Everything Virginia HC Tony Elliott Said About West Virginia

The West Virginia Mountaineers (2-0) will travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to take on the Virginia Cavaliers (2-0) Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST and the action will broadcast on the ACC Network.

On Tuesday, Virginia head coach Tony Elliott met with the media for his weekly press conference to provide his thoughts on the upcoming matchup with the Mountaineers and head coach Rich Rodriguez.

West Virginia University head coach Rich Rodriguez | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on S

Going up against Rodriguez. Elliott was a walk-on receiver while Rodriguez was the offensive coordinator at Clemson for two seasons. (1999-2000)

“It's pretty cool. It's humbling too. It's also an indication of how old I'm getting, but it's pretty cool. What I remember about Coach Rich Rod is intense, very intense, very demanding. Fast pace Coached you hard. Loved you just as hard. So, I'm excited about the opportunity.”

If the WVU offense the same as it was at Clemson

“Some elements. The tempo piece of it. I think he was ahead of all of the other guys from a tempo standpoint. I just remember it was spot the ball and then, back on the 25-second play clock, we had to have the ball snapped by 19. So, we had six seconds to get the ball, get the ball off once it was made ready for play. So, they still go fast, run the ball, attack mobile quarterback. That's still very, very similar to our style back when I played at Clemson. So, some similarities, but also a lot of differences too because that’s been a long time.”

West Virginia University quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

On WVU quarterback Mike Hawkins Jr.

“Yeah, he's a threat at any second to change the game and score. 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.”

West Virginia University defensive coordinator Zac Alley | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Going against WVU defensive coordinator Zach Alley and the Mountaineers

“Oh, Zach. He's going—he's a lot like BV (Oklahoma head coach and former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables). I'm thinking about my hairline now, all the hair I lost on the practice field going against Brent, and he was right there as an assistant helping Brent. And so, he's going to be very multiple. He's going to show you some things that maybe you haven't seen before to really stress your preparation and ability to adjust in game.

“They're going to go from being a Okie 3-4 type of defense to being a five-man front, playing man coverage, and then they're going to 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 that game. So now we have to transition to the normal rhythm of getting ready for a game. So, got to do a great job as a staff of helping the guys with that new aspect of preparation.

“Front-wise, they got multiple guys,and they could put in multiple spots. Number 50 brings a lot of juice off the edge.

“The linebackers are downhill. They're going to gap you out. So, in our world, that means that they're not going to let you stick on double teams. You're going to have to win one-on-one blocks. And then the backs are going to have to be precise with their angles and their vision to be able to find the creases if there are any.

“And then, they got some length on the back end and some speed that they can match you in man coverage.”

“So, great, great challenge for our guys, in particular on offense, to prepare for the multiplicity of what they do, and then they got the personnel to be able to do it.”

West Virginia University running back Cam Cook | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

WVU’s third down efficiency (57%)

“It's absolutely in the trenches. I think the key to the third-down efficiency is what they do on first and second down. And so, they're getting the short yardage. They're not having to have long third-down conversions. And the shorter the length, the higher the percentage should be.

“So, if you're building your metrics for third-down conversion, if you're third and one to two, your indicator is going to be 80% plus. So, you should convert 80% of the time. So, what they're doing on first and second down is they're being efficient.

“They're staying ahead of the chains, so they're not having to convert long yardage. And then, obviously, once they convert, now they can play with tempo, be aggressive, and if you match any kind of personnel packages, now they can keep your personnel package on the field, spread it out, and then here we go. And then, that creates explosive plays.

“And so, they've done a really good job of being efficient and then converting on short yardage, but then also whenever you make a mistake, they exploit it. Like, you watch the first game, first play of the Coastal game, and boom, here they go for 70 yards. And then now, you know, in two plays, you scored a touchdown and you rushed for 72 yards in two plays. Like, that's tough to defend.

“So, we’re going to have to do a great job. And then they have the quarterback, too, right? And so, whenever you have the quarterback, especially in some of the short-yardage conversion situations, they can go empty. And now you got to defend the entire field, and then your quarterback can run just as good as a running back.

“So, it poses some significant challenges where we're going to have to be gap sound, assignment sound, and when we arrive, we arrive in swarms. Because typically what happens is with the quarterback or with their backs, the first guy doesn't get him to the ground.

"He makes the first guy miss. And a lot of times there's not a second guy there. And so now that extends for big plays. And then if you're staying ahead of the chains and you're not getting into third-down situations, then you can be really aggressive with your play calling. And then you can be more creative, too, which poses more challenge for you defensively.”

Add us as a preferred source on Google