Four-Down Territory: Offenses apply heat to TCU-West Virginia

FORT WORTH, Texas — With No. 8 TCU unbeaten through the season’s first month, Gary Patterson once again sports the label of “defensive guru,” yet it’s two of the nation’s top-five offenses that bring verve into Saturday’s matchup.

Behind Will Grier’s accuracy, both passing and cognitive, No. 23 West Virginia (3-1, 1-0) has become only the second FBS team since 1996 to throw for 300 yards and run for 200 in four straight games. A stat so impressive, the Mountaineers are 13-point underdogs against the Frogs (4-0, 1-0).

After West Virginia owned last year’s meeting by 24 points, expect TCU to issue a fiery welcome as we two-step into Four-Down Territory:

Run defense ‘disheartening’

In the two weeks since West Virginia yielded 367 rushing yards at Kansas, defensive coordinator Tony Gibson has decried missed tackles and called out players who weren’t giving max-effort in pursuit.

Currently 114th nationally in rushing defense at 226 per game, the Mountaineers have given up 5.3 yards per carry, tied for last in the Big 12.

“Guys need to play with better effort. Tackling’s all about want-to and it looked like our guys didn’t want to last week,” Gibson said.

Gibson was especially peeved by two 60-yard runs on which Jayhawks tailback Khalil Herbert dodged would-be tacklers at the line of scrimmage. “You look at that film and think ‘Wow, how did we get to this point?’ It’s disheartening,” he said.

While West Virginia played without several injured linebackers and defensive backs, its inexperienced defensive line was healthy but unproductive.

“There is no question, when you look at it from a statistical standpoint, it is unacceptable. We know that. I take full responsibility for that. Guys, like anything, they have a lot of pride in what they do. It is just unacceptable so we have to get better.”

Gibson turned up the physicality during the bye week by having defenders hit during live drills. “Obviously we hit scout-team guys, but we still worked a bunch of it,” he said.

Long time waiting

This week’s expected return of Will linebacker David Long could signal a turning point for the defense. The redshirt sophomore, out of action since a midsummer knee injury, reportedly returned to practice during the bye week.

“He thinks he’s been ready for a month, but it’s a doctor’s call,” coach Dana Holgorsen said. “He plays angry — like a little pit bull — which makes him a better player. He changes the complex of our entire football team.”

Long’s availability, even if only for 20 to 30 snaps, would help limit the exposure of freshman Dylan Tonkery, who struggled to get off blocks against Kansas.

Hicks returning too?

TCU shocked Oklahoma State 44-31 two weeks ago despite missing 1,000-yard rusher Kyle Hicks, the guy coach Gary Patterson called his team’s best player in 2016.

“He was out practicing (this week),” Patterson said. “I think we just have to be smart. I don’t think it needs to be a 20- to 25-carry game with him. I think he just needs to work himself back in.”

Even before Hicks’ absence, sophomore Darius Anderson had established himself as a capable runner. A 160-yard game has elevated Anderson to No. 3 in the Big 12 in rushing at 105 yards per game. His six rushing touchdowns lead the conference, one ahead of WVU’s Justin Crawford.

In short-yardage scenarios, the Frogs feature 6-foot-3, 225-pounder Sewo Olonilua, who has three touchdowns while averaging 5.4 per carry.

TCU’s pattern-matching

Among the peculiarities of Patterson’s 4-2-5 defense is his method of separating coverage calls into different silos. Essentially, the weak side of the secondary plays one call, the strong side plays another, and the two linebackers in the middle play a third. This allows TCU to play man coverage, Cover 2 and quarters on the same play.

What seems complicated (with three different coaches sending in signals) actually simplifies calls for the player whose job on a certain play is not married to what guys in other areas are doing.

West Virginia will be forced “to tweak some things up,” admitted Jake Spavital, whose offense ranks second nationally in scoring (48.8 points) and total offense (594.8 yards).

If you’re not impressed by the Frogs ranking 44th in pass-efficiency defense, don’t overlook the fact they’ve faced three of the nation’s top 20-rated passing attacks (Oklahoma State, Arkansas and SMU), with two of those games on the road.

West Virginia receivers coach Tyron Carrier was astounded after watching each of TCU’s 73 defensive snaps in Stillwater.

“Their communication was amazing, and they always knew what they were doing,” he said. “They only had like three busted assignments the whole game. That’s unheard of.”

Head coaches with a defensive background are becoming rare, yet Patterson’s innovative approach to attacking spread offenses has helped TCU to a 153-54 record during his 17 seasons.

“What he’s really good at is understanding the weaknesses of his kids,” Spavital said. “He’ll match it to where these guys take the short route and these other guys take the long route, or these guys are matched with the guys who can run and other receivers are matched with the guys he thinks can cover.

“You can motion and stunt and move all the guys around to try and get a linebacker matched up on Marcus Simms, but he’ll never allow that to happen.”

 





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