MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia associated head coach and offensive line coach Matt Moore spoke during the Big 12 coaches teleconference Monday morning, heading into WVU’s (5-3, 4-3 Big 12) bye week after the Mountaineers knocked off TCU, 24-6, last Saturday.
Head coach Neal Brown was unavailable, attending a memorial service for his former colleague and friend John Schlarman, who died of cancer last week. Schlarman was the offensive line coach at Kentucky and worked with Brown from 2013-14 while Brown was the offensive coordinator with the Wildcats.
- On if WVU played its most complete game of the season against TCU: “I think we played well on all three sides. Defensively, we’re continuing to play at a high level. We limited TCU to just two field goals. Coach Brown always talks about our special teams and I think they continued to play well. Offensively, we were able to rush the ball. I really do believe we played well in all three phases. Offensively, especially on the offensive line, we didn’t play very well in the Texas game, but that also goes to what Texas has up front. On the offensive line, you’re usually as good as whoever you’re playing up front, and those guys are really big.
“We had a hard time moving them around in our run game, and I think we really improved on the offensive line from a week ago and it definitely showed with how we moved the ball.”
- On true freshman defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor: “He’s got really good pass-rushing ability. We saw it from the day he got here as a true freshman. He’s really good with his hands for a young player, has great get-off and body control. When he gets in a situation where he can really rush the passer, he does a phenomenal job. As an inside guy, he has great hips with body control and hand control — he does a great job. What he’s brought to us is to get 1-on-1 with the guard and tackle and bring a pass rush, and helps us from not having to blitz all the time.
- On the recent production from the tight ends offensively: “That position has really done a tremendous job with Mike O’Laughlin and T.J. Banks. They got considerably stronger and both of them really learned how to block well. Coach (Travis) Trickett has done a really good job with those guys because as a tight end, they have to know all the blocking concepts and all the passing concepts. They’ve done a really nice job teaching those guys fundamentals and they’ve become more physical players.
“We use them a lot in motion packages, for shift stuff, and they’ve gotten better each week in being able to fit up. We spend a lot of time — coach Trickett and I — of making sure we get what we want.”
Oklahoma game given six-day window
The Big 12 announced ESPN and FOX will utilize a six-day window to announce the broadcast network and time slot for WVU’s Nov. 28 game against Oklahoma at Milan Puskar Stadium. The game time and television network will be announced after the games Saturday.
The matchup with the Sooners will be Senior Day. Tickets are available online at wvugame.com or 1-800-WVU GAME.
With the 25% capacity limit at Milan Puskar Stadium, seats available in the socially distanced, reduced capacity manifest are displayed on the “Pick Your Own Seat” map on wvugame.com in seat blocks ranging from one to six seats.
Tickets are priced by seat locations in each zone (Blue/Red Zone, Orange/Gold Zone, or Green Zone) and will be reflected on the map.
Hubbard to have season-ending surgery
Offensive lineman Ja’Quay Hubbard will have season-ending shoulder surgery, he announced on social media.
Hubbard, who transferred from Virginia this summer, did not play this season despite earning a waiver for immediate eligibility. He will still have four years to play for the Mountaineers beginning next season.
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