MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Curiously inserted into his recent summation of a good-on-good scrimmage was coach Dana Holgorsen’s emphasis on flags.
Or rather, the lack of them.
Among the most-penalized teams in the Big 12 over the past four seasons, West Virginia needs to clean up its play. Sometimes the problem has been over-aggression, like the flurry of personal fouls in 2016 that helped Oklahoma build a 34-point first-half lead. Most flags, however, are the product of players panicking because they’re caught out-of-position.
In 2017 the Mountaineers averaged 59.7 penalty yards per game, third-most in the conference.