BYU and West Virginia will meet on Saturday for the second time ever.
The two programs have met once before in 2016, with West Virginia pulling things out late. Now, the Mountaineers welcome the Cougars to Morgantown in their first Big 12 bout, with BYU head coach Kalani Sitake giving a lot of praise to this year’s group.
Making the Trip to Morgantown
“Going into this week against West Virginia, on the road back east, a different timezone. I think this is the farthest we’ve traveled. Looking forward to that matchup. Neal does a great job coaching his guys. You can see his background is on the offensive side so they’re very explosive offensively.”
“I’m looking forward to the cool traditions they have. They have a passionate fanbase, loves their team and I know from talking to a lot of different people having been out there, it’s’ a hard place to play. I like fans that care about their teams and have a lot of passion for it. It’s going to be nice to hear them sing, ‘Country Roads Take Me Home.’ That’s a cool song and I think there’s a lot of cool things about college football and I’m glad we got to go compete in that environment and to compete against West Virginia.”
“I think there’s things we need to do within ourselves and within our system that we need to control more than have to worry about everything else. I want our guys to go embrace the environment. Their fans love their team so it’s going to be a difficult place to play. There’s nothing wrong with going on the field and embracing the opportunity to be in a place that’s going to be difficult to win that a lot of teams don’t do well there.”
On Neal Brown and WVU’s offense
“They can do so many things to you and I think that’s his background as an offensive guru, being a coordinator at the highest level, then also being a head coach. I think he’s establishing their identity on the field and you can see they can punish you in so many different ways. Really balanced team, but they have a quarterback who can throw the ball, who can run. Tough o-line, tough receivers, they average around 200 yards receiving and 200 yards rushing. Their receivers can turn a quick throw into a big gain. Tons of talent there. Big o-line, pass pro and run block, combine that with a big running back. I like the way they running backs run. He’s dangerous and he’s big. He’s literally ab ig guy and can run over people but he’s got tons of speed.”
On WVU’s Defense
“Take a look at the defensive side, they’re tough too. They’re playing some really good football, watching them on film. They take advantage of assignment sound football. THey’re tough and they’re gritty and I think tis’ going to be a good matchup for us. I look forward to getting the best out of our guys against them because you can see it on film.”
“They can do a variety of things. the one thing I can tell you is that they’re physical. You can tell their team is used to contact, they like being aggressive and so when they go against each other I’m pretty sure they have some really cool battles. They’re a physical team, well-coached, they’re disciplined. They do a lot of things that are different but also there’s some carryover. College football it’s not like one team is doing anything different. Defensively, it’s not like one team is the triple option of college football. It’s pretty much similar but form what I can tell you is they are tough guys and I’m looking forward to the matchup because I respect what they do, I think they utilize their talent really, really, well and I can tell their coaches know what they’re doing. Tons of respect for them and their program and I’m hoping it can help our team take their next step.”
On both BYU and WVU being picked to finish towards the bottom of the Big 12
“That’s the fun in college football is that everybody wants to predict what’s going to happen and it’s unpredictable. Their team is well coached. They have good size and talent and speed and athleticism. he should be confident in their team. I’m hoping from what we’re looking on film, it will get our guys’ attention. Pretty easy to see they’re a really good team and have tons of talent and I think the matchup will bring out the best in us. Neal’s been around for a long time. That guy knows offensive football. he knows how to coach, he’s been a head coach at different places so I think he can get things done.”
Kickoff in Morgantown is set for 7:00 p.m. EST, and the game will be televised on FOX.
