Close Friends Holgorsen, Kingsbury Lead Teams
West Virgina set for first true road test of the season
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LUBBOCK, Texas -- Friends will be friends.
But, when your friend is the head coach of the team you are playing on Saturday, then friendships will be set aside -- at least until the game is over.
"We have known each other a long time, and go way back," WVU football coach Dana Holgorsen said of Texas Tech coach Kiliff Kingsburgy. "The hard thing about going into these situations is that you don't think about it. Maybe we'll think about it after we're retired.
"Maybe we'll like each other and go on vacation again."
Going on vacation will be the last thing on Holgorsen's mind when his No. 12 ranked Mountaineers (3-0, 1-0 Big 12) travel to Jones AT&T Stadium to face No. 25 ranked Texas Tech (3-1, 1-0).
"I know most of those guys over there on that staff," Holgorsen said. "That's the hard thing about this profession. You develop a lot of friendships. They are doing a good job and got a good win last week. I wish them well in every game but one, and this is the one."
Not only will Saturday's noon showdown, which will be televised nationally on ESPN2, feature a game between friends but a pair of brothers will do battle as well as Red Raiders linebackers coach Zac Spavital is the brother of WVU offensive coordinator Jake Spavital.
"They (defensive coordinator David Gibbs and Zac Spavital) are going into their fourth year, and I know from firsthand experience that you don't fix a defense overnight," Holgorsen said. "They have worked their tail off, recruited better and their players are buying into it. That is paying off, and you have to give Kliff some credit there, too. He recognized the problem and put a plan in place to fix it."
Words which could just as easily be used to describe WVU's defense.
"I think WVU is improved in all three phases," Kingsbury said. "Coach (Tony) Gibson has developed a culture there, is very aggressive, and gives you multiple looks. Offensively they have dynamic skills across the board, as good as anybody in the country."
In fact, the game will feature a showdown between the Big 12's top two signalcallers -- WVU's Will Grier and TTU's Alan Bowman.
Bowman, a freshman, leads the conference in yards passing per game with a 389.3 average while Grier -- the Mountaineers' fifth-year senior and Heisman Trophy hopeful -- follows at 372.3 yards per outing.
"(Bowman) is being coached by one of the best who has ever done it," Holgorsen said. "Kliff played as a freshman, so he knows how to talk to young kids. It's not the first young kid that he has had to work with. If you get coached up by Kliff, you are going to be ready to go. It's not surprising to me."
This will be the eighth meeting between the two programs with West Virginia holding a 5-2 edge. The Mountaineers won last year's game in Morgantown by a 46-35 margin.
TTU jumped out to a 28-17 halftime advantage thanks to the play of quarterback Nic Shimonek, who completed 24 of 39 attempts for 323 yards and four touchdowns. But, West Virginia charged back in the fourth quarter -- scoring 22 unanswered points -- as Grier made good on 32 of 41 passes for 352 yards and five scores.
The Mountaineers have claimed road wins in each of their last two visits to the Hub City, edging Tech, 37-34, in 2014 and 48-17 in 2016.
"Our players are very much aware of that," Kingsbury said. "But, those games are in the past and we aren't going to dwell on them."