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Coach Q&A: Dawson on West Virginia's Tavon Austin
Q: How many different plays, formations and schemes are you using to get him the ball?
Dawson: "Probably not as many different formations as we do just moving him around. He would play slot receiver on either side. He'd play in the backfield some. If we went heavy set, we could put him in as a single receiver. So more of just moving him around in the sets we had. We don't allow too many people to do that. But with his ability, we would move him around a lot. So we'd try to manipulate ways where we could get him the ball knowing what the defense was going to do. And we'd put him in situations where it was hard for the defenses to take him away. That's probably the biggest thing."
Q: Was his size a detriment at all?
Dawson: "Not when he had the ball in his hands. If we put him at running back, we were limited in the things we could do as far as throwing the ball down the field. With blitzing, he's obviously not going to pick up a 240-pound linebacker off the edge. So we would do more with free releasing him and he was the hot guy with stuff. He was either going to get the ball or have the ball thrown to him in that situation."
Q: The Oklahoma game comes to mind with him at running back (21 carries for 344 yards and two touchdowns). How did that come about and why was he so successful that game?
Dawson: "It was a perfect storm. We went into the game, studying Oklahoma's defense. The team's that were successful against Oklahoma ran the ball versus them. They had really good pass coverage and were really athletic on the perimeter. We just felt like to give ourselves a better chance to win the game, we had to manipulate the run game. So the best way to do that, in our opinion that week, was to put Tavon in the backfield.
"We probably should have put him in the backfield earlier. But truly, it was the perfect time to do it based on the defense they played. They played man coverage so if you broke the first level of the defense then you really had everybody running backwards. The safeties were help guys, but they were delayed help guys. Based on their scheme, it was the perfect thing to do. So he broke through that first level a lot that game and there was nobody there."
Q: Do you think he'll translate well to the NFL with the way teams may use the Randall Cobbs and Percy Harvins?
Dawson: "No doubt. You just have to get him into a system where they're going to find ways to get him the ball. If somebody drafts him that's playing a pro-style offense, "I," with two receivers, I'd say they'd be dumb. He needs to go somewhere where he's in the slot and they're manipulating ways to get him the ball. A lot of of those pro teams are running college-style offenses anyways. So most of the teams out there would be a good fit for him. I can't think of any teams, at the top of my head, that'd be a bad fit."
Q: The term "match-up nightmare" gets thrown around a lot with him. But why exactly is he a match-up nightmare?
Dawson: "He can get his body moving faster than everybody else can. Just from genetics, Mom and Dad, and he has a knack for working in small spaces very quickly. From start to full speed, he gets there faster than anybody else on the field. Against the better teams we played this year, he was still the fastest guy out there. I don't think I've ever seen just one guy tackle him in the open field. If you give him space, he's going to make that guy miss. So whenever you can start and stop and have great vision and body control, it creates problems defensively --- especially if you have space in your offense.
"Now, if you subtract that space out, he's obviously going to have a hard time. Everybody would have a hard time. But the more space you can give him, working against people in the open field, it's a nightmare."
Coach Q&A: Dawson on West Virginia's Tavon Austin
Q: How many different plays, formations and schemes are you using to get him the ball?
Dawson: "Probably not as many different formations as we do just moving him around. He would play slot receiver on either side. He'd play in the backfield some. If we went heavy set, we could put him in as a single receiver. So more of just moving him around in the sets we had. We don't allow too many people to do that. But with his ability, we would move him around a lot. So we'd try to manipulate ways where we could get him the ball knowing what the defense was going to do. And we'd put him in situations where it was hard for the defenses to take him away. That's probably the biggest thing."
Q: Was his size a detriment at all?
Dawson: "Not when he had the ball in his hands. If we put him at running back, we were limited in the things we could do as far as throwing the ball down the field. With blitzing, he's obviously not going to pick up a 240-pound linebacker off the edge. So we would do more with free releasing him and he was the hot guy with stuff. He was either going to get the ball or have the ball thrown to him in that situation."
Q: The Oklahoma game comes to mind with him at running back (21 carries for 344 yards and two touchdowns). How did that come about and why was he so successful that game?
Dawson: "It was a perfect storm. We went into the game, studying Oklahoma's defense. The team's that were successful against Oklahoma ran the ball versus them. They had really good pass coverage and were really athletic on the perimeter. We just felt like to give ourselves a better chance to win the game, we had to manipulate the run game. So the best way to do that, in our opinion that week, was to put Tavon in the backfield.
"We probably should have put him in the backfield earlier. But truly, it was the perfect time to do it based on the defense they played. They played man coverage so if you broke the first level of the defense then you really had everybody running backwards. The safeties were help guys, but they were delayed help guys. Based on their scheme, it was the perfect thing to do. So he broke through that first level a lot that game and there was nobody there."
Q: Do you think he'll translate well to the NFL with the way teams may use the Randall Cobbs and Percy Harvins?
Dawson: "No doubt. You just have to get him into a system where they're going to find ways to get him the ball. If somebody drafts him that's playing a pro-style offense, "I," with two receivers, I'd say they'd be dumb. He needs to go somewhere where he's in the slot and they're manipulating ways to get him the ball. A lot of of those pro teams are running college-style offenses anyways. So most of the teams out there would be a good fit for him. I can't think of any teams, at the top of my head, that'd be a bad fit."
Q: The term "match-up nightmare" gets thrown around a lot with him. But why exactly is he a match-up nightmare?
Dawson: "He can get his body moving faster than everybody else can. Just from genetics, Mom and Dad, and he has a knack for working in small spaces very quickly. From start to full speed, he gets there faster than anybody else on the field. Against the better teams we played this year, he was still the fastest guy out there. I don't think I've ever seen just one guy tackle him in the open field. If you give him space, he's going to make that guy miss. So whenever you can start and stop and have great vision and body control, it creates problems defensively --- especially if you have space in your offense.
"Now, if you subtract that space out, he's obviously going to have a hard time. Everybody would have a hard time. But the more space you can give him, working against people in the open field, it's a nightmare."
