MORGANTOWN - Should things go bad again for West Virginia's pass defense Saturday and Oklahoma State's David Glidden is slicing through the secondary and running into the end zone, maybe you shouldn't blame the cornerbacks or the safeties.
Understand Dana Holgorsen created the problem.
He offered Glidden a scholarship in January 2010 when Holgorsen was the offensive coordinator in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Glidden was visiting with a slew of other high school juniors.
"It's worked out good for him," the West Virginia coach said Tuesday. "He's a good fit."
Glidden leads the 21st-ranked Cowboys in every receiving category - 23 catches, 407 yards, 17.7 yards per catch, three touchdowns - entering the 7 p.m. ESPN2 game Saturday at Mountaineer Field. A season ago, he was the team's offensive MVP. Eight of his catches this season have been good for 20 or more yards.
"At this point, he's kind of mastered his craft," Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said, "and he maximizes the opportunities that he has."
Every one of those opportunities goes to back the initial meeting and a memorable lunch with Holgorsen more than five years ago.
"I was offered a lot of Red Bull that day," Glidden recalled.
Glidden was first-team all-state for Oklahoma's Mustang High as a junior in 2009, but he didn't even have a recruiting letter from Oklahoma State before his visit. He had one from the University of Houston, and that meant he was aware of Holgorsen, who was the offensive coordinator there in 2008-09 before joining the Cowboys.
Holgorsen was getting familiar with his new job and was busy targeting players, including Glidden. He reached out to Glidden's high school coach, who told Glidden a day before the event he'd been invited. Glidden and Holgorsen had neither met nor spoken to each other before they were waiting in line for lunch during the visit.
"I see him and he looks at my name tag, and I don't think he could have known what I looked like at that point in time, but he introduced himself right away. 'Call me Dana,' " Glidden said. "He sat down and had lunch with me, my mother and my brother. We talked for 30, 45 minutes."
Glidden doesn't remember talking about football at all. Holgorsen peppered Glidden with questions about school and his social life. He got to know Glidden's mother and his older brother. Everything was fine until Glidden threw Holgorsen a curveball.
"I won't ever forget this," Glidden said. "I really didn't plan on playing college football. I thought I'd play baseball at that time, and I told him that was something I was considering."
Holgorsen stopped everything.
"Shoot, you're not playing baseball," he said. "Do you know how many more fans go to football games than baseball games?"
He had Glidden's attention, and Holgorsen went on to talk about his offense and how slot receivers, ones like the 5-foot-7 Glidden, are uniquely important. For a kid with form letters from Houston and Tulsa and no other reasons to believe college football was for him, Glidden was suddenly forced to think otherwise.
Holgorsen excused himself to meet with other prospects and handed the family off to Doug Meacham, who's now a co-offensive coordinator at TCU. He showed the Gliddens the facilities before Holgorsen returned and reminded Glidden he could play for the Cowboys.
"There was just something about the way he connected with me and kept touching on, 'Well, I'm a little guy and I played. As long as you're tough, you can play for me,'" Glidden said,
They spent parts of the remainder of the weekend together, and Glidden decided to learn more about Holgorsen in case the two were indeed going to spend a lot of time together in the future. It didn't take long before Glidden took notice of Holgorsen's hair and the way he'd try to style it with his bare hands.
"It did throw me off," Glidden said. "It was just weird, like, dude, why do you keep doing that? It's not going anywhere. It's way back there."
It didn't part their relationship. The Cowboys offered Glidden a scholarship before he left campus, and he and Holgorsen stayed in touch.
Glidden exploded as a senior, winning the state's player of the year award and a spot on the Parade Magazine all-America list by catching 65 passes for 1,244 yards and 17 touchdowns and adding scores on a touchdown pass, four interception returns and four kickoff returns. The scholarship offers accumulated, but Glidden stuck with the Cowboys and the intriguing offensive coordinator.
"He's obviously an outgoing guy, but he's got this funny-slash-crazy sense of humor, which I loved," Glidden said. "He reminded me of some of my friends back home with his personality and the way he acts."
Holgorsen was then hired by the Mountaineers, and Glidden dealt with injuries early in his career. He had shoulder surgery when he redshirted as a true freshman in 2011. Ankle and hamstring injuries bothered him late the following spring and then throughout fall camp and early in the 2012 season. His role and his productivity increased in 2013, when he played in every game and started one, before he used the needed combination of health and experience to solidify his spot last season.
"I'd like to think it was a matter of time," Glidden said.
He led the team with 42 catches and was second with 598 yards. One of his two touchdowns was a 55-yard play in the opener against defending national champion Florida State.
"I grew up an Oklahoma State fan," he said. "For me to overcome the adversity and for a lot of people to say I wouldn't make it before I got there, and then when I got hurt, it makes me the person I am. It doesn't matter what I've been through. I'm not going to give up. I'm going to keep fighting, and I think I show that on the field."