Jordan Lesley knows he’s got to be more aggressive with his defensive calls against TCU

MORGANTOWN — There comes a time when a defensive coordinator must throw caution to the wind and gamble.

Maybe bring an extra blitzer to put pressure on a quarterback, with the hope his secondary doesn’t get caught giving up a big play.

In simple terms, it’s being aggressive, and WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley knows he was not aggressive enough in calling out his defenses last week in a 48-10 loss against Texas Tech.

“In the second half, and this is on me, but we probably didn’t (blitz) enough,” Lesley said. “When I talk about a lack of aggressiveness, I’m not just talking about players. I’m talking about myself, as well. It’s something you have to have full confidence in and pull the trigger.”

Lesley said the Mountaineers tried to dial up some pressure early, but as some key players exited the game with injuries, the only option was to drop back and try and cover.

The results was six fourth-down conversions against WVU’s defense and Texas Tech ran 103 plays and held onto the football for nearly 40 minutes.

“We ran out of juice,” Lesley said. “We had played 55 plays before halftime. When certain pieces began to dwindle off and certain things aren’t going the way you want them to go, I thought we lost a little juice. When you lose that, you lose aggressiveness and it all snowballs to the end.”

Circumstances are changing almost daily for the Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3 Big 12), who welcome No. 7 TCU at noon Saturday in what represents a major opportunity for WVU to right the ship that has gone off course.

As the future of WVU head coach Neal Brown comes more into question, it would seem Saturday is the perfect time to gamble.

It could come at a big cost. TCU is the No. 1 offense in the Big 12 and the Horned Frogs (7-0, 4-0) average 44.7 points per game.

To ask a WVU secondary that is already allowing 14.3 yards per completion and has given up 15 touchdown passes to hold down the fort is a major risk.

“Let’s say we blitz 10 times,” Lesley begins the scenario. “The people are going to enjoy the five times you create a negative play. Well, what are those other five? If they’re touchdowns, then it’s still 35 points. That’s how I view it. You have to know when and where.”

Other things to watch, as WVU tries to knock off a top 10-ranked team inside Milan Puskar Stadium for the first time since Oct. 18, 2014:

Who’s in and out?

The Mountaineers are expected to throw a heavy load of work at running back C.J. Donaldson, because Tony Mathis Jr. (arm) is out and Justin Johnson Jr. will basically be a game-time decision.

Freshman running back Jaylen Anderson could see some extended game action, too.

Offensive lineman Wyatt Milum is expected to be back in the lineup, but James Gmiter will miss his second consecutive game after getting injured against Baylor.

Defensive back Rashad Ajayi is out, but WVU is expecting Wesley McCormick back and Charles Woods will see more action than he did against Texas Tech.

WVU linebacker Lance Dixon has also been ruled out.

Filling holes

Brown said the TCU game would be an opportunity for offensive linemen Jordan White and Tomas Rimac to show they’re ready.

The good news is TCU, according to the numbers, isn’t a great pass-rushing team.

The Horned Frogs are eighth in the Big 12 with 12 quarterback sacks.

“What TCU does, is they’re not asked to do a ton (on defense), but they’re really good at what they’re asked to do,” WVU offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said. “The positive to that, especially if you’re playing guys with not a lot of experience, you should have a decent idea of where they’re going to be. You just have to block them, which is the hard part.”

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