Weis breaks down West Virginia

Kansas head coach Charlie Weis opened up his press conference breaking down West Virginia.

On West Virginia's coaching staff:

"Coach (Dana) Holgorsen is running the program there and not only is he the head coach, but he calls the plays on offense. He calls them, he signals them, he does the whole ball of wax. Joe DeForest is running their defense and I know Coach (Shannon) Dawson is their offensive coordinator, but with Dana really, it really comes down to him. I will talk a little bit more about Dana when I get to the offense. Then Steve Dunlap runs their special teams."

On West Virginia's defense:

"Everyone knows how dynamic the offense is, so I am going to start with the defense. It is interesting, because they really have two personnel groups they use. One is a 3-4 personnel group where they start with an odd configuration and then they go to multiple fronts and multiple coverages off of that odd configuration. And the other one is, they will go to a 2-4 personnel grouping when they want to go against all of these teams who are using four and five wide receivers on a regular basis. I expect to see more of the 3-4 grouping against us. (Shaq) Rowell is the big nose tackle. They really use Rowell, (Jorge) Wright and (Will) Clarke as the three down linemen. Clarke is usually the field end and Wright plays the three-technique and Rowell handles the nose. And then they add (Josh) Francis as their boundary end when they decide to turn it a four-man rush. When they want to play odd or diamond, which is the 'Bear' defense to a lot of you guys, but I call it diamond. When they want to do that, Francis is the guy who gives them versatility to go in and out of packages."

"When it comes to the true linebackers, (Isaiah) Bruce is the middle linebacker and he is the leader of their defense. He is their leading tackler and he is right there in the middle. (Jared) Barber plays on the boundary side and (Terence) Garvin plays to the field. They have a young safety, (Karl) Joseph who has really stepped up his game and really has become quite the playmaker and is the second-leading tackler on the team. Him and (Cecil) Level are the two safeties. At corner now they have used a variety of players. (Pat) Miller has been out, but he is back, (but they've also used) (Ricky) Rumph, (Brodrick) Jenkins and (Terrell) Chestnut. I know that (Ishmael) Banks got hurt last week. I was watching the game on Friday afternoon and I saw him get hurt. I do not know what his status is, but it did not look good watching it on TV, so we will have to track it this week and see how it goes. They are very versatile and what they do is, they can go in and out of fronts. Like I said before, Francis gives them the ability to do that. He is a good pass rusher, but he can also play linebacker as well as defensive end."

On West Virginia's offense:

"Now on offense, Coach Holgorsen does a really good job of running the offense. He really knows how to attack a defense and if you make a mistake and you are not sound, he will make you pay for it. He really knows how to do things right and he is going to get after you. They are averaging 510 yards a game on offense, 165 rushing, another 345 passing and scoring 41 points per game. They use a lot of four wide (receiver sets) and a lot of 10 and 11 formations. They are 11 a lot of times, four wide receivers which is ten, but they will also put two backs in there, and occasionally they will even put three backs in there. They do have a big tight end by the name of (Cody) Clay. We call him a tight end, but sometimes he even lines up in the backfield like a fullback. He is 6-foot-3, 260 (pounds) and a really big, physical bruiser type of guy."

"On offense, I usually start with the offensive line and the quarterback and I would be remised if I did not start with Tavon Austin. This guy is just a special player. The sad part about it is, almost every week I am coming to talk to you about a special player. This guy ranks right up there at the top of the list. It does not make any difference whether he is playing running back or whether he is playing wide receiver, he is just a dynamic player at 5-foot-9, 170 (pounds). You can throw that (his size) right out the window, because at running back he is as good as I have seen there. At wide receiver he is good there. He comes in motion and they do this little touch pass where the quarterback does not even catch the shotgun snap, he taps it forward to him. He is also their kickoff returner and punt returner. Other than that, he provides no worth at all to their team. This kid is really good and the scary thing is, as you are sitting on your couch at home on Friday and you are watching the Iowa State-West Virginia game, you watch him take a punt return back for a touchdown and then you watch him catch a little ball out in the flat and the next thing you know, everyone has angles on him and then he is just by everybody. If that is not bad enough, which that is pretty bad, (Stedman) Bailey is averaging over 120 yards a game at receiver himself and scoring touchdowns left and right, so between the two of those guys that is really a scary proposition. (J.D.) Woods is really the third wide receiver that plays in addition to those two guys."

"Now I have already talked about Austin as a running back, now (Andrew) Buie was really the backup for most of the year and then I am watching the game the other day and all of a sudden I am watching him come in the game and just pounding it right down Iowa State's throat. I had him listed as the third running back on our depth chart last week, but I kind of promoted him whether they promoted him or not, I promoted him. So he got a battlefield promotion on our depth chart on Friday afternoon from my couch in Granger, Ind. But it is just one more weapon for them, if they did not have enough. Coming into the year, the quarterback (Geno Smith) was the one who was getting all the accolades and he is darn good and we all know about him. But his supporting cast has stepped up =and it all starts with that No. 1 (Austin)."

"We can talk about the quarterback and we can talk about the offensive line, but here is something sarcastically new, they have very big physical offensive line. For the sake of being redundant the names will change. (Quinton) Spain is at left tackle and he is 6-foot-5, 334 (pounds). (Josh) Jenkins at left guard, 6-foot-4, 303 (pounds). At center is (Joe) Madsen, 6-foot-4, 305 (pounds). (Jeff) Braun is over at right guard, 6-foot-4, 316 (pounds) and (Curtis) Feigt is a right tackle and he is 6-foot-7, 317 (pounds). So another big physical offensive line grouping that you have to deal with. So between the quarterback, who was a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, to the running back/wide receiver who should be one as good as he is and like I said--as I go to special teams--their leading kick returner and their leading punt returner.