Syracuse Has Owned WVU
Holgorsen seeking first win vs. Orange
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen understands the history between his No. 16 ranked Mountaineers (8-3) and their Camping World Bowl opponent, No. 20 Syracuse (9-3).
The veteran coach also realizes that that history has not been a good one over the past several meetings.
"We have a great history with Syracuse, we all get that," Holgorsen explained. "We all understand that. It's been a heated rivalry game forever, and we're not too far removed from playing against them my first two years."
Both wins by the Orange -- 38-14 in the 2012 New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium and a 49-23 setback at the Carrier Dome in Holgorsen's first year at the helm of the Mountaineers.
"They won both, I'm well-aware of that," Holgorsen said. "Coach (Doug) Marrone, when he was there, did a really outstanding job. Coach (Dino) Babers and I go way back with the Texas connections that we have. He spent time at Baylor, which we can figure out that he spent time at Baylor based on what they do on offense.
"I do have a lot of respect for him, and his offensive guys and defensive guys, a lot of them were at Bowling Green together for three years and won a lot of games. We ended up studying their games based on Maryland when they beat Maryland two years in a row or whatever it was.
"So, we're familiar with their style of play with what they do. Their defensive coaches, as well, they are full of a lot of coaches that have worked their way up through the coaching ranks, small schools, had success, got jobs, and they're doing a heck of a job at Syracuse."
But it was WVU's last meeting with the Orange that still stings among Mountaineers fans.
Playing in a driving snow storm, Syracuse pounded the Mountaineers defense for 369 yards and three touchdowns on 65 carries, producing both a 200-yard rusher (Tyson Gulley, 26-213) and a 100-yard performer (Jerome Smith, 29-152).
But, as dominant as the offense was, the Orange defense came to play as well, recording two safeties while holding Geno Smith to 201 yards through the air on 19 of 28 attempts and earning a 36:23-to-23:37 edge in time of possession.
A far different Syracuse than the one WVU will face at 5:15 p.m. Friday in Orlando, Fla.
"They have a lot of excitement surrounding their program," Holgorsen said. "I know (Babers) just signed an extension. He's happy there, the whole staff seems to be happy with the continuity that they have. The excitement shows when you watch them play. They're good.
"That quarterback (Eric Dungey) is a really good player. Dungey is really good, and he's been running it for three years now. He does a great job. They run their offense, they play fast, they snap the ball more than anybody but one team -- I don't know who the first team is, but they're second. So, it's almost 83 snaps per game. It'll look familiar, based on who we've played."
Defensively, the Orange's numbers look eerily a lot like the Mountaineers.
Syracuse's defense is allowing 27.8 points and 426.8 yards per game -- Tony Gibson's unit is surrendering 26.5 points and 405.5 yards per game with much of that coming in the team's final two games of the year, losses to Oklahoma State (45-41) and Oklahoma (59-56).
"Defensively, they play their tail off," Holgorsen said. "They give up some plays, and it looks like they give up yards, but they play really good defense. They're sound with what they do, their schemes are incredibly sound, they fly around, they play hard, they're aggressive, they play tight, man coverage, they blitz you, they are really good in key situations, so they have my attention as far as what they do, not only defensively, obviously, but offensively, and special teams, as well.
"They have the Lou Groza guy, if you look at it, they have good return guys. No. 10 (Sean Riley) is a quick, little dude that takes chances on both punt returns and kick returns. And they are solid in the punt and kickoff game, as well.
"So, it's a solid team, 9-3, top 20, two of those three losses are to CFP teams. It's going to be a challenge."
A challenge Holgorsen and his Mountaineers have not been able to overcome to date.