Small Gameday Change by Jordan Lesley Led to More Defensive Success for WVU

The West Virginia defensive coordinator switched things up this past Saturday.

Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

West Virginia has struggled mightily against the pass this season, giving up an average of 274.3 yards through the air per game through the first three games. On Saturday, the Mountaineers defended the pass much better, allowing just 184 yards to Jalon Daniels, holding him to a QBR of 40.4.

Now, yes, WVU did struggle against the run as they gave up a hefty 247 yards on the ground, but that is one of the better rushing teams they'll face all season and they've proven in previous games they can contain it. Plus, the gameplan was to keep everything in front of them as they were trying to find answers in the secondary. They lightened the box and committed to playing that way to not get gashed with explosive pass plays all afternoon long. But when it came down to crunch time, the WVU defense bowed up getting a stop to get the ball back, and then forced a turnover to end the game.

One minor change could have been a contributing factor to WVU's improved defense.

“Jordan (Lesley) went up (to the press box). Tre Bell came down, who coaches our nickels and our spears. It was Jordan’s idea, I thought it was good. When you go in the box, what it does is it takes the emotion out of the game. And you can see. We missed some tackles but I thought we were in really good spots. We simplified the coverages…they got a beat on us late, but we kept the ball in front and that’s really what we wanted to do and give us an opportunity to rally.”

This unit still has a long way to go before folks can feel good about WVU's chances as a Big 12 contender, but it is a small step in the right direction. Now, they'll have a chance during the bye week to clean some things up and get healthy before going out to Stillwater for a big game against Oklahoma State.

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