Holgorsen to Smith: "If he thinks that all this falls on his shoulders, he's sadly mistaken."

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Dana Holgorsen said today that Geno Smith need not point the finger at himself for the dramatic pair of losses that has sent West Virginia tumbling down the national rankings, from No. 5 two weeks ago, to No. 25.

Smith shouldered a significant amount of blame following the team's 55-14 loss to Kansas State late Saturday night for the second straight game.

Certainly they have not been Smith's best, but Holgorsen made clear his quarterback is being way too hard on himself.

“Yeah, me and him have talked. He doesn’t need to say that,” said Holgorsen during his Tuesday press conference with media. “His is one of many positions that play football here. If he thinks that all this falls on his shoulders he’s sadly mistaken.

“He’s one of our leaders. He’s a tremendous football player, he cares more than anybody. This doesn’t fall on his shoulders. This falls on my shoulders. It falls on all of our coaches and all of our players. He’s only one… He needs to relax a little bit and not bare that burden.”