Camp Notebook
August 09, 2005 11:19 AM | General
August 9, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s second practice of fall camp on Monday afternoon turned out to be a lot faster than the first one on Saturday. That means Rich Rodriguez’ team is learning.
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| Rich Rodriguez says his defensive line is a fun group to coach because of their unselfishness.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“When I looked at my watch at the end of practice we probably cut off about 20 minutes which means we practiced faster with the same schedule,” Rodriguez said.
The coach is particularly pleased with the mental progress being made by his two prized freshmen running backs Jason Gwaltney and Steve Slaton.
“Probably one of the most pleasing things is that they both have picked up what we’ve put in very well. You worry about that but there is no question those two guys will be ready to play a good bit of football this year,” said Rodriguez.
The coach said Gwaltney arrived in Morgantown for the start of the second session of summer school weighing about 245 pounds, and has since shed 10 of that. The coach expects Gwaltney to play this year at about 230 pounds.
“If he had not been here the second term of summer I don’t think he’d even be close. Coach (Mike) Barwis told me when he first got here in July it was tough on him,” said Rodriguez. “Now it’s still tough but not nearly as tough. He’s working himself into shape. He’s a big guy – he weighs 235 pounds and is losing quickly. He’s getting down to tailback weight pretty quick.”
Rodriguez explains that extra weight doesn’t really suit a power back like Gwaltney in West Virginia’s spread offense.
“Jason is used to running inside all of the time. In high school they had 11 people in the box,” Rodriguez said. “It was his 11 versus their 11 playing in a closet and he’d just mash through them. It’s a little different playing in a spread.”
And while both backs have picked things up pretty well the first two days, Rodriguez will reserve full judgment until the pads go on Thursday.
“Jason and Steve both have natural talent but you also hope they have a feel for what we want in each particular play,” he noted. “We’ve only put a couple of runs in and haven’t expanded our offense yet. So far they’ve been pretty disciplined as far as some of the techniques Coach Magee has taught. It usually takes a freshman a few weeks to do that and they’ve picked it pretty quickly.”
The team worked out Monday in shorts and will put on shoulder pads today. Two-a-day practices begin on Monday, Aug. 15.
“You’d like to have two two-a-days this week just to get a lot of reps in mentally but they’re still having a full day,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not like they’re sleeping in until noon and then coming over here for an hour meeting. We’re getting up lifting weights, having some meetings and having some walk-throughs in the morning. (Sunday) was a good day for them even though it was a day off just so they could absorb all that they’ve learned so far.”
The coach said several players have stood already made an early impression.
“If I had to give a player of the day on the first day offensively it was Brandon Myles and defensively it was Antonio Lewis and Dwayne Mundle. Our young kicker Pat McAfee stood out and he did again (Monday). Our quarterbacks were a little crisper and I was really pleased with the play of our running backs,” he said.
Briefly:
“With no pads on you can’t hit so we only did about 15 minutes of team work and about 20 minutes of pass skelly,” said Rodriguez. “There is a lot of installation going on on both sides of the ball and it’s probably the slowest installation offensively that we’ve done in a couple of years.
“In a way I think it is going to help us because we were able to get into some of the finer points which even some of the veterans may have not completely understood.”
“Danny just loves to play,” Rodriguez opined. “When we’re running our sprints at the end he’s making them easily and the guys see how enthusiastic he is. Here’s a guy that is 290 pounds and bench presses 400 and some and has worked his tail off all practice and still at the end of practice he’s still got energy left. There is no question Dan Mozes is one of the leaders of our team.”
“I think we’ve found the right spot for him at outside linebacker. I think he feels comfortable there,” said the coach. “We were wondering if he could play here. He had some ability and based on what he did in the spring and what he’s done the last couple of days we think we’ve found a spot for him on defense.”
“Those two young guys have really impressed me so far,” Rodriguez said. “Antonio Lewis has the right mentality: he’s as good a competitor as anyone on our football team. He’s going to have a chance to play a lot of football as well as on special teams.”
“The one guy that has probably stepped up the most is Jeremy Bruce,” said Rodriguez. “He was a high school running back and we’re playing him at slot receiver. If he keeps progressing he will play this year and particularly in the first game against Syracuse.”
“We’re still waiting on the ruling,” he said. “We think we should be able to replace him with another freshman and we’ll take a guy that we planned on grayshirting and bring him in. But I haven’t gotten word that we can do that.”
