WVU football’s defense finding it difficult to prepare for Coastal Carolina with all the questions
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MORGANTOWN -- Coastal Carolina will look a lot different from last year, or even in the years past. The Chanticleers fired head coach Tim Beck and hired Missouri State head coach Ryan Beard. Beard is one of the youngest coaches in college football and is known for taking Missouri State from the FCS to FBS and then to a bowl game in its first year.
Now, at Coastal Carolina, like most new coaches in this era of college football, Beard has a big rebuild on his hands. A bunch of players transferred out, a few stayed and a lot transferred in. It's going to be a new roster to go along with the new staff.
In the first game of the season, and no real tape on this group, it makes it difficult for West Virginia football defensive coordinator Zac Alley to prepare. He has to scheme for the players from last year's Coastal Carolina team, more of the Missouri State guys who should have a leg up playing in the system, and the new guys they brought in. But, at this point, he's casting a wide net on who he thinks will play.
He’s narrowed it down to 22 players on offense who WVU could see.
"Honestly, I don’t know who’s going to roll out there," Alley said. "We’ll find out when we get to game day. It’s certainly a lot of turnover and question marks in the first game with such. I think they got 80-something new players as well."
It makes it even harder when Coastal Carolina has yet to name a starting quarterback. Like the Mountaineers, Beard has kept quiet on who he's starting for Week 1. He said in his press conference it will be a game-time decision.
Missouri State transfer Deuce Bailey is the frontrunner to land the job because he has the most experience in the system. The redshirt freshman didn't play much his freshman season, but he completed 23-of-47 passes for 335 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 81 yards and a touchdown in three games. Bailey was named Conference USA Freshman of the Week after his nearly 300 passing-yard performance against Middle Tennessee.
Alley's scout on him is that he's an athlete and a very capable scrambler, so he expects designed runs.
"You still see confidence in the offense when you watch him," Alley said. "It’s not like he’s out there lost. He knows what he’s doing. Obviously, there’s some familiarity there with another year in the system."
There are two other options Beard could roll with Saturday.
Arkansas transfer Trever Jackson was a former 4-star out of high school. There isn't much tape on Jackson, who is a redshirt sophomore, because he only played in two games over the past two seasons, and he didn't play much in those games.
Tre Guerra from Tyler Junior College is the most experienced passer in the room. Guerra's played in 19 games over three years post-high school. He's coming off a big season, where he led his school to an 11-1 overall record, the Southwest Junior College Football Conference Championship and to the NJCAA Division I Football Playoff Semifinals. Guerra completed 216-of-347 passes (62.2%) for 2,811 yards and 24 touchdowns. He could be the second option behind Bailey.
"We watched all of the Tyler Junior College tape on the other guy," Alley said. "I think they’re different. They definitely are. It matters who is in the game. We’ll see another quarterback battle. I think Saturday about 11:45. I’ll know which one’s playing."
Coastal Carolina runs a pro-style offense, meaning closer to what is run in the NFL. There's a lot of going under center for the quarterback, bigger personnel groups, formation shifts and checks at the line.
It's a lot different than Rich Rodriguez's tempo offense. Alley joked on Monday's radio show that he's had to tell the defense to take their time a little because they are so used to rushing to the line.
"It’s more like the NFL," Alley said. "College has been going that way in general with the headset communication and all that last couple of years, so it’s kind of becoming more normalized across the board."
Alley has some information on what to expect, but not as much as a midseason game, or even Week 1s in the past. It'll be tough, and mostly just adjusting on the fly to what Coastal Carolina runs and who it runs with on Sept. 5. Luckily, there's been extra time since it's Week 1.
"I have no idea who is going to start," Alley said. "We have some thoughts, some ideas... We won't really know until kickoff."