West Virginia head coach Neal Brown tells his assistants each year that fall camp doesn’t truly start until the first scrimmage is in the books.

And fortunately for the Mountaineers they still have three weeks to prepare for the opener at Maryland.

The team practiced inside the stadium which led to a high-energy level and overall excitement to be there but there are still plenty of things that need to be cleaned up. Among those were issues with procedural penalties, tackling, communication and various other aspects that can be expected early in camp.

That was somewhat by design as Brown instructed the officials to call things tight from a discipline standpoint, but it did provide a window into where the Mountaineers must make leaps.

But there is a sense of urgency to address those as West Virginia will move from fall camp mode to game prep for the Terrapins Aug. 25 which is approaching quickly.

“The clock is ticking, and we have a real clear picture of what we need to get better at and now we have to make that improvement with urgency,” Brown said.

The first scrimmage was designed to try to weed out which players are truly ready to compete either as a potential starter or on the cusp of seeing the field. Were players ready to challenge for a role or potentially rotate once the season begins?

“Putting pressure on them and trying to put them in tough situations to see how they react,” he said.

That’s not to say it was all bad as Brown was impressed with the continued performance of redshirt sophomore running back Tony Mathis as he ran the ball hard and broke tackles. Senior quarterback Jarret Doege also threw the ball well and the interior offensive line did some positive things.

On the defensive side, the Mountaineers were able to pressure the quarterback and host of players such as defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor, pass rusher Lanell Carr, bandit linebacker Vandarius Cowan and will linebacker Lance Dixon all have impressed.

West Virginia will have another scrimmage this coming Friday and then another team practice Aug. 24 before moving onto game prep for the Terrapins. Between now and that time period is where the Mountaineers will be placing the most emphasis on how much they can improve.

Also, the coaches will be making decisions on how players fit into the picture and which ones are ready to contribute early on in the year or need to move to the developmental program.

“What guys do we want to play early to see if they’re ready and what guys do we know aren’t ready? Let’s put them in our developmental program. What they do is they start not going to position meetings and they use that time to go to the weight room,” he said.

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