Oct 16, 2025
West Virginia’s Ben Cutter (15) and Michael Coats Jr. (3) force a Robert Morris ball-carrier out of bounds during a game earlier this season in Morgantown. (Photo by David Pennock)
If you peek at West Virginia’s practice during the tackling period, usually, each position group tackles the other. Linebackers tackle linebackers, corners on corners and bandits on bandits.
During the bye, WVU’s tackling drill looked different. The tackling had been an issue through the first six games, so something needed to change. Defensive coordinator Zac Alley called in some of the scout team wide receivers and running backs, so his defensive players could practice tackling them.
“Linebackers aren’t as shifty as a true running back, or a receiver or something like that,” linebacker Ben Cutter said. “We had the receivers come over, we got into our pass drops, and then worked on making real scenario, open field tackles and stuff like that.”
The drill is also more enjoyable for the defensive players.
“It’s definitely nice not hitting another guy that’s 230 pounds, too, that doesn’t really make a move,” Cutter said. “You just run straight into each other. It does make practice more interesting, getting some live reps and a sense of tackling other offensive players.”
The only issue for a drill like that is that you’re more injury-prone because it’s simulating a game, and bigger guys are tackling littler ones. WVU and Rich Rodriguez can’t afford any more injuries, especially to the skill position players that are already short on depth. Two running backs are out, a receiver and three quarterbacks.
Alley’s not worried about injuries.
“I don’t know if overdoing it is a thing,” Alley said. “We’re going to work on it, and be physical and try and get things down. If you can’t tackle anybody, everything else doesn’t really matter.”
Tackling had to be fixed. Cutter talked about how WVU is one of the worst teams in the country when it comes to yards allowed after first contact.
Through this drill, Alley made tackling a big focus during the bye week, along with getting healthy and patching up the big plays. Most of the issues go back to tackling, though.
The biggest area where the tackling had been exposed was when it came to bringing down the quarterback. Through the first couple of games against Robert Morris and Pitt, WVU’s defense excelled and was one of the best teams in the country, but as competition leveled up, it’s been a struggle.
“We were able to work through some of those things the first couple of weeks and still find a way to win,” Alley said. “As you play better people, as the year goes on, they expose that more because even then, you’ll get competitive plays where you are in the right place, and you have to make those, and they’ll win some of those because they’re on scholarship too.”
Alley said WVU needs to make more plays when they’re not blocked, stunt and twist the D-line, forcing the quarterback to move on their terms, and then bring them to the ground.
Cutter and Alley talked about how WVU needed to get back to the fundamentals over the break, even bringing back techniques they learned in the fall that they’ve forgotten about. Sometimes the players need to just play football and play loose, not overthinking and forgetting about the basics.
“We made a lot of mistakes that were forced by us, and not by somebody else,” Alley said. “That’s the key for me, is trying to get guys to do their job. Do your 1/11th every play and have a chance to play great defense that way.”
SCORING Name, School TD, FG, 2, 1, TOTAL Reezin Stitt, Wahama 26 0 1 0 158 Lyric Blake, DC 16 0 1 0 …
Copyright © 2025 Parkersburg Newspapers, Inc. | https://www.newsandsentinel.com | 519 Juliana St., Parkersburg, WV 26101 | 304-485-1891
