What Jimmy Rogers Said About Rich Rod and WVU

West Virginia will head out to Ames this weekend for their first true road game of the season, taking on an Iowa State team seeking their first win of the season against a Power Four foe.

ISU head coach Jimmy Rogers knows exactly the type of game he is in for, going up a Rich Rodriguez-led squad.

“Obviously, he’s had a ton of success everywhere he’s been," Rogers said. "The transition that he’s had already at West Virginia, and what he’s done there has been awesome. I knew him when I was going to camps when he was the head coach at the University of Arizona. My impression of him is that he’s black and white; he says it how it is. I love people like that. Watching their team play — the physicality, the effort, and how those guys operate — you can see there’s a demand of excellence. We’re going to have our hands full.”

This will be the first time that the Cyclones' defense will face an uptempo offense. The Mountaineers currently rank 7th nationally in seconds between plays, while the other three FBS teams they have played (Iowa, Bowling Green, and Utah) rank 79th, 136th, and 85th, respectively.

“I think more than anything, it’s communication," Rogers said when asked about the challenges of a tempo offense. "If they’re not rotating, it comes down to your cardio versus their cardio. There’s no excuse. We got to see the call and get it lined up as we’re getting the call to the formation that’s presenting itself. And then we got to be able to communicate just as fast as they’re communicating to run their play. Does it put stress on us? Not if you don’t practice it. Is it harder? I don’t know if it’s harder; it’s just another thing that you have to be really good at, and you have to play with great pad level still, and you can’t let your eyes wander. When you’re playing against great athletes, you’ve got to be able to make plays.”

Rogers also talked about the explosive nature of WVU's dynamic duo in Mike Hawkins Jr. and Cam Cook and the challenges those guys present.

“This quarterback, Hawkins, is probably one of the fastest players in the country. He’s extremely explosive. And they have a downhill running back that will, he’ll make you pay too just because he’ll get behind his pads. They do a really good job in their scheme, and they go really fast. So everybody needs to get their feet in the ground, get aligned, get their eyes right, know the call, and then execute the plan because they’re not going to give you a whole lot of time to process with how fast that they’re on the football.”

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