Another day has come and gone in Mountaineer football camp, and still no word on the status of senior defensive lineman’s Pat Liebig hardship appeal to the NCAA. Head coach Bill Stewart remarked that at this point, Liebig’s status for 2008 may not be known until the beginning of next week at the earliest.
Friday’s practiced featured a heavy dose of skeleton work by the Mountaineer offense, with positive results according to Stewart.
“We had a red zone (skeleton drill) today for the first time, and I thought the offense did a good job of moving the ball and getting it in there,” Stewart said. “I was very pleased with that.”
With an added emphasis on the passing game this camp, Stewart continues to be impressed with the play of his top two quarterbacks, as well as the play of an upperclassmen trio of wideouts.
“I thought Patrick (White) made some tremendous reads, and I thought Jarrett Brown had another big day,” Stew said. “The gunslinger was letting it fly and it was hitting the right places. It was really nice to see that. The skeleton was really good for the offense, which it should have been.
“Tito Gonzales, Dorrell Jalloh and Alric Arnett are stepping up to the plate, and that’s been really good,” he said.
Wideout Brad Starks, dressed in red earlier this week while nursing a mild hamstring injury, was back to live action today…but not where you might think. Instead of spending the entire day at receiver, where it is expected he will be a big contributor this season, Starks moved back to his natural position of quarterback. In the unfortunate event of injuries to White and Brown, Starks is the emergency quarterback for the Mountaineers. In other injury news, fullbacks Will Johnson and Maxwell Anderson appear to be inching closer to returning from their injuries.
In their absence, however, a pair of true freshman are leaving positive impressions on Stewart and his offensive coaching staff.
“Young Tyler Urban and Ryan Clarke, two freshman, continue to impress us,” Stewart said. “They’re doing a really nice job. One more so at fullback – Clarke – and Urban more at tight end. They are interchangeable positions. They’re doing a really nice job.”
Friday’s practice was also the home to some spirited play in the trenches.
“We couldn’t hardly have a practice out there because the offense and defensive lines,” Stewart said with a grin. “I don’t know what was going on down there, but there was a lot of rah-rahing and cheering. I don’t know what was going on, but there must have been some excitement.
“Normally when you here that, fists are coming, like when you’re playing ball with your brother growing up,” he continued. “I didn’t see any fisticuffs, I just saw some great enthusiasm. It was good to watch our offensive and defensive lines go after it. That was fun.”
Saturday will be another two-a-day for West Virginia, with a light practice – roughly an hour and a half in Stewart’s estimation – playing prelude to a situational scrimmage in the afternoon.
BlueGoldNews.com will have insight, analysis, audio, photo galleries and much, much more from Saturday’s scrimmage.