacham was with me at Oklahoma State. We spent a good year there together. He did a great job at Houston last year. We've talked back and forth as far as what to do. They run a very similar version of what we run. Once you become a coordinator, you always change some things and go in a little bit different direction. They're running the quarterback, because they've got a quarterback who can run. The best thing he does is scramble around and keep the play alive and make a play. They will run some option and some zone read with him, as well, because he's athletic. The past concepts look similar. Their running game looks similar. Sonny, what he brings to the table, like I said, he left Texas Tech to coach the quarterbacks. He was a quarterback and a pretty good quarterback coach. He's doing a great job with the mechanics, getting Boykin's confidence up and his eyes in the right places to make plays.

 

On the TCU defense and the pass protection against Oklahoma State last week

We're going to have to play better up front in the pass coverage from the protection aspect of things. It's not like we're not capable. We've faced really good rushes. They do a great job of getting to the quarterback. They don't blitz much, because they don't have to. They've got good, solid guys who are tenacious rushers. They're technically probably as sound as any d-line I've ever seen. We've got our work cut out for us, but we're going to have a good week of preparation to get us ready to go. 

 

On Trevone Boykin last year against WVU

He was the best receiver on the field, so they probably should move him back to receiver.

 

On facing a team who has run trick plays in the past

They got us on a trick play out here in overtime to win the game, too. We probably ought to be on the lookout for trick plays - end around and double passes and all that stuff. You don't see a lot of that out of us - maybe because I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how to coach it up. Typically, when you're good on offense, you don't do that stuff. I haven't seen as much out of them when it comes to that this year, because they're so good on offense. When teams are good on offense, they don't typically go to that. If they go to it and they put it on film, then we need be sound in what we're doing defensively to make sure we cover the whole field. 

 

On if you get used to playing top-10 opponents

Yeah, you better. You better get used to it. This is our ninth game, where four of them are in the Top 10 - four of them are pretty good obviously. The other ones aren't bad either. You've got to be able to have a lot of depth. You have to be able to have a lot of weapons to be able to continue to lineup and practice and get your work in. You have to have leaders - who it's important to and who understand that each and every week it has to be important to you. I give our kids credit for last week. That was tough. That was a tough deal. We were coming off a very big win. We had an average week of practice - a lot of reasons why. We go there against a team that needed a win on the road. They were 23-2 their last four years on that field - good, quality opponent that needed a win. The conditions were tough. We figured out a way to win. I think it's important to our guys, and if it's important to them, then they will probably put their best foot forward again this week. 

 

On Terrell Chestnut

He hasn't been cleared yet. We will see how he responds today. I would be incredibly disappointed if he wasn't able to go. He's functioning fine. When you're dealing with that type of an injury, that's out of my hands. That's completely, 100 percent in the doctors' hands. I would anticipate him functioning fine today. 

 

On the importance of special teams against TCU 

I was really happy with what we did last week. We had a huge challenge with number 24, Tyreek Hill. That dude was dynamic, man. He could scoot. Obviously, we knew that going into it, but watching him on the field catching in pregame I was like "Oh." Our kickoff team, led by (Michael) Molinari, was good. Five touchbacks were awesome. We covered well. We tackled them. Nick O'Toole had his best day I thought, and our coverage unit on punt team, led by Justin Arndt who was our dude on special teams this week. Nick had five punts inside the 20 with no touchbacks. Winning the field position battle was huge. It will be the same way this week. You have to flip the field. You have to tackle them. You have to make them earn their yards on offense. You can't give them cheap yards. It will be big. It is each and every week. 

 

On if coach Holgorsen watches College Gameday

No, it's tough. It's on in the hotel room, but sometimes you're in there, sometimes you're not. Those guys do a good job, and we're thrilled to have them. 

 

On the definition of the Heisman trophy and why it is so hard for a receiver to win 

That's question I really wouldn't care to answer. I don't care to answer it. It's media. It's a prestigious award. What my take is on it doesn't really matter. It should be the best player - the most valuable player. You have to win to be in that discussion, I'm sure. There are plenty of people out there who are going to be deserving of it if they're on a 10-2 or 11-1 team. A lot things have to lineup for that to happen. It's typically the quarterback. It's just the way it works.

 

On Clint Trickett

I didn't say he was just a game manager. He's a pretty darn good quarterback, too. He's a very smart kid. He's very aware of his surroundings. There are a lot of guys who are good players who are completely unaware of their surroundings, regardless of what the position is. He's very aware of his surroundings. He knows what the mood is with the guys. He knows when to pick them up. He knows when to challenge them. He knows when to slow things down. He's pretty intuitive kid, and he's extremely aware of his surroundings and what it takes to be successful. Sometimes he tries too hard to be like that. He's obviously going to be a great coach, but at times you have to cut loose and play the game. We've talked to him a little bit about that this week as far as just playing the game. Don't try to be perfect. Don't try to control the game. I've been guilty of that myself offensively trying to call plays to try to control the game. That can get dangerous. He needs make sure that he understands that he's a player and don't forget to play so to speak. He's just so smart, and he understands. He's aware of his surroundings which makes him a great player. 

 

On if that is the biggest difference between Clint Trickett last year and this year

Oh yeah. He was completely unaware of his surroundings last year. The dude had no experience and not knowing people's names. Not knowing the offense, not knowing the signals. It just goes on and on. 

 

On if the disguising of play signals 

Everybody we've played knows a lot. It's another example this week with Meacham and Cumbie. I look at them and I see some of the same signals. We're going to know what theirs are as well. You just have to try to be discrete with them. If you sit there and obsess over it, it can slow you down. It can hinder you and hurt you. We just try to be smart with it and come up with creative ways with the boards - come up with creative signals to try to disguise it. We try to be discrete with it. The way we're doing it, I'd be surprised if they get anything but a low percentage of them. I'm very comfortable with where we're at and how we're doing that. 

 

On the animal on the play calling board against Oklahoma State

That's a long story. 

 

On Dravon Henry's progression

He's been getting better and better. He didn't just get player of the week because of two INTs. He's been getting better. He's been practicing better. You worry about that with freshmen. Are they going to hit a wall and digress and get worse and all that? I thought he was headed there about week five, week six. I thought he was kind of starting to dip. He refocused and has started to incline and has been doing better the last two weeks. I thought he had his best game against Baylor prior to Oklahoma State, and we thought this was his game as well. The first pick was a better pick than the second pick. The second one came right to him, not to take anything away from him. The more that he understands the defense and is in the right position, he can let his instincts take over. That's where he is getting at this point.

 

On if Henry can be compared to Daryl Worley at this point in his career last year

I'd say pretty similar. Daryl wasn't an every down guy last year. We moved him around some. He started at safety against Iowa State. We move him around. One thing coach (Tony) Gibson has done a great job of is leaving people in spots. We've been able to do that, because our depth is good. Our health is good. That makes you a whole lot better. Last year, we were moving people around so much for a variety of reasons that Daryl wasn't able to settle in. Daryl has obviously settled in and is playing at a high level because he has been doing the same thing for all of the spring and all of camp and during the summer and in the season as well. 

 

On second half adjustments made by the defense

Halftime adjustments - I think people would be fabricating stories if they say halftime adjustments really make the difference in the outcome of the game. I haven't been a part of too many of those. You want to make a few adjustments. That better take place, and that's obviously taking place. I think a bigger area to focus on when it comes to that is the motivational - the tactics that are used - getting the guys ready to go. Gibby's demeanor is so great that he instills confidence in those guys to be able to go out there and expect to be successful. 

 

On Wendell Smallwood

When (Rushel) Shell went down, he's gone in and has had two good games in a row. He was such a valuable receiving threat for us early that he wasn't getting the carries. We needed him to be a receiving threat and not as much of a running back threat. Without having Shell back there, he's been picking that up and getting better and better. I thought he finished the game against Baylor better than he started the game. He's been able to maintain his endurance and play well. He's very versatile kid. I think he could be an every down back like (Charles) Sims was for us last year. We don't need him to do that right now. We'll get Shell back here probably this week. Hopefully we'll find out today. That will take some of the load off of him, but all of those guys are doing well. I thought Dreamius (Smith) went in and played well. Dustin Garrison went in there and gave us some snaps. (Andrew) Buie is a versatile kid as well. Buie has been doing some good things on special teams as well. There is a lot of things that those guys do. 

 

Editor's Note: Top photo of Dana Holgorsen by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com. Middle photo of Trevone Boykin and bottom photo of Karl Joseph by Joe McNemar of D-Max Photography. All photos from TCU's 2012 overtime victory in Morgantown.