Notebook: Weis not saying on QB

Charlie Weis is going to make West Virginia play the guessing game when it comes to his starting quarterback.

When Weis released the depth chart Jake Heaps and Montell Cozart were listed as possible starters.

"I know who's starting at quarterback, but why should I tell them?," Weis said. "That's really what it comes down to. You can't go to practice with an 'or' in mind, because if you have an 'or' you really have nobody. But why should they know? As it is, what do they have to practice on?"

Receivers getting healthy

For the first time in a while the wide receiver group is getting healthy. Andrew Turzilli, Tony Pierson, Josh Ford, and Rodriguez Coleman all appeared on the depth chart together. All four have been battling injuries and haven't been on the same depth chart since the Texas Tech game.

"The only one we don't have this week is Tre Parmalee and he's a week or two away," Weis said. "He'll be back before the end of the year.

"Now remember some of these guys were on the upswing when they got banged up, (Andrew) Turzilli was just turning the corner, and then he makes that 52-yard catch and then he's out. Rodriguez (Coleman) was just turning the corner when he makes that big catch when he's out. It'll be interesting now that we've got a whole head of steam, so we'll see how this all plays out."

West Virginia defense banged up

This season the injuries haven't been kind to the West Virginia defense. They had several players get dinged up in their game last against Texas.

"I think I counted 15 guys on defense, who are on the injury report, and 10 of those guys are out for the season," West Virginia defensive coordinator Keith Patterson. "You can't use that as an excuse. That's just football. It's a tough sport, and it's part of the game. You take our offense, for example, Mario Alford was banged up early in the year now he steps right in. It's no different on defense. People just have to step in. I always tell the back-ups: 'you're one play away from being a starter.' You have to prepare. It may be game 11 before you get that shot to play. They have to get out there and execute. You can't use that as an excuse. No one cares."

Improvement in Kansas defense

Last week Kansas held Oklahoma State to their lowest rushing total on the year and the Cowboys second lowest amount of total yards.

The defense is giving up 50 yards less per game and rank 30th in the nation in creating turnovers.

West Virginia offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson has noticed the improvement.

"They're much better than last year," Dawson said. "They're different and more aggressive. They're stopping the ball well. Coverage wise, they play the corners who are in my opinion pretty good players. They're improving from last year to this year, and I think throughout this season they're improving. They've been playing well the way I see it."