Has WVU improved?

[DCWV4life]

WVU One Of Nation's Most Improved

Yes

 

[WVUDAD]

I think the defense has improved greatly, getting the ball back to the offense for more possessions, STS are the same, at best. One thing that has greatly improved is that we saw WVU competitive in most of the games, and we were able to win some of the close ones. I saw progress this year, and am guardedly optimistic for next year.

 

[Anotherwvufan]

WVU saw major improvement this year. What I noticed was that we looked like the better team in every game except alabama and Oklahoma. Play some special teams and hold onto the ball and this is an10-2 team.

Start out by losing big, then lose small, then win small and then win big. We are hovering between 2 and 3 on that scale.

I am most impressed with the talent that we have assembled through transfers and JUCO kids. Recruiting has looked great and the future looks good. Dana does a good job of getting these guys in and ready to play. What we seem to lack are the fundamentals. Catch the punt, hold onto the ball. Could you imagine how we would have done without any fumbles this year? This team had the tools to play with anybody and the sky was the limit.

There were a lot of ifs coming into the season. The OL did a good job. The D line was able to stop the rush, but had a hard time rushing the passer. Corners were much improved, but the backups could not handle the best receivers.
One of the biggest what ifs was whether Trickett stays healthy. After TCU, he was obviously injured. Those three losses would have been wins if Trickett plays like he did early in the season.

 

[bbwvfan]

WVU improved its offense and defense from a year ago. ST's definitely performed worse. Hate to think how many games they cost the team this year.

Most of the fumbles by the RB's are effort fumbles, and the result of a great defensive play. But, Clint puts in on the carpet as soon as he gets hit, and the muffed punts and other return miscues have been hard to understand.

 

[GoldRusher]

Improved? Yes, no question, especially defensively. We still have some serious issues that need to be addressed, some players to step up in the future and we need to win this last game that we are supposed to win and take advantage of the bowl practices and game to finish strong and begin the spring with the correct team attitude.


IMO, if this QB situation pans out and we get the dual threat\ accurate passer type of QB that Dana has been trying to develop along with the OLine developing further then we could be reaching the level offensively that we have all been waiting for really since Dana got here. I don't think its been at full strength since he arrived.

 

[4down20]

Your defense is much better now than it was in the past.

Hope it keeps up, Big12 certainly needs a good defensive team.

The crazy part is TCU went from great defense to great offense.

 

[Slaton10]

Wv has definitely improved....

 

[DBAR4WVU]

WVU Defense is VASTLY improved from the last 2 seasons. I think that is agreed across the board.
But the offense, while it certainly looks better and is much more explosive than in the last season and a half - it still has some serious issues that need to be addressed.

Red-Zone scoring.... overall, the percentages don't look too bad. But there were "game on the line" moments where this offense hit a wall and could move no further inside the 20 (or even 30). Thank God we had the kicker we have right now or the outcome could have been even worse.

Protecting the ball..... a great deal of room for improvement here. 2 and 3 TOs in a quarter? It's amazing we were able to win @ OK St. If they could have scored when we kept giving them the ball.... much different outcome.

Special teams - where to start? Kick coverage struggled this season, especially early on. Got a little better late - but still gave up the big returns. Kick returns.... some signs of explosiveness, but far too many drops, fumbles and poor decisions. Need some training with our return guys on when to get the hell away from the ball.

So I like the way this team performed, I liked their effort and they seemed to actually enjoy playing, unlike last season. They just need to improve at some of the fundamentals. We lose some key guys for next year and we need to see some of the younger guys step up and fill the gaps.

Overall - much improved.

 

[Slaton10]

WVU Defense is VASTLY improved from the last 2 seasons. I think that is agreed across the board.
But the offense, while it certainly looks better and is much more explosive than in the last season and a half - it still has some serious issues that need to be addressed.

Red-Zone scoring.... overall, the percentages don't look too bad. But there were "game on the line" moments where this offense hit a wall and could move no further inside the 20 (or even 30). Thank God we had the kicker we have right now or the outcome could have been even worse.

Protecting the ball..... a great deal of room for improvement here. 2 and 3 TOs in a quarter? It's amazing we were able to win @ OK St. If they could have scored when we kept giving them the ball.... much different outcome.

Special teams - where to start? Kick coverage struggled this season, especially early on. Got a little better late - but still gave up the big returns. Kick returns.... some signs of explosiveness, but far too many drops, fumbles and poor decisions. Need some training with our return guys on when to get the hell away from the ball.

So I like the way this team performed, I liked their effort and they seemed to actually enjoy playing, unlike last season. They just need to improve at some of the fundamentals. We lose some key guys for next year and we need to see some of the younger guys step up and fill the gaps.

Overall - much improved.

The only thing that needs addressed on offense is a QB that can execute the plays........

 

[sooner78wakeboard]

Out of curiosity, overall are people pretty pleased with Dana Holgerson? WVU has been playing some great football, and many times they are just on the verge of victory against top teams. Seems like they have consistently been improving even with losses. I mean you all almost upset K-State. I just think WVU is just one of the most dangerous, underrated programs in football.

Just curious if the program is pleased with Holgerson direction.

 

[bbwvfan]

I know DAD is!

 

[DBAR4WVU]

The only thing that needs addressed on offense is a QB that can execute the plays........

I am not sure I can place all of the blame at Trickett's feet. I recall a LOT of dropped passes and blown routes by his receivers. He could execute like nobody's business and then, WHAM!! Hit that wall and can't get the ball to anyone. I think it is psychological what went on with him. But he was MUCH improved over last season.

But - either way, he's gone for next season (along with much of the offensive power) and it appears we will be in the hands of Mr. Howard. Let's see how that goes, shall we?

 

[wvu_man]

Out of curiosity, overall are people pretty pleased with Dana Holgerson? WVU has been playing some great football, and many times they are just on the verge of victory against top teams. Seems like they have consistently been improving even with losses. I mean you all almost upset K-State. I just think WVU is just one of the most dangerous, underrated programs in football.

Just curious if the program is pleased with Holgerson direction.

Personally, I am happy with Holgs. The only place that we need significant improvement is with the Special Teams. After the K-State game, I read several comments on message boards and Facebook posts calling for DH to be fired. Can you blame DH for the turnover when the punt bounced and hit Vernon Davis? Holgs said that he has been coached to GET AWAY from the ball if you don't field it. Can you blame DH for O'Toole punting a line drive punt straight down the field to Lockett? That was a mistake made by O'Toole. They complained about play calling but the play calling got us inside the K-State 30 yard line 3 different times before we turned it over. I never seen any coach who can "coach" players not to turn the ball over unless it's fundamentals (ex. carrying the ball high and tight). You can't beat the #7 or #12 team in the country and turn the ball over a total of 9 times. The crazy thing is, we lost to TCU by 1 point and K-State by 6 points after making that many mistakes! The only "bad" loss we had was vs TX if you can call it that because they have really improved since the beginning of the season. Holgs has put together a great coaching staff (with the exception of DeForest) and we have a solid recruiting class coming in next year that should add more quality depth.

 

[Slaton10]

I am not sure I can place all of the blame at Trickett's feet. I recall a LOT of dropped passes and blown routes by his receivers. He could execute like nobody's business and then, WHAM!! Hit that wall and can't get the ball to anyone. I think it is psychological what went on with him. But he was MUCH improved over last season.

But - either way, he's gone for next season (along with much of the offensive power) and it appears we will be in the hands of Mr. Howard. Let's see how that goes, shall we?

I agree with your comments...my messaging was that it appeared there is a belief their is something wrong with offense...IMHO its fine just not executed very well

 

[Anotherwvufan]

Out of curiosity, overall are people pretty pleased with Dana Holgerson? WVU has been playing some great football, and many times they are just on the verge of victory against top teams. Seems like they have consistently been improving even with losses. I mean you all almost upset K-State. I just think WVU is just one of the most dangerous, underrated programs in football.

Just curious if the program is pleased with Holgerson direction.

Given what he started with, Holgerson has done a great job in getting talent in whether JUCO, transfer or recruit into the program and getting depth to the program. Many fans are not happy with game management and the fundamentals of the players, fumbles, punts, missed Defensive assignments.

Most of the true fans see how we are improving and have Dana's back. We are going in the right direction.

 

[bbwvfan]

Out of curiosity, overall are people pretty pleased with Dana Holgerson? WVU has been playing some great football, and many times they are just on the verge of victory against top teams. Seems like they have consistently been improving even with losses. I mean you all almost upset K-State. I just think WVU is just one of the most dangerous, underrated programs in football.

Just curious if the program is pleased with Holgerson direction.

WVU fans have yet to recover from the RichRod departure to UofM. When Billy Stewart took over, it created a great divide among the fan base that remains divided today. There is a significant group of fans who will never give Dana a chance, another significant group that is yearning for the return of RichRod, and the rest are waiting to see if Dana can continue to grow.

Personally, I think he is on the right track and I see a lot of positive developments. The team was close this year, just a few too many mistakes in games against the top level talent from the conference.

 

[DCWV4life]

\ just a few too many mistakes in games against the top level talent from the conference.

Like I said last week, a pretty good sign of a team that is close/getting better is making mistakes and not getting clobbered by those top notch teams. I think his plan is coming together nicely.

 

[Slaton10]

Like I said last week, a pretty good sign of a team that is close/getting better is making mistakes and not getting clobbered by those top notch teams. I think his plan is coming together nicely.