WVU, Holgorsen still feeling things through in camp
What can you learn from watching six practices in fall camp?
Well, if you ask head coach West Virginia Dana Holgorsen the answer would be not a lot.
“We’re still feeling things through, a lot of young kids that we still have to get a lot of reps on,” he said.
Holgorsen is comfortable with where the Mountaineers are in regards to the scheme, but now are set to mix in red zone, goal line and other aspects that they haven’t addressed quite yet. One aspect that is new to this year’s fall camp is the mandated off-day, which allowed players to receive treatments and recovery while giving the coaching staff an opportunity to review film and make evaluations.
One player that has yet to receive any evaluations from the coaching staff throughout fall camp is junior wide receiver Jovon Durante. Absent since the start of practices, the Florida native is going through what Holgorsen simply referred to as “personal issues.”
“He has not reported. I don’t know if he will, I don’t know when he will,” Holgorsen said. “He has personal things that he has to work on.”
In the meantime, West Virginia is moving ahead with what they have at wide receiver until stated otherwise and at the outside spots redshirt senior Ka’Raun White and sophomore Marcus Simms have emerged as the two starters, while juniors David Sills and Gary Jennings have handled the inside spots.
The timing with that quartet and the quarterbacks, notably starter Will Grier and backup Chris Chugunov, is improving on a daily basis but there is still a need to identify the backups behind those four at wide receiver. A task that’s been much easier said than done thus far.
“I haven’t been thrilled with that right now,” Holgorsen said.
While the long-term plan is to incorporate the tight end in the Mountaineers offense, for now the issue is just sheer numbers on the roster at that spot. Redshirt junior Trevon Wesco is currently the only player seeing significant reps there and it’s limiting what they can do from a scheme standpoint.
Miami transfer Jovani Haskins has impressed at the tight end spot and would be in line to see snaps this year if he wasn’t required to sit out due to the NCAA transfer rules. Two other high school prospects are on the way at that spot as well to help bolster that room for the future.
But for now, it’s a challenge.
“We’re trending that way in recruiting but that doesn’t help this team. When you have one eligible tight end, it’s tough to do,” Holgorsen said.
On the injury front, West Virginia will be without the services of redshirt senior safety Marvin Gross for a few weeks due to a knee injury but has plenty of past experience to offset that missed time. Syracuse graduate transfer Corey Winfield, who practiced Sunday through a finger injury, will miss the next two weeks as well after requiring surgery to address the issue.
Those two join redshirt sophomore linebacker David Long and redshirt freshman center Jacob Buccigrossi, who are both out due to knee injuries but are expected to return early into the season.
“Other than that we are in good shape,” Holgorsen said.