WVU Cornerback Battles Continue

The Mountaineers had games in which the performance was at a solid level - such as Kansas State and TCU - when the bend-don't-break was in full effect. Baylor's Charlie Brewer, one might recall, was forced from the game after a 1-for-8 start and three interceptions, one by Keith Washington, in a 58-14 Thursday night romp.

Then there were the outings against the likes of Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. It'd be easy to mask these as programs with simply better talent, yet far too often West Virginia got turned around in man coverage, giving up the big play or being forced to race back into coverage, back turned, and be flagged for pass interference while dragging a wideout to the turf in desperation.

It's been a scene which played out time and again, happening against the likes of East Carolina and Delaware State in 2017 and even Youngstown State a season ago. The Penguins' Zach Farrar used his 6-4 frame to make six catches for 135 yards, an average of 22.5 yards per reception. The wideout caught more than three passes just once the rest of the season, and never again came close to the 100-yard mark.

It's difficult to blame any true position shuffling. Josh Norwood started at WVU's right corner slot in all but one game, giving way to Keith Washington versus Kansas. Washington and Hakeem Bailey essentially split starting duties on the left side, Bailey with six starts and Washington five during the regular season. The three players garnered the majority of the snaps last season, and had all the ups and downs referenced above.

All three finished in the top eight in tackles a year ago, which is partially a negative in that it translates into teams making completions. Norwood alone had 64 tackles, 49 of them solo, while Bailey and Washington totaled 42 and 40 stops, respectively. Some aspects of that are simply that Big 12 teams like to throw, and will use screens, quick slants and the like as a staple of the offense. But for a defense which surrendered 354 passing yards to Texas, 338 to Oklahoma State and 364 to OU - all of whom combined for 11 TDs in the air, with at least three from each team - an uptick in the overall play is a must for the coming season.

"I feel like we’ve improved tremendously over the spring," said Washington, now a veteran in the backfield. "All of us have been playing with each other since last year – me, Hakeem Bailey, Norwood, Jordan Adams – we all have been taking strides in the right direction. We’re just continuing to get better."

All are seniors, and the first three figure to battle with Dreshun Miller and Tavian Mayo for time this fall. Miller, a juco out of Eastern Arizona, had offers from LSU, Auburn, Kentucky and Houston, among others. A four-star signee secured by Doug Belk, Miller's 6-foot-1, 192-pound frame is built for a corner slot, while Mayo, a three-star recruit out of Leesburg, Ga., is smaller at 5-11 but shows solid coverage skills for a young player.

Miller is currently practicing with the team and will have three years to play two, while Mayo will not arrive on campus until summer. How first-year position coach Jahmile Addae mixes and matches, both during the Gold-Blue spring game this Saturday and into fall camp, will be something to eye.

"I like to think during spring ball, every practice, every day because it’s so limited, is treated as though it’s a game," said Addae, an All-Big East safety at WVU from 2001-05. "Guys are fighting for jobs, guys are fighting to prove themselves, and for that, most of it has been treated as though it’s a game-type process. With that being said, the guys have had that focus and that energy for the most part."

The question is can the Mountaineers either bring in greater talent, perhaps in Miller and Mayo, or elevate what it has to at least better slow the high-octane offenses like those of the Sooners and Cowboys, along with teams expected to show improvement, like TCU and Baylor? Factor in a nonconference schedule that includes Missouri and NC State, and overall it rivals the more difficult complete slates in school history.

"Every week has been super important," said Addae, who made coaching stops at Cincinnati, Arizona and Minnesota before returning to Morgantown. "This week is probably the most important just because it’s the next week, and it’s another opportunity for us to get better and continue to grow our guys. Up until now, they’ve been doing that, they’ve been handling that quite well in terms of taking coaching and trying to get it done. Now, we have to take it from trying to get it done to actually getting it done, attention to detail and executing your job."

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