West Virginia football about to find out a lot about itself soon
You really won’t know what you’ve got until you play a game.
That is where West Virginia finds itself a little over a week out from the season opener against FCS opponent James Madison. You have ideas, sure. But getting a real understanding of what areas are strengths and which will ultimately be concerns won’t be uncovered until the bullets start flying.
Now that doesn’t mean there aren’t jobs to do between now and then. One of the primary concerns for the coaching staff is to pare down the roster in order to put together a two-deep and a travel team.
West Virginia has waited through the duration of fall camp in order to give the freshmen and newcomers on the roster the same opportunity to impress that those in the spring had over a course of 15-pratices. Now, the evaluation part of it all will be a major factor beginning Wednesday.
That information will be used to start informing players where they stand in regards to seeing the field before the coaches start formulating a game plan for the Dukes. Fall camp already presented two major evaluation opportunities in the second scrimmage which saw several players emerge as the coaches attempted to make it was game-like as possible under the lights.
Among those that stepped up on the defensive side of the ball were sophomore defensive lineman Dante Stills, junior safety Sean Mahone, true freshman Nicktroy Fortune, senior cornerback Devan Wade and senior graduate transfer defensive end Reuben Jones.
On the offensive side, it was junior offensive guard Mike Brown, senior tackle Colton McKivitz, senior running back Kennedy McKoy, freshman wide receiver Sam James, senior wide receiver George Campbell and newly minted starting quarterback Austin Kendall that took a major step forward.
The Mountaineers followed that up with an extensive short-yardage and red zone look as well as a full kick scrimmage and several emerged in that situation as well with Stills again on the defensive side and left guard Brown on offense along with junior Josh Sills on the offensive line.
Brown, the offensive lineman, has been one of the true surprises of the fall for the Mountaineers after he emerged in the late stages of spring and has only continued his level of play. After not playing a single down in high school he is on the verge of starting in the Big 12 Conference this fall.
“Him having the ability to keep improving and showing he belongs has been impressive to me,” the head coach said of the offensive lineman’s development.
The Mountaineers still have the same concerns about the offensive line as a whole with four slots set and the program still searching for a fifth. That combination could change how the unit is aligned entirely as Sills has the ability to slide in as a center, guard or tackle if needed.
Along with quarterback, the work allowed head coach Neal Brown to declare another position battle over at older with Australian punter Josh Growden taking the job after three-years of doing so at LSU.
“That probably won’t get as much press as my first announcement,” Brown joked.
Due to youth in the secondary, the Mountaineers are expected to play a number of freshmen in those spots with the aforementioned Fortune at cornerback along with Tavian Mayo. At safety, West Virginia is expected to use Tykee Smith and Kerry Martin in larger roles.
“Those guys made some key movement from scrimmage one to scrimmage two,” he said.
Brown doesn’t hide the fact that many of those second team spots on the depth chart will be ultimately determined by special teams. By that he means that if a player is in a battle with another and one of those is a factor on one of the special teams units they are more likely to make the travel team.
West Virginia has remained relatively healthy throughout fall camp with some minor injuries keeping some players out of practice but they likely would have played if it was a game situation. Junior tight end Jovani Haskins also is expected to return to a full practice this weekend after not having any throughout camp due to a shoulder issue from the off-season.
Redshirt freshman T.J. Banks did return to a full practice however to give the room a boost.
The Mountaineers will begin prep work for James Madison Thursday and Friday before holding a mock game Saturday and then heading into game week ahead of the opener.
The time to really find out about this football team isn’t too far away now.
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