Ready, Set, Go
August 01, 2008 11:49 AM | General
August 1, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The work may be winding down on the brand new $4 million locker room renovation aimed at keeping West Virginia on par with the Jones’, but the work is just beginning upstairs in preparation for the 2008 football season.
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| Noel Devine averaged a gaudy 8.6 yards per carry as a freshman in 2007.
Brian Persinger photo |
There may be a new regime in town yet the mission still remains the same: win the Big East Conference and play in a BCS bowl game.
“You know what? The players in the arena win the football games,” said Coach Bill Stewart earlier this week. “I’m no genius now. The administration knows that. But I can promise you this: If you have a great staff and great players and you recruit well, things will be OK.”
All indications point to that being the case this year.
Having quarterback Pat White back is a good start. The Mountaineers also have their entire offensive line returning intact including a left side that features a pair of all-star candidates in left tackle Ryan Stanchek and left guard Greg Isdaner. And prep sensation Noel Devine is set to become West Virginia’s featured back this year after rushing for 108 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns in the Mountaineers’ 48-28 victory over Oklahoma in the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. New offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen is charged with the task of filling in the gaps and keeping West Virginia’s spread offense running smoothly.
“What drives this football team is No. 5, his comfort zone and playing fast,” Mullen said. “And we’re going to tailor everything to him. People say it’s Rich Rodriguez’s offense or Jeff Mullen’s offense or Billy Stewart’s offense. I say it’s Pat White’s offense.”
A Heisman Trophy frontrunner, Pat White is just 784 yards away from becoming the leading rushing quarterback in NCAA history. Yet Bill Stewart believes the key to how far West Virginia goes in 2008 will probably be determined by how much improvement the Mountaineers can make in the passing game. Twice White went down in games in 2007 and both times West Virginia lost – at South Florida and at home to Pitt.
Stewart is adamant about not overusing White this season.
“We need to spread the wealth a little bit,” Stewart said. “We’ve got to get the ball out a little bit. No. 5 and No. 7 can’t do it all. And when 5 and 7 are hurt, we need more playmakers. We’re not going to fix what’s broken, but we need big plays out of some of these guys.”
The candidates include seniors Dorrell Jalloh and Tito Gonzales, sophomores Brandon Hogan, Jock Sanders and Wes Lyons, JC transfer Alric Arnett and converted quarterback Bradley Starks.
“I’m very excited about these guys,” Stewart said. “We think the Starks kid will be a household name. We’re hoping Starks will be a guy we’ll be counting on. He hasn’t done it yet but the potential is there. He has a chance to be real, real good.”
Converted H-back Will Johnson is another player expected to aid in the passing game. Yet the essence of West Virginia’s offense remains its running game. And Mullen isn’t about to change that.
“I looked at the cut-ups and what I saw was No. 5 making a lot of plays. There’s no question it was a smart design,” Mullen said. “There’s no question it was well planned and coached and organized.”
Devine and White can’t do it alone. Newcomers Zach Hulce and Mark Rodgers are going to have to help carry the ball, as is slot receiver Jock Sanders. Freshman Terence Kerns is also a possibility if everything is OK academically. Kerns is part of the 105 players expected to be in camp on Saturday.
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| Defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel directed the nation's seventh-best defense in 2007.
M.G. Ellis photo |
The defense presents the most uncertainty. West Virginia must find eight new starters but it does have its most important component returning – defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. Casteel’s defense in 2007 was ranked seventh in the country allowing just 301.7 yards per game. Casteel also has plenty of brainpower to rely on in the meeting room with the return of former D-I defensive coordinators Steve Dunlap and Dave Lockwood.
Four of the five players in the back end must be replaced and last year’s starting safety Quinton Andrews begins the year No. 2 on the depth chart at bandit safety behind sophomore Sidney Glover.
The rest of the secondary could be comprised of Kent Richardson and Ellis Lankster at corners and Nate Sowers and Boogie Allen at the other two safety positions. What those four may lack in experience they make up for in talent and athletic ability. Several others will also get close looks in the secondary this fall.
The strength of this year’s defense is the linebacker corps, which features a pair of big-time players in Mortty Ivy at strongside linebacker and Reed Williams in the middle. Williams missed the entire spring recovering from off-season shoulder surgery but he told reporters in Rhode Island earlier this week that he has been medically cleared to begin practicing this fall and expects to be out there for the opener against Villanova.
Pat Lazear, Anthony Leonard and Najae Goode are young but talented linebackers. The linebacker corps will also have Johnny Holmes and Archie Sims back as walk-ons.
Up front, West Virginia has starting defensive tackle Scooter Berry returning. Berry has a chance to be a special player if he can stay healthy and defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich is also encouraged with the progress being made by Chris Neild at nose tackle. The third guy up front will probably either be Zac Cooper, Larry Ford or Julian Miller. All three are still a bit undersized though they did get bigger and stronger working in the summer development program.
A wildcard for Kirelawich could be the addition of defensive tackle Uriah Grant, a Top 100 player in Florida and the son of former professional boxer Uriah Grant, Sr. The freshman could be thrown into the fire immediately.
All eyes will be on Morgantown once again this fall to see if Bill Stewart can maintain the phenomenal success West Virginia has enjoyed the last three years, winning two BCS bowl games during that span and posting the second-best three-year record (33-5) in college football.
This year the Mountaineers were predicted to once again win the Big East and will start the season ranked eighth in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, released Friday morning.
“There is no pressure at all,” Stewart says. “I love it. That’s a real tribute to the guys who have been with us – the players and the coaches we have. Somebody must think we’re OK.”
