University of Virginia head coach Tony Elliott spent his final press conference before the WVU game talking through what makes West Virginia such a difficult matchup, and the first thing he circled was the pace.
Elliott said the speed element in Rich Rodriguez’s offense is something he remembers well from his time at Clemson. He described Rodriguez as “intense, very intense, very demanding.
Um, fast pace, man. Coach you coached you hard.
Loved you just as hard.”
That tempo, Elliott said, is still a defining piece of the system. He pointed to the way Rodriguez gets the ball snapped quickly and keeps defenses moving.
“The the tempo piece of it, you know, I think he was ahead of his ahead of all of the other guys from a tempo standpoint. I just remember it was spot the ball and that back on the 25 second play clock we had to have the ball snap by 19.
So we had 6 seconds to get the ball get the ball off once it was made ready for play. So they still go fast run the ball, you know, attack mobile quarterback that’s still very very similar to our style back when uh when I played at Clemson.”
Elliott also spent time on Michael Hawkins and the kind of danger he brings every time he touches the ball. “Yeah, he’s a threat at any at any second to to change the game and score.
And so you got to do a great job of being assignment sound. They’re going to really challenge you from a preparation standpoint with the schemes that they do to make you play assignment sound football.
And if you misfit something, it’s not like he’s going to go for five or seven, he’s going to go for 70.”
On the defensive side, Elliott said WVU can make life just as uncomfortable by changing looks and forcing Virginia to sort things out on the fly. “He’s going to show you some things that that maybe you haven’t seen before to really stress your preparation and ability to adjust in game.
You know they’re going to go from being a 3-4 type of defense to being a a five man front playing man coverage and then they’re going to you know show pressure, drop out, play exotic coverages on the back end. So you got to do a really really good job and the challenge for us this week is we now have five days. the last two games we’ve had at least two weeks to prepare for for that game.
So now we have to transition to the normal rhythm of getting ready for a game.”
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Rich Rodriguez Just Framed West Virginias Biggest Concerns Before Virginia
Rich Rodriguez spent part of his media session Wednesday laying out the pressure points West Virginia is carrying into its matchup with Virginia, and the focus started up front. He praised the experience and discipline of his defensive line, the kind of steady interior presence the Mountaineers will need if they want to control the game and avoid chasing it from the opening series.
Rodriguez also pointed to the challenge posed by one of Virginias players, a reminder that this one may hinge on a few individual matchups as much as overall structure. On the roster front, he said one player has a hearing scheduled for Thursday in Indiana, while Talleys injury status remains day-to-day with a possible return in one to two weeks, leaving West Virginia with a little more uncertainty as kickoff approaches. [Read more 🡒]