As fall camp ended last week for West Virginia, it came with the start of the week of prep for WVU's week one opponent in Penn State.
The Nittany Lions will provide a tough challenge for the Mountaineers as they scored only 15 points against Penn State in last season's matchup but offensive coordinator Chad Scott said his group being healthy will hopefully pay off week one.
"We’ve had a great camp. I want to say since I’ve been here this is the best camp we’ve had, offensively been the most consistent we’ve had. It’s been the most available we’ve had and when I say available I’m talking about the players, the guys have done a phenomenal job taking care of their bodies, staying healthy, and because of that consistency and chemistry they’re playing with one another day in and day out, it’s allowed us to have the best camp we’ve had since we’ve been here," Scott said.
There is a level of continuity that is built when guys are fully healthy throughout the month of August for fall camp. Although the Mountaineers are a veteran-laden squad, Scott believes preparing with the people guys will play with this fall is of the utmost importance.
"The experience we have playing with one another but also throughout camp the quarterbacks and the o-line end up throwing the ball to the guys they’re going to throw the ball to, developing that chemistry. They’re handing the ball off to the guys they’re going to hand the ball off to. The offensive line, they’re playing alongside the guys they’re going to play alongside. That’s huge, sometimes you go through camp and you’ve got injuries or guys are out and you’re not necessarily throwing or handing the ball off to guys you’re going to play with on Saturday. We have been fortunate — knock on wood — to stay healthy to do that," Scott said.
If West Virginia wants to hang with Penn State and not have a repeat performance of last year, Scott said his team has to be clean on the field and avoid negative plays.
"Similar for us, we’ve always talked about is we got to be disciplined. We got to limit the penalties, we got to stay out of the long down and distance plays, we can’t start drives with first and 15, so we’ve got to be disciplined with ourselves and do a phenomenal job of not having penalties or what not and we got to take care of the football, we cannot have any negative runs regardless who’s carrying the football. Guys have to have a vertical mentality and go north," Scott said.
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