MORGANTOWN - West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen was on his own Tuesday.
Usually, he meets with the press before assistant coaches and selected players trickle in for interviews.
This week, however, the Mountaineers are off. They won't get back to action until Oct. 29, a Thursday, at No. 4 TCU. So access was limited.
"Down time is important," Holgorsen said. "We gave [the players] Sunday off. We gave them Monday off. We'll give them Friday off. You just need to get away from it."
Holgorsen, however, can't get away from his team's three-game losing streak. WVU backers are restless after a 62-38 Mountaineer pasting at the hands of Baylor. The once highly touted Mountaineer defense is now No. 74 nationally and No. 78 in pass defense.
Meanwhile, Holgorsen is getting a tad, well, defensive.
On Tuesday, for instance, he spoke of some team injuries. He said cornerback Terrell Chestnut is "day-to-day." ("He tries hard, but has had a shoulder [injury] for quite some time," Holgorsen said. "He actually had it before [the Baylor] game and tried to play through it. Was too sore. He needs this week.") He said WVU offensive linemen Yodney Cajuste and Tyler Orlosky will be rested all week. Then he got to running back Wendell Smallwood.
"Wendell [Smallwood] - a lot has been made of him," Holgorsen said. "Specific guys have questioned why we're not using him very much. I can assure you we will use him as much as we possibly can. He hasn't practiced a day in the last two weeks. And he gets out there and gives us everything he's got. He'll benefit for this week off."
Criticism, I believe, was leveled after the Oklahoma State game because Rushel Shell was used in overtime rather than Smallwood. It was leveled because the backs indicated they decide which of them plays in what situation. I'm not sure it was leveled because of the number of plays Smallwood receives. I may be wrong.
Anyway, Holgorsen was asked about David Sills, a recruited quarterback who came in and not only played receiver but looked good in doing so.
"I wouldn't have put him out there if I didn't think he could compete," Holgorsen said. "So I put him out there and he competed and looked good. So we'll probably keep doing it."
Then there were the coach's comments on quarterback Skyler Howard. You might remember Holgorsen speaking of "mechanical mistakes" in the past. There were references to footwork and ticking mental clocks. On Tuesday there was this:
"I thought [Howard] attacked the week really good. He ignored what the outside was saying. He used that to motivate him. He studied the game plan hard. He got to spend a little time with his family [in Texas] because he's from Fort Worth. That was good for him, to be around a lot of people that believe in him, that patted him on the back, that told him they love him and all that stuff.
"He was motivated to play and knew what we were asking him to do. He took a bunch of big deep breaths and went out there and played ball."
It's understandable Holgorsen is defensive. The heat is seriously on him these days. A win against TCU would be a big help. A flourish at season's end would as well.
He continued in regard to Howard.
"Probably the main reason I ran a quarterback draw on the first play was hoping he'd get the crap knocked out of him and release a lot of tension and anxiety, which was good for him," Holgorsen said. "I thought he played well. The clock is still ticking a little bit too quick for him, but that has something to do with the O-line needing to do a better job of protecting. We played a very, very, very good defensive line. [No.] 75 [Andrew Billings] is the best defensive lineman I've faced. The stuff he was doing was unbelievable. And that's a challenge. To see that front is a challenge for any quarterback.
"We're going to continue to face these guys, though. So [Howard] has to continue to have confidence in the guys in front of him."
Kicker Josh Lambert has also struggled - at least compared to his prior standards.
"He's had a rough go of it," Holgorsen said. "He had an injury in camp that we talked about. He wasn't full-speed kicking until the week before the first game. So he's been playing catch-up. Then, in the last couple of weeks, he's been under the weather as well. He's fighting hard. He's trying.
"He's got the right mentality. It's just that the physical nature of what must exist isn't there. The good news is, it isn't a goofy kicker thing. He's trying. We all believe in him. He just has to get healthy."
But back to the season in total.
WVU has lost 44-24 to Oklahoma, 33-26 in overtime at home to Oklahoma State, 62-38 to Baylor and is staring at the visit to TCU. The losses come off a strong 3-0 start. Where is this team in Holgorsen's eyes?
"I think offensively we're pretty close to where I thought we'd be," said the Mountaineer coach. "Our deal from the beginning was to just keep getting better. A lot of youth, a lot of new players, a lot of inexperience - just keep getting better. I think we are.
"Defensively, you probably have to reassess things just a little bit with the loss of an All-American [Karl Joseph] that's played a bunch. The deal with our defense is it has to keep playing its butt off and be consistent. I'm happy with the special teams as well. There have been a lot of good things happening on special teams."
And the plan?
"We have a system we believe in," Holgorsen said. "We have players we believe in. We have coaches we believe in. We're just going to keep doing it and we're going to keep getting better. That's the only approach. I don't think what we're doing is the problem. I think we just need to keep doing it and doing it and doing it until it becomes second nature."