Scrimmage Recap
April 09, 2005 01:55 PM | General
April 9, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The defense controlled Saturday’s second officiated scrimmage of the spring allowing just one touchdown during the regular portion of the team’s 95-play morning workout. Other than Owen Schmitt’s 34-yard run against the second defense, the other offensive scores came in goal line drills.
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| Owen Schmitt is tackled by linebacker Marc Magro during Saturday morning's scrimmage at Mountaineer Field.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“I was happy with the play of the defense. I thought there was some good hitting,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “The play was physical and I thought the intensity was there.”
The coach singled out the play of junior linebacker Boo McLee and the progress being made by sophomore cornerback Larry Williams as two bright spots so far this spring.
“I think Boo McLee has had a great camp and I’m happy for him. I think Larry Williams has come on at corner. The guys up front seem to be getting better,” he said.
However, the coach frowned at the offense, which committed five turnovers (three fumbles and two interceptions), had several bad snaps and failed to sustain any drives all morning long.
“Snapping on the ground … we’ve got a guy that has been snapping for two weeks in his entire life. I don’t get mad at that but eventually he needs to get better at it,” said Rodriguez. “But dropping the ball on the ground there is no excuse for that. And guys not competing and dropping their head when they make a mistake I don’t like that. Players have to overcome mistakes. Just pick your head up and go after the next one.”
The offense’s most effective runner was junior college transfer Arlen Dorsey working with the second unit. The 6-foot-1-inch, 215-pounder ran seven times for 51 yards including a long of 33 yards.
“The one thing about Arlen is he’s a tough guy and it’s important to him,” said Rodriguez. “He’s still confused and goes every which way. But every time we scrimmage he comes and competes and when a guy does that you’ve got to find a spot for him.”
Schmitt also found some daylight running with the second group picking up 44 of his 46 total yards with that group. The second offense produced 173 of the team’s 225 total rushing yards for the scrimmage. The first defense only permitted 47 yards on 31 carries.
The offense appeared most effective when it was running its two-minute drill.
“The two-minute drill maybe they did better because maybe they weren’t thinking as much,” Rodriguez said. “We’re getting to the point now where if they don’t know what they’re doing they need to find out because if they don’t learn it they won’t play.”
Quarterback Dwayne Thompson completed his first five passes and finished the scrimmage 11 of 14 for 118 yards with one interception, mostly with the first unit. The sophomore also carried nine times for 41 yards.
Redshirt freshman Pat White completed seven of 21 passes for 40 yards with one interception, primarily with the second group. White had a couple of nice runs including a 17 yard scamper against the second defense. Quarterbacks were allowed to be tackled in today’s scrimmage.
“We had no leadership on offense and nobody will step it up so I’ll either move another guy from defense to take charge or I’ll put a new guy in there when they come in the fall,” Rodriguez said.
Joe Hunter led the receivers with five catches for 35 yards and Rayshawn Bolden caught four passes for 42 yards. The longest pass play of the scrimmage was 17 yards from White to running back Pernell Williams.
“It’s hard for me to judge watching this,” said Rodriguez. “I’m just trying to watch execution and make sure they get the ball off and don’t have a whole lot of penalties.”
Defensively, Abraham Jones and David Igono had interceptions. Fumbles were picked up Andrae Wright and Ernest Hunter, who had a scare 15 plays into the scrimmage when he went down on a short run but was able to walk off the field on is own.
Rodriguez said units on both sides of the ball were encountering new things today.
“Defense is running blitzes the offense hasn’t seen and the offense is running formations that the defense hasn’t seen,” he said. “We’re not coordinating it for one side to have success over the other.
West Virginia resumes practice Monday afternoon.
Briefly: Sophomore cornerback Vaughn Rivers is getting work with the wide receivers and caught two passes for six yards and ran two reverses during Saturday’s scrimmage … regular running back Jason Colson tweaked his ankle earlier this week and was held out of today’s scrimmage … among former WVU players at practice were George Henshaw and Bernard Russ .. also in attendance were former linebacker David Carter and wide receiver David Richardson … Carter is coaching at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia as the team’s defensive coordinator while Richardson is an assistant coach at Atlantic City High School … Pat White had a nifty 31-yard touchdown run called back on a holding penalty.
Unofficial Statistics
Rushing: Dorsey 7-51, Schmitt 8-46, Thompson 9-41, White 13-34, Phillips 10-33, Williams 12-20, Rivers 2-0, Total 61-225
Passing: Thompson 11-14-1-78-0, White 7-21-1-40-0, Total 18-35-1-118-0
Receiving: Hunter 5-35, Bolden 4-42, McClintic 3-12, Williams 2-24, Rivers 2-6, Phillips 2-5, Total 18-118
