Dana Holgorsen knows the speed and talent of Louisiana State presents a daunting challenge for his West Virginia team. Yet the Mountaineers’ head coach isn’t worrying about that right now. WVU will have to adjust to that on Saturday.

For now, Holgorsen can only worry about his offensive schemes and preparing a strategy to make that adjustment a little easier on his players.

‘When you play a team like this that has talented individuals at every position and they got backups that are talented as well,’ Holgorsen said in the Big East coaches’ teleconference Monday, ‘then you don’t worry too much about matchups.’

Holgorsen’s spread offense will be tested by No. 2 LSU’s speed when the Tigers travel to Morgantown, W.Va., for a showdown with the No. 16 Mountaineers. ESPN College GameDay will make the trip to Morgantown for the first time, adding to the anticipation for a matchup set to be nationally televised during primetime at 8 p.m. Saturday.

West Virginia (3-0, 0-0 Big East) has been prolific on offense through three games, running Holgorsen’s new scheme and averaging 42 points per game. But LSU (3-0, 1-0 SEC) will provide a stiffer test with its supreme speed and depth across the field.

The Mountaineers have put up points against Marshall, Norfolk State and Maryland, but a Southeastern Conference opponent like LSU is on another level of competition.

Still, Holgorsen doesn’t want to make the game bigger than any other. He doesn’t want his players to become preoccupied with the primetime stage or GameDay atmosphere. His team can only control its play on the field Saturday.

And to perform at the highest level, West Virginia must be prepared to execute its game plan. It doesn’t matter how fast and strong the opponent is if the Mountaineers can’t make plays.

‘It’s every bit as big as the last game was, and it’s every bit as big as the next game will be,’ Holgorsen said. ‘That’s one thing that we’ve tried to preach with our guys is it’s more about us than who we play.’

For Holgorsen, that means focusing on the scheme.

It’s a scheme he learned as an assistant under Hal Mumme at Valdosta State from 1993-95 and continued to study under Mike Leach at Texas Tech from 2000-07.

Holgorsen moved on to become the offensive coordinator at Houston and Oklahoma State before coming to West Virginia to replace Bill Stewart.

At Houston and Oklahoma State, his offenses ranked among the best in the nation. The Cougars finished third in total offense in 2008 and first in 2009, and the Cowboys boasted the top offense in the country in 2010.

He has used the philosophy he learned under Mumme and Leach to succeed at every stop.

‘Spreading the ball around to specific people has always been one of our goals,’ Holgorsen said. ‘You can put five skill guys out there, and our goal is to spread the ball around to all five of them and make five guys as productive as we possibly can.’

That strategy worked in West Virginia’s 37-31 win over Maryland on Saturday. Quarterback Geno Smith completed 36 passes out of 49 attempts for 388 yards — all career-highs. In the process, three Mountaineers wide receivers finished with at least 100 yards receiving for the first time in program history.

LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu has noticed Smith’s improvement from last season when the Tigers and Mountaineers met in Baton Rouge, La. Then-No. 15 LSU beat then-No. 22 West Virginia 20-14, and Mathieu intercepted Smith to set up a field goal in the second quarter.

Mathieu said Smith has spread the ball to different receivers well this year. He said Smith looks like a ‘general’ on the field leading the offense this season.

To counter his production, Mathieu said the defense will send different blitz packages at Smith to throw off his timing and decision-making.

‘The quarterback is making smart decisions, so we’ll just worry about us gelling together as a defense,’ Mathieu said, ‘and pretty much just keeping him contained and keeping him rattled.’

Even though West Virginia will have to adjust to LSU’s speed, Mathieu said the Mountaineers have athletes that could match up in the SEC on an individual level if not in terms of overall team speed.

‘I do think it’s a difference, you know, with SEC speed and Big East speed,’ Mathieu said. ‘Those guys have a couple guys who could probably outrun a lot of guys in the SEC.’

And as the Mountaineers make changes on the fly to keep up with the Tigers’ athletes, LSU head coach Les Miles will have his hands full trying to figure out Holgorsen’s scheme, as it provides a unique challenge for his team.

Though Miles will aim to generate pressure on Smith with blitzes as Mathieu said, he’ll have to figure out how Holgorsen’s offense attacks those defensive looks throughout the game.

So as the Mountaineers must try to contain speed, the Tigers must counter by playing solid defense against WVU’s scheme.

‘Rushing the passer is generally the same, but the combinations in how they get it off and put their passing game together is much different,’ Miles said in his Monday press conference. ‘It requires some adjustment.’

rjgery@syr.edu

 

Published on September 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu