Quick Hits: Hawkins' Growth, Nearing Top 25, RB Depth, Surprise Group on Defense + More

Another game week is moving right along as West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez just wrapped up his weekly session with the media, previewing this week's game against Oklahoma State. Rich Rod discussed a number of things, mainly about the evaluation of certain players and position groups.

Here are some of the highlights from today's presser.

Early evaluation of Kevin Brown

“Sometimes you forget he’s a true freshman. To start on the offensive line as a true freshman is pretty remarkable. He’s a tough guy, loves football. He’ll keep getting better and better. That’s what we’re excited about. He’s playing pretty good football now, and we never have to worry about his intensity and playing hard because he’s always going to do that, but he’s going to continue to grow as his career goes on.”

Thoughts on the linebacker play so far

“It’s been solid. It’s been pretty good. Ashton Woods, Ben Cutter, guys that have been in the system I think have played pretty solidly. Isaiah Patterson was hurt for a lot of camp, but he’s healthy now, and that’s helped. Cam Torbor’s a young guy that’s got a great future. Jason Hall has made some plays for us.”

Running back depth

“(Martavious) Boswell had a shoulder thing, so he was going to be limited, and (Chris) Talley hadn’t been healthy, but both of those guys should be good to go this weekend, which will be good. Lawrence Autry is there and healthy as well.”

If he’s worried about Cam Cook’s workload

“No, I haven’t thought about it really. They’re on scholarship, plus they’re getting paid. But Cam is the only guy that has any experience; those other guys are young guys. I think as they grow and mature in our offense, we won’t have to run Cam 30 carries.”

Not getting in the Top 25 this week

“I don’t ever worry about that. They’re going to rank it every week, and the final one is what’s most important and where you’re at there. But I think playing a ranked team, and if you’re able to win, that makes you feel better. That should give you a little bit of confidence, but it still only counts as one; at least it counted as one for us.”

Oklahoma State’s defense

“I went up against their coordinator a few years ago when I was at Jax State, and he was at Sam Houston. Very, very sound. Don’t make any mistakes. They’re in the right spot. Well-coached. They always have a good plan for whatever kind of scheme you’re doing. He’s always done a really good job everywhere he’s been

Mike Hawkins Jr.'s growth

“You can see his confidence is growing. You not only see him anticipating the next call, but also making suggestions on what he’s seeing like, ‘Hey, what if we do this?’ And I think that’s the part where I’m really excited for Mike’s growth, and it’ll get better as this year goes along. But he’s got three years, and I hope to have him for three years because you can see what he’s going to be after a full year under his belt, and then another year under his belt. Next thing, he won’t anticipate calls; he’ll be making suggestions off our playlist that he thinks should be great plays. That part of it is going to be really fun to watch.”

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