A chipper Dana Holgorsen said during his weekly press conference Tuesday that the first quarter of Sunday’s game against Virginia Tech was an interesting experience for him since he is no longer calling the offensive plays.

Holgorsen laughingly admitted he needed to open up an extra line of communication on his headset with Director of Player Personnel Ryan Dorchester to have someone to talk to.

Holgorsen communication

For clarity, the head coach this had to be done based on precedent that he has had within the program for some time, not wanting to muddy up communications between offensive coordinator Jake Spavital and his group, and defensive coordinator Tony Gibson and his group.

Marcus Simms update

Holgorsen said that wide receiver Marcus Simms is “ready to roll,” when asked about the sophomore’s status for this weekend’s game.

The head coach commented that Simms return to the field definitely helps.

“He’s got that speed factor,” he said, later commenting that speed is something, “We desperately need that at those wideout positions.”

Fewer designed QB runs

Asked about the plans for running quarterback Will Grier, Holgorsen said there will be fewer designed runs for him, but, that Grier has shown the ability to know when to escape instinctively.

“When the games on the line he needs to do everything and anything to get first downs. And he did,” said Holgorsen.

Grier rushed for 52 yards and scrambled for two big first downs late in the fourth quarter to keep the Mountaineer offense on the field.

For his efforts, Grier was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.

ECU reputation not lost

Holgorsen noted East Carolina’s reputation for taking down Power 5 schools, and that doesn’t exclude the Mountaineers.

In 2008, ECU knocked off Virginia Tech and West Virginia in back-to-back weeks to begin the season.

In this Holgorsen was effectively saying even though the Pirates suffered a loss last weekend to James Madison out of the FCS – a loss that the WVU head coach noted can be looked at as legit based on JMU’s recent success – they’re not a team the Mountaineers can take lightly, especially on a short week.