Apr. 7—MORGANTOWN — Most of the eyes were on Rich Rodriguez, the quarterbacks and the offense during West Virginia's Gold-Blue Showcase. It's all new, but not only on the offensive side of the ball. This is an entirely new defense under defensive coordinator Zac Alley.
Alley had a couple of priorities for his squad, and they were on display Saturday.
A critical issue with WVU's defense in the past is its inability to force turnovers. Last year, the defense ranked 117th in turnovers gained. In the Gold-Blue Showcase, the defense forced two fumbles and had an interception.
Turnovers have been a point of emphasis this spring, and Alley's set the standard of three turnovers each practice. He said his defense has missed the standard twice, with one being Saturday afternoon.
"We're better, " Alley said. "We're not where we need to be. We forced a fumble down the field on the second or third series out there. There were like eight of us around the ball ; nobody got the ball. We're still working on that, pushing through when it's hard. Making sure that when the game's on the line in the fourth quarter, we're standing up stronger than the opponent is."
Despite not scooping up two of the forced fumbles, there were positives from Alley's unit. The secondary did come down with a pick, forced some incompletions and the defense caused a couple of punts.
What stood out to Alley won't show on the statsheet.
"I thought our communication was really good, " Alley said. "We emphasized that throughout the spring, just communicating, talking, getting lined up. A quiet defense is a dead defense. I thought our communication was done well."
The defensive line was another positive. They pressured the quarterbacks most of the afternoon, forcing them to roll out. However, the offense gained most of the yards on the quarterback's scramble.
"I think we've got a lot of work to do on the edges, " Alley said. "From a four-man, three-man rush standpoint. We've got to get a little bit polished there. A couple of times, we had a good move, but working inside, the quarterback scrambles outside and no one is there to recover it because you can't go inside on that play."
The secondary kept the quarterbacks in check, too. They broke up some passes, intercepted a ball and made some open-field tackles. Alley said the secondary was one of the bright spots from the defensive performance Saturday.
"I thought we did pretty well overall, " Alley said. "We had a pick on the sideline. I think our guys are starting to understand what we are trying to do more and more ... I thought our tackling in space could have been better, a little more physical, setting edges out there. As a whole, we've improved."
With the Gold-Blue Spring Showcase marking the end of the spring, Alley and the rest of the staff go into evaluation mode, preparing the roster for the fall.
The spring transfer portal window opens on April 16th, when Mountaineers will leave or join. Alley doesn't have any defensive positions of need just, yet.
"All-Americans would be good, " Alley said. "We'll assess the team from the spring. We'll watch the film for the last chance for guys to make an impression. We'll figure it out from there, depending on the numbers. I'm sure some guys will go in the portal that we weren't expecting."
The current defensive players on the roster showcased their skills for the final time on Saturday. There weren't stats to show or a score to evaluate their performance, but watching, it was clear the defense made it a tough day for the offense.
There are areas of improvement, but from the time Alley ...
