Football: Scrimmage Report
August 22, 2004 09:53 AM | General
August 22, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – There were more touchdowns scored in Saturday’s final scrimmage of fall camp. And for an offensive minded coach like Rich Rodriguez that was pleasing to see.
The white team got touchdown receptions from Chris Henry (41 yards), Rayshawn Bolden (96 yards when Vince Beamer and Anthony Mims ran into each other), Nate Forse (19 yards) and tight end Josh Bailey (10 yards), while third-team tailback Pernell Williams crossed the goal line from the one. Andy Good and Brad Cooper also converted their only field goal tries.
Running backs Kay-Jay Harris and Jason Colson combined to gain 79 yards, while Bolden led the receivers with 4 catches for 112 – most of which came on the long pass from Bednarik. Chris Henry caught 3 passes for 56 yards, Nate Forse had 4 catches for 36 yards and Brandon Myles caught 2 passes for 32 yards. One of Myles’ catches was a diving 37-yard grab of a Marshall pass that carried him out of the end zone
That is dramatically better than last Wednesday’s offensive output that saw the white jerseys score just two TDs and make only 2 of 4 field goal attempts. Afterward an irate Rodriguez called his offense’s performance “embarrassing.”
Saturday the coach had a different outlook. “I saw some good things on both sides of the ball,” he said.
According to unofficial statistics compiled by the Charleston Gazette, first-team quarterback Rasheed Marshall completed 9 of 15 passes for 113 yards. Backups Charles Hales, Adam Bednarik and Dwayne Thompson combined to complete 8 of 17 passes for 148 yards with Thompson throwing the scrimmage’s lone interception.
Earlier during camp Rodriguez mentioned that he wanted his quarterbacks to complete at least 60 percent of their passes this year and after two scrimmages that goal has been achieved. WVU quarterbacks combined to complete 33 of 52 passes for 63.5 percent in the two scrimmages.
The defense has also looked good at times, essentially controlling the first scrimmage by allowing only 3.4 yards per play. Saturday, the defense came up with back-to-back safeties during one sequence and the defensive line once again held its own against WVU’s veteran offensive line.
But the coach also concedes his team still has a lot of work to do before the season opener against East Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 4. He certainly isn’t buying into the preseason rankings having his Mountaineers rated 10th in one poll and 11th in another.
“This isn’t just coachspeak. We’re not even close to being a top-20 team,” he said Saturday afternoon. “But I don’t know, maybe those other 20 aren’t either. I know we’re not. Just judging on what I’ve seen in practice and what we need to work on, we’re not. Hopefully in two weeks we’ll get there.”
Two big areas of concern for Rodriguez are running back and wide receiver. The coach is not sure he has a back tough and durable enough right now to get through a season and nagging injuries has forced him to do considerable shuffling with his receiver corps. Backup quarterbacks Charles Hales and Dwayne Thompson have been getting reps with the receivers because holders Miquelle Henderson and Dee Alston have been nursing various ailments, while Washington transfer Eddie Jackson missed most of fall camp with a tender hamstring.
“Those guys need reps,” says Rodriguez.
The coach is also working overtime trying to figure out his tailback position. Kay-Jay Harris and Jason Colson ran better during Saturday’s scrimmage, but they are still not playing at the level Quincy Wilson and Avon Cobourne performed at the past two seasons that made West Virginia one of the country’s best running offenses.
Third-team runner Bryan Wright was out once again, moving true freshman Pernell Williams up to take a good number of reps with the second and third groups.
The wildcard in the tailback race is sophomore Erick Phillips, who seriously injured his knee last fall and isn’t expected to be cleared to begin practicing until early September. Once he gets himself back into playing condition he could be a factor.
“He might be the best one we have if he’s healthy,” Rodriguez admitted.
The coach is also looking for more consistency from his offensive line and a few individual leaders to emerge on defense. One of those potential leaders, senior linebacker Adam Lehnortt, missed the scrimmage due to arthroscopic surgery on his knee Saturday morning and is expected to be out until the end of next week. That left Jay Henry and Marc Magro manning the middle.
“I don’t feel really confident right now that we’re really ready to play, but thankfully we have two weeks,” said Rodriguez.
Saturday's officiated scrimmage was the final one of the fall. Two-a-day practices concluded on Friday and classes for the fall semester begin on Monday.
Today Mountaineer fans can meet this year’s team and coaches at Fan Day inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility beginning at 2 pm.
Compiled from published reports.
