Is There a Positive for WVU Defense in Facing a Quick-Release QB Like Drew Mestemaker?

The WVU defense will face one of the hottest hands in college football in senior quarterback Drew Mestemaker on Saturday night.

Mestemaker is a gunslinger in every sense of the word, having thrown for 882 yards and eight touchdowns on 114 attempts through just three games this season. His threat to a defense comes from his ability to get the ball out quick, as he averages 1.8 seconds to throw.

WVU senior cornerback Geimere Latimer gave his thoughts on how to throw off such a quarterback. He actually mentioned the rushed timing as a positive for the defense, as they could use different looks pre-snap.

“You just match routes quicker. I mean, there’s always pros, there’s pros and cons to everything. Him getting the ball out quick could also mean that we could bait him into throwing picks and showing a lot more disguise,” Latimer said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Latimer emphasized how disguising coverage can make quarterbacks take longer to find the open read, which could lead to mental mistakes.

“If you show one thing, if you show quarters, and then you play cover two, it messes with the quarterback’s reads, initial reads, and it takes away possibly their first or second read and it makes them play pretty panicked,” Latimer added.

Latimer also mentioned blitzing. Defensive coordinator Zac Alley spoke on Oklahoma State’s protection, and how it is important to be intentional as to when the defense sends extra rushers.

“They’re going to try and do everything they can to keep him upright and keep him off the ground,” Alley told reporters. “The challenge is kind of how you pick and choose when you want to bring the pressures where you want to bring them and how you want to try and make him hold it.”

Find more coverage of the WVU football program and updates from the game at WV Sports Now.

For a related story, Zac Alley explains what frustrated him about defense’s performance against Virginia.