MORGANTOWN - His time on campus and his superiority in the middle of West Virginia's offense give Tyler Orlosky the freedom to think and speak on his own. He masks no meaning. He spares no feelings. If the fifth-year senior holds back his opinion, maybe he holds back the 11th-ranked Mountaineers.
"Whatever's on his mind, he's going to say," right guard Kyle Bosch said. "That's just one of the things that he does. I love him to death."
Sometimes. Because they don't always agree. They don't even frequently agree.
"On a daily basis," Bosch said, "I'd say five out of 60 times."
One of the five last Saturday likely followed the win over Kansas, when WVU (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) hammered the Jayhawks again and again with running plays. The center said he believes the right side of the line plays more physical than the left side.
"I think he probably feels the way double teams come into him a little bit, sees when he goes over our zone schemes they push a little more," offensive line Ron Crook said. "I can't say we've sat and had discussions about that, but I don't have an issue with him thinking that, saying that and feeling that."
It might be true. The left side doesn't look like what the Mountaineers expected. A knee injury ended left tackle Yodny Cajuste's season in the first quarter of the first game. He was replaced by senior Adam Pankey, who was suspended for the opener but who was also the team's starting left guard last season. The starter this season is senior Tony Matteo.
But looking beyond circumstances and personnel, the left tackle is frequently the best at pass protection. The right tackle might be a better run blocker. And any side with Bosch at guard is going to be brutish. His second season with the Mountaineers has seen him weaponize not only his 6-foot-4, 305-pound frame but also his blue-chip reputation after an uneven experience at Michigan.
To his right, though, is Colton McKivitz, and he's a redshirt freshman who's earned, lost and earned a starting spot already in his first season. The reason he's come and gone and come again is because he's matched, lost and matched the physicality that's required to play for the Mountaineers, never mind next to Orlosky and Bosch.
"I remember Bosch met me in the parking lot one day," McKivitz said. "I got kind of angry with him after practice. He was yelling at me because I wasn't being more physical. He was, like, 'You've got to me more mature to play in this kind of conference.'"
McKivitz was shaky in the first start of his career against Youngstown State defensive end Adrian Moss, a former Nebraska player who has nine sacks now this season. McKivitz wasn't much different as the Mountaineers prepared for BYU and its ferocious defensive line, and Bosch wasn't going to let that happen.
He was leaving the Puskar Center after practice and saw McKivitz in the parking lot. McKivitz was running hot, and that was before Bosch called him over to his truck for more.
How many meetings start like that in a parking lot and don't end poorly?
That wasn't Bosch's concern. He remembered starting as a true freshman at Michigan. He remembered receiving his highest grade in a win against Indiana. He remembered Michigan State running over the offensive line in the next game and getting seven sacks.
"Our quarterback punctured a lung because we gave up so many sacks, and I was a part of that giving up two sacks," he said. "Being a young kid in a hostile environment and getting kind of thrown around when you're 18, 19 against a 23-year-old all-Big Ten guy, and then going against some of the best FCS defensive ends in the country and having a tough time with them, I needed him to understand it's all a part of the process.
"There are going to be games when you go back and think, 'Wow, I can't believe I let that happen.' Making sure he knew we had confidence in him was definitely something we needed to instill."
Bosch had a similar relationship with Taylor Lewan when they were at Michigan. Lewan was the 11th pick in the 2014 draft and starts for the Tennessee Titans. Bosch wanted to reverse his role and look out for McKivitz.
"He needed to mature," Bosch said. "He needs to mature. He's a redshirt freshman. It's growing pains."
"He was right," McKivitz said.
McKivitz is in line to make his fifth straight start in Saturday's noon Fox Sports 1 game at Texas (5-4, 3-3). He hasn't been a liability lately, and Crook said McKivitz gets better and tougher every day.
"The thing that we talk a lot about is you have to trust the guy who lines up besides you," Crook said. "If you don't, there are going to be some issues and there are times you have to get things ironed out amongst yourselves.
"I didn't realize that conversation was in the parking lot, but it was a case of, 'Hey, here's what you need to do, here's what I need to see from you so I can trust you.' And I'm sure Colton said a few things back."