Interesting spring-long dynamic between WVU’s offensive and defensive coordinators. Dana Holgorsen has the airborn attack with three and four and five receivers, but also sometimes three running backs. There are no huddles, but Holgorsen presents a whole lot of pace and far more pass plays than run plays.

Jeff Casteel has the 3-3-5 he’s catered to his own style and preferences through the years. It’s an odd front with obtuse angles from which defenders attack and pursue. It compromises blocking plans and generally makes things uncomfortable for the quarterback.

The story here, of course, is Holgorsen isn’t going to see a whole lot of three-player fronts and probably fewer instances of five defensive backs where the fifth is a safety who behaves more like a linebacker. Casteel won’t see many offenses who come out of the locker room content with a, say, 60-40 pass-run split.

Now this is not to say Holgorsen can’t or won’t run the ball. The stats say he’s been close to even before and made the most of talented runners, but he’s also thrown the ball 700 or so times and, frankly, he’s known and probably prefers to pass.

Casteel’s opponents are not the same. In a spring when he’s incorporating new players and trying to teach guys like Josh Francis, who may very well start in the fall, the base defense, it’s tricky when the defense isn’t seeing the run.

Holgorsen is hassled, too. Everything he’s telling his players is new to them. It’d be nice to work on blocking four linemen. It’d be convenient if WVU’s defense was the conventional 4-3 so the offense could maximize its three-days-and-repeat thing against a defense it will see repeatedly.

Oh, the offense will work on its own and manufacture those looks, and the defense can do the same, but it’s harder in the spring, almost ot the point of counterproductive, because there aren’t the numbers to support scout teams.

And this is where things get interesting. Holgosen said his offense is installed and he’s just trying to get everyone better at everything. Casteel’s defense is not completely installed. He told me last week he might have to wait until camp to put in his third-down package … when he’ll have a scout team offense to oppose. Both, though, seem to be pleased with what’s been taught, retained and displayed, even after another scrimmage where the defense got the best of the offense.

“You look at any program around the country and they’re not getting the looks they need every day based on the fact that in college football in the spring there aren’t enough bodies to go around to develop a scout team,” Holgorsen said. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to manufacture looks. For us, it’s no different.

“We’re going to face teams with four down linemen, which we’ve seen zero snaps of. That doesn’t concern me right now. What concerns me is right now is the speed of the game, learning what to do and just playing football from a technique aspect rather than obsessing over, ‘Oh, my God. If we don’t get a four-down look today then we’re not going to be able to function come the Marshall game (Sept. 4).”