Holgorsen's Take: Fall Camp 8-9
The injury bug hasn’t hit West Virginia hard to date in fall camp but the Mountaineers have lost a third player for an extended period of time according to head coach Dana Holgorsen.
After losing redshirt junior defensive lineman Xavier Pegues until late October with a shoulder injury and redshirt sophomore Jaleel Fields for the season with a knee injury, Holgorsen announced that true freshman cornerback Jacob Long will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the year. He is expected to rejoin the team in time for the spring.
Other minor bumps and bruises out of camp include knee injuries to both sophomore tight end Trevon Wesco and true freshman running back Martell Pettaway that will sideline both for several days as well as minor ailments to redshirt junior fullback Elijah Wellman and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ricky Rogers.
“It’s nothing serious,” he said.
In the race to find a backup quarterback behind starter Skyler Howard, Holgorsen eliminated true freshman Cody Saunders and said he would redshirt this season leaving two players battling for one spot. Those two are redshirt sophomore William Crest and redshirt freshman Chris Chugunov.
Holgorsen said that Crest brings something to the table that the others don’t in his ability to run between the tackles while he is improving as a passer, meanwhile Chugunov features what the head coach refers to as “probably the best arm of the bunch.”
While Crest spent the majority of last camp moving around to several other positions, Holgorsen said that it is not needed this year and his main focus has been improving at the quarterback spot. Still there has been no separation between the two options.
“They have established themselves as the second guy yet,” Holgorsen said.
Sophomore wide receiver Jovon Durante has moved to the inside wide receiver spot and Holgorsen said that he has liked what he has seen out of him to date. Holgorsen referred to Durante as his “fastest,” wide receiver and he is still maintaining that speed after the move to the inside. The trick is now to settle him into one role because Holgorsen believes that he will end up in the top four at the position.
But even then Holgorsen made it clear that Durante could still move outside in certain sets.
Sticking with the wide receivers, when asked about true freshmen Marcus Simms and Steven Smothers Holgorsen made it clear that Simms was ahead after spending the spring with the team and has a more likely chance to contribute this fall. Still he wouldn’t go as far as saying either were in the top eight.
Holgorsen also highlighted junior wide receiver Ka’Raun White as giving senior Daikiel Shorts a battle to see which would be the best red zone target for the Mountaineers this fall.
One player that won’t play this fall is Florida transfer Will Grier and Holgorsen said that while he hasn’t gotten to work with him much the quarterback is an intelligent kid that is paying attention and taking mental reps for the ongoing battle that will take place next fall.