Holgorsen: "I didn't sugarcoat anything"
West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen addressed the media today, sharing the straight talk he had with the team Sunday after returning from that ugly blowout at Texas Tech.
The short of it: "I didn't sugarcoat anything."
Holgorsen: “It was embarrassing. Guys were embarrassed. They were hurt. They were disappointed. It’s no fun. It’s no fun for anybody. We got in here. I didn’t surgarcoat anything. It wasn’t a positive session. It wasn’t an 'It’s OK guys. It’s gonna be OK, don’t worry about it.’ That’s not what we did. Our job is to coach ‘em and tell them what reality is. I told them what reality is prior to going out there and we didn’t reach them. Again, that’s my fault for not reaching ‘em."
"We had a lot of guys who wanted it to be easy. We just went through the two hard games against Baylor and Texas, won close games in a couple of shootouts and had a whole bunch of people on that airplane going out there who wanted it to be easy. That’s not reality in the Big 12, that’s not reality in college football."
"So we were honest with them. There wasn’t a whole lot positive stuff being said. With that said, the sense of urgency in meetings, the attention in meetings, the getting out there at practice on Sunday night and flying around that was important…
Hopefully in an hour (later today) we’ll get in here for a team meeting, the sense of urgency is high and we’ll play with tremendous effort in practice. If not it’s not going to be pretty.”
News of Note:
* Holgorsen said true freshman receiver Travares Copeland will start this week, but did not indicate if he would be replacing Stedman Bailey in the lineup.
Copeland got the first minutes of his career at Texas Tech, replacing Bailey who left the game with a twisted ankle.
"You can go ahead and write that down," said Holgorsen about Copeland starting.
*DB Brodrick Jenkins is out this week with a "light cartilage tear" according to Holgorsen, but shouldn't be out long.
*Bailey and right guard Jeff Braun both suffered ankle sprains and are "day to day" along with Shawne Alston (thigh bruise) and Will Clarke (undisclosed injury.)