2014 Big 12 Football Media Days: West Virginia Mountaineers

Dana Holgorsen addressed challenge in his opening statement, which is not surprising given his warm chair.

Asked about shoring up his defense, "You better have depth to compete at a high level." West Virginia is obviously very aware that the Big 12 is a lot tougher than the Big East was.

Clint Trickett was only a factor in one game last year, and asked about keeping him in one piece Holgorsen digressed into a discussion of Trickett's resume and his adaptation to the Mountaineer offense. Holgorsen thinks he's in good shape to take off right out of the gate this year, but "he needs to stay healthy."

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Asked about the letdown from the Orange Bowl win over Clemson to two struggling seasons in the Big 12 and how important it is to bounce back, he compared West Virginia's situation to Baylor's in 2012, and pointed at the close games they lost as a positive sign.

Next was a discussion of the running back situation, and then Holgorsen, like Paul Rhoads before him, was asked about defensive recruiting against a league full of spread teams. Holgorsen's response was more balanced than Rhoads's had been, stating that you still have to have balance between line, linebackers, and the secondary.

Holgorsen was then asked if he expects another shootout against Baylor this year, which led to Holgorsen noting that he had double-digit freshmen playing in the 70-63 game in 2012; clearly, he's hoping that experience will serve the Mountaineers well.

And with that, the session ended, the second-shortest after Kingsbury's session yesterday.