Scrimmage Recap
April 12, 2003 04:42 PM | General
April 12, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – According to Coach Rich Rodriguez, the offense got the better of the defense in West Virginia’s second officiated scrimmage of the spring Saturday afternoon at Mountaineer Field.
 |
||
| Freshman Erick Phillips rushed for 56 yards in Saturday's scrimmage. (Blue/Gold News photo/Kevin Kinder) |
Under sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s, the Mountaineers went through a three-hour workout in pleasant mid-April conditions.
“I thought there was a little more intensity offensively than there was last scrimmage and that wasn’t hard to do because I thought the last one was a pillow fight,” said Rodriguez. “I think we threw the ball better, the conditions were good and I was pleased with the progress of the quarterbacks today.”
Backup quarterback Charles Hales had his most effective practice this spring, completing 12 of 19 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown to tight end Josh Bailey. Hales also threw an interception.
Starting quarterback Rasheed Marshall finished the scrimmage completing 9 of 15 passes for 57 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass or an interception.
Tailback Quincy Wilson paced the first offense unofficially with 76 yards and 2 touchdowns on 13 carries. Wilson scored on a 2-yard touchdown run on the first offense’s second possession and later scored from a yard out during a goal line drill.
In addition to Wilson, backup tailback Hikee Johnson looked good in the scrimmage. He ran for a combined 56 yards with both the first and second team offenses, while also catching 2 passes for 17 yards.
“They’re running hard,” said Rodriguez of his running backs. “Hikee did better today, Quincy ran hard and I was pleased with the three freshmen, too. I thought they all did a pretty good job.”
Reserve tailback Bryan Wright, a 5-foot-6, 185-pound freshman from Romney, W.Va., had the longest scoring play of the afternoon when he took a third-down carry 62 yards to the end zone against the third team defense. Wright finished the day with 64 yards and 2 touchdowns on 8 carries.
Backups Erick Phillips and Jason Colson were also effective carrying the football; Phillips finished the scrimmage with 56 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries while Colson accounted for 35 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
“We will play a lot of tailbacks and keep guys fresh and I think we’ll be okay there,” said Rodriguez.
The top receiver for the scrimmage was freshman Nate Forse who caught 4 passes for 37 yards with the second group. No. 3 tight end Jason Hardee caught 2 passes for a scrimmage-best 44 yards.
Although quarterbacks were not permitted to be hit, sacks were recorded by Leonard Merriman, Fred Blueford, Chris Malamet and Mo Howard.
The two interceptions recorded by the defense were by Ben Clemmons and Jeff Noechel.
The first defense was credited with four stops, the second defense had three stops and the third defense had one stop.
In goal line situations the first offense was one for two, the second offense was two for two and the third offense was one for two.
There were just three penalties called during the scrimmage – all on the defense for jumping offsides.
“I thought there was some decent hitting going on and we made a few nice plays and some nice stops, but I don’t think the intensity was where it was a week ago," said Rodriguez. "The defense won the last scrimmage and it looks like the offense won this one. As a head coach it’s good to have some give and take, but we expect the defense to play a little better than it did today.”
Rodriguez was pleased to be able to evaluate a lot of younger players in this scrimmage.
“We got a lot more with the third group today,” he said. “We have so many walk-ons and guys that want to get an opportunity to get looked at and they got more plays today than they have been.”
The coach singled out the play of Brian King and Jahmile Addae at the two safety positions and was generally pleased as a whole with the offensive line’s effort today. Last weekend an unhappy assistant head coach Rick Trickett kept the line a half-hour after practice.
Prior to the scrimmage, West Virginia worked on live punting and kickoffs.
The Mountaineers resume spring practice on Tuesday, April 15.
Unofficial Statistical Leaders
Rushing: Wilson 13-76, Wright 8-64, Johnson 11-56, Phillips 10-56, Colson 10-35, Hales 10-14.
Passing: Hales 12-19-142-1-1, Marshall 9-15-57-0-0, Thompson 4-6-48-0-0.
Receiving: Forse 4-37, McClintic 3-24, Henderson 3-16, Hardee 2-44, Douglas 2-30, Garvin 2-19.
