Truer words have never been typed and WVU was quite festive with its offensive misgivings and not quite Grinch enough with its defensive deeds in 2010.

The combination of an offense that had remarkably little value for possessing the ball and a defense that was so good in so many areas but forcing turnovers left WVU at minus-six in turnover margin in 2010. That’s a large number and it says a lot about the team, but consider this: In five losses, WVU was minus-11. In the nine wins, the Mountaineers were plus-five … and maybe that should be just plus-five.

Obviously, that’s being stressed quite a bit in practice and it’s especially important with an offense that is going to put the ball in the air a lot. Jeff Casteel and his defenders are trying to make the would-be-offenders on offense more secure.

Holgorsen saw things differently from another side, in his only season as Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator. The Cowboys (11-2), who finished 13th in the final AP poll, weren’t nearly the defense WVU was with its veteran bunch. However …

“They stress it a lot in practice,” said WVU sophomore linebacker Doug Rigg, currently No. 1 on the depth chart on the strong side. “Even our offensive coaches are starting to stress it for us (on defense), because they know how important turnovers are.

“Coach Holgorsen, when he was at Oklahoma State, he said they weren’t the best defense, but they forced turnovers.”

The Cowboys ranked only 88th (of 120) in total defense last season, allowing 409.5 yards per game while Holgorsen’s offense pinballed opponents. However, Oklahoma State was 11th in turnover margin, with a plus-12 (34-22). Only four teams had more than those 34 takeaways.

“They know it changes the game, and they want the offense on the field as much as possible,” Rigg said. “So every single chance we get, we try to hold somebody up and strip the ball, get interceptions.

“We practice some techniques, just holding them up to get the elbow off the ball; if the elbow goes, the ball goes … You’ll break somebody’s arm if they don’t let go of the ball.”