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00:00 >> Yeah, first of all, thank you all for being here,
00:03 both our media from home and the local Charlotte media.
00:07 We've had a great week, so appreciate the Duke's Mayo.
00:12 We appreciate everyone associated with the bowl.
00:16 It's been a great experience for not only our players, but our staff and
00:20 their families, so that's much appreciated.
00:23 And then West Virginia showed up, and I thought we had a great crowd.
00:27 They were into it.
00:29 The music selection was right on point for our guys, for our people.
00:33 And so they had a good time with that.
00:36 And then they all stayed.
00:38 And so I was glad that a national TV audience got to see
00:41 how Mountaineer Nation really supports our team.
00:45 And they love football.
00:46 Garrett did a good job saying that.
00:47 They do, they love football.
00:48 It's important to them.
00:50 And I'm glad they were able to experience a bowl win too.
00:53 And I'm sure we'll sell some beer tonight in Charlotte.
00:55 So everybody will be winning on that.
00:58 I think one of the things that's special about college football is you have
01:02 an opportunity to win your last game.
01:05 And these bowl games, I think they're meaningful.
01:09 They draw a ton of people to watch on TV.
01:13 They're a good celebration at the end of the year.
01:16 It's a good reward.
01:17 And they mean something.
01:19 This means something to those 12 guys that played their last game for us.
01:23 And this is gonna be a catapult for us.
01:25 I really feel like we should end the season in the top 25.
01:27 I think we've earned that right.
01:28 I've got a vote and I'll vote us in.
01:31 And then I think as we go into the 24 season,
01:34 I think we're a team that'll be preseason in the top 25.
01:36 We return a lot.
01:38 And I'm excited about that.
01:39 But the feeling in the locker room when you're able to hoist a trophy and
01:44 be able to win your last game, that's meaningful.
01:46 And we're very appreciative of that.
01:48 This was not our typical game.
01:51 But we found a way to win.
01:52 This isn't the way we've won all year.
01:54 We've really won all year running the football,
01:56 being heavy time of possession, minimizing the other team's plays.
02:00 And that wasn't how we won today.
02:02 We defensively, first of all, I thought we played extremely physical,
02:08 which is hard to do in a bowl game, but I thought our guys played really physical.
02:11 We had seven sacks, 11 TFLs, four quarterback hurries, two interceptions.
02:16 And so just fired up for our guys defensively.
02:19 And then on special teams, made a huge difference.
02:21 Fake field goal, punt return for a touchdown.
02:24 We really swung the field a couple times with our punt unit.
02:27 And we got guys down on kickoff.
02:30 So won the special teams battle soundly.
02:33 And then offensively, not our best.
02:35 Penalties uncharacteristic.
02:37 Disappointed we didn't take advantage of turnovers.
02:39 That's something we've really prided ourselves on this year.
02:41 We didn't do that today.
02:42 But then we found a way.
02:44 Garrett Green's gritty, he gives you a chance.
02:47 They did a nice job playing the run.
02:49 And Garrett talked about 25, he's really good.
02:51 I think 23 is really good.
02:53 And they did some nice things with the line of scrimmage.
02:57 But we found a way there in the second half to get some run game going.
03:00 And then our young receivers made some plays.
03:03 So with that, I'll take questions.
03:07 >> So coach, I mean, just big picture, nine wins, finish the season strong.
03:11 What's that mean?
03:12 Not just to you, but the program overall.
03:14 >> Yeah, I think it's significant.
03:15 When you look at the history, and we've talked about this,
03:18 you look at the history, this is really the third time since joining the Big 12.
03:22 We won ten, and one other time, and won nine another time.
03:26 And so nine wins.
03:28 And knowing that we really played, we had a chance to win 11 out of,
03:33 I guess 12 out of our 13, or 11 out of our 13.
03:36 We were competitive in the Penn State game late.
03:38 Didn't play very well against Oklahoma.
03:40 That was really the only non-competitive game we had.
03:41 Led two games late in the fourth quarter that we'd love to have back.
03:46 Where would we be if we could finish in the fourth quarter against Houston and
03:49 Oklahoma State?
03:50 But I think this was a significant step for us.
03:53 We've got to continue to hold our roster together.
03:55 The next week, ten days is big.
03:58 There's no more taking off and going to beach and relaxing for some time.
04:01 That doesn't exist anymore.
04:03 But we got to hold on to roster, but I think it really speaks well to what we can
04:08 be and potentially could be in 24.
04:10 >> Coach, Steve Reed from the Associated Press.
04:14 Curious, what is the satisfaction level of going from being picked 14th and
04:19 15th in your conference to finishing the season with a bucket of mayonnaise dumped
04:24 on your head and winning the whole game?
04:26 >> Bucket of mayonnaise, I would not recommend that to anybody.
04:29 But no, I really thought being picked 14th in our league was,
04:36 I just thought it was not very good reporting.
04:40 And we returned the most starts of anybody, or
04:44 I think the most starts of anybody in our league on our offensive line.
04:47 We had a really good running backs coming back.
04:50 We had some pieces defensively up front.
04:52 So never did I think that that's where we were.
04:55 And I was pretty, pretty, at our media days in Dallas, I said that.
05:02 We weren't, that's not what we were gonna be.
05:04 And I liked our team.
05:06 We've got a good mix of youth that's really hungry and
05:09 some leaders that have experience and they got something about them.
05:12 And I think anytime that your D line, your O line,
05:16 are your two best groups, I think you got a chance to win.
05:19 >> How much did Zach's absence affect your game plan,
05:24 what you thought you could do today?
05:26 And then second, when did the idea for, hey,
05:28 gonna take a shot deep on the first play come about?
05:31 >> Well, we've done that a good bit,
05:34 throwing the ball down the field on the first play.
05:36 Some of them hit, sometimes you gotta check it down, but we like that.
05:39 We try to come back to it again.
05:41 Garrett missed Traylon.
05:42 Traylon could have held up that trophy if we had a chance to win.
05:46 If we'd have thrown the ball a little better to him.
05:48 We still, I mean, we ran the ball for 5.8 yards.
05:52 We had 164 yards.
05:54 I don't know how many games in a row we've ran for 140 plus.
05:58 And so I think that speaks well to us cuz the expectations now are that we
06:02 need to be dominant up front.
06:04 And really what I thought it was is we were rusty.
06:07 I thought that Jaheim was finally Jaheim on that last run for the touchdown.
06:12 He really stuck his foot in the ground, got vertical.
06:14 He's been kind of slowed by growing, so
06:16 he didn't get to practice as much this week as he normally would.
06:19 We missed CJ.
06:22 He's kind of our grinded out guy.
06:23 We missed him.
06:25 And then Zach, I really feel like Zach's the best center in the country.
06:28 And really disappointed he wasn't up for the Remington.
06:31 I'd put his film against anybody's.
06:34 But we missed him.
06:35 You don't take that caliber player out of the lineup and not gonna miss him.
06:38 But I still think that our guys did a pretty good job.
06:42 Almost running for six yards of carry is a pretty good day.
06:44 >> Back to where we had.
06:47 You talked earlier this year about how you were in favor of using the communication
06:51 system in the helmet.
06:52 Obviously got to use that today.
06:53 Thoughts on it, how'd it go?
06:55 And obviously is that something you wanna see moving forward?
06:57 >> Yeah, I think it's a positive movement.
07:00 It helps.
07:01 I think it lowers your ability to steal signals and
07:05 some of those things that really don't have a purpose in the game.
07:12 This was experimental.
07:13 I forgot about it for the second series of the game.
07:17 And I'm like, I can talk to him.
07:19 And so, but we use the iPads a little bit today.
07:24 And we use the, but we didn't just wholesale.
07:27 Cuz we were playing pretty good going into the game.
07:30 I think we won our five, our last six, I think.
07:33 But not counting this game.
07:37 But so we didn't wanna just wholesale.
07:41 And as you all know, there's a lot going on in December.
07:43 There's a lot going on.
07:45 So it's not like we had a whole lot of time to get trained and
07:47 really think about how we were gonna handle the technology.
07:50 But I like it.
07:51 I think it's a positive step for college football.
07:53 We just gotta figure out what the rules are gonna be.
07:54 >> Second question.
07:56 >> You talked so much about the excitement coming in.
08:00 How excited do you think the guys were?
08:01 And how much of a factor did the crowd play in that?
08:04 >> The crowd was a huge factor.
08:06 They felt that in warm ups.
08:08 You really felt it coming into the city yesterday.
08:10 When our crowd started really showing up.
08:13 There's no doubt.
08:14 And here's the thing too.
08:15 Our record's been pretty good.
08:16 We laid an egg out in Arizona and just didn't play very well.
08:19 But our record's been pretty good in these bowl games.
08:21 And I think the reason is, is because how we handle the preparation is we get our
08:26 work done, all right?
08:27 But we don't overwork them.
08:29 It's not, we don't have just a ton of contact.
08:33 And we space out our practices at a pretty good rate.
08:36 And we don't treat them like regular season.
08:40 It's meant to be fun.
08:41 We're pretty basic in our schemes.
08:43 So our timing should be okay.
08:44 And I thought, and we give our guys some good downtime.
08:48 We gave them some downtime here.
08:50 Kind of work time, play time.
08:52 And when it was work, they got work in.
08:53 And, but they were excited about being here.
08:55 And there's no question that the crowd played into that as well.
08:58 >> We'll take two more from Grove and then back.
09:01 >> Neil, number one, when did you know Preston was definitely not gonna go and
09:06 that Beanie was gonna be in that role?
09:08 And how did he help Beanie?
09:09 Cuz Beanie talked about him kind of helping him in the return game.
09:12 And then just any comments from you on Beanie one year in?
09:17 I mean, talk about a lone season as a Mountaineer.
09:20 It doesn't really get much better.
09:21 Cuz then there's this All-American plays in the bowl game when many others
09:24 probably would not.
09:26 And then first punt return for WVU since day one Austin 2012.
09:30 >> Yeah.
09:31 So we made the decision really the week after Baylor
09:36 that Preston wasn't gonna return punts, okay?
09:40 And his injury, we didn't know he wasn't gonna play really until the day,
09:46 or my days are mixed up.
09:48 So Friday when we started our game week, he had a scan and
09:52 they showed it that his injury hasn't healed enough.
09:56 So we were hopeful he was gonna play some of white out, but
09:58 we knew starting on Friday.
09:59 But we made the decision then just because he was exposed on punt return.
10:04 And so we weren't gonna do that in the bowl game.
10:07 And so Beanie got a ton of work and
10:09 then Rodney was gonna back him up in this game, and so they did.
10:12 And Preston was a big help.
10:15 We catch punts at the beginning of practice and
10:18 after practice every single day.
10:20 And Preston stood out there with him and we blocked real well on that too.
10:26 And then Beanie, I think his performance kinda speaks for itself.
10:30 He 13th consensus All-American, he was getting close to breaking the PBU.
10:37 I don't know if he broke the school record today or not, but
10:39 he was getting close to doing that.
10:41 And you all have heard me say this, our local people have heard me say this.
10:44 Is not only was he a great player on the field, which he showed today, he was great
10:48 for our locker room, and he really helped some of our young DBs, which I appreciate.
10:51 >> Last question.
10:52 >> Back to you.
10:53 >> Jesse Charleston, what were the emotions like after you have a victory
10:57 with the hugs, the thank yous with the seniors that stayed through,
11:01 the guys that came in?
11:02 Can you talk about the emotions?
11:04 Cuz we see the box score, we see everything, but
11:06 those guys with you through practice, through everything.
11:09 What were the emotions like here at the end?
11:11 >> Yeah, I think that's what, I spoke on this a little bit early on,
11:15 is that's what's great about the bowl season, cuz you can finish as a champion.
11:21 And that locker room feels really good about themselves and
11:23 what they were able to accomplish.
11:24 And I think the other neat thing too is being able to experience that with your
11:29 family, like my wife, my kids were down there, my mom and dad, and
11:32 my wife's mom and dad were out on the field.
11:33 We had a lot of family here.
11:35 And so those moments are always special.
11:37 And we've got a family photo at every single one of our bowl wins.
11:42 And those are special.
11:45 And I think this was five.
11:47 And so we got them down in our basement, and those are memories that we cherish.
11:52 And the other thing too is your kids go through so much in this business.
11:55 And our last year, what wasn't real kind to them.
11:59 And so for them to go and be able to experience the highs that you experience
12:03 after winning a bowl game is special.
12:05 And then our players, the work they put in and what they went through during the year.
12:10 And to be able to come and have a reward, to come to a great place like Charlotte,
12:13 have a good time, and then experience the win, it makes it special for sure.
12:19 >> Yeah, thank you, coach.