Scrimmage Recap
August 16, 2008 06:40 PM | General
August 16, 2008
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| Bill Stewart |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With two weeks left until the season opener against Villanova and seeing a rash of injuries around the country, West Virginia Coach Bill Stewart kept many of his key players out of Saturday’s shortened scrimmage.
Backup quarterbacks Jarrett Brown and Bradley Starks did not play, nor did running back Noel Devine and Jock Sanders, who wore yellow no-contact jerseys the quarterbacks wear during skeleton and team drills.
"Noel and Jock Sanders were in gold shirts today, and they were moving very quickly, making plays, and they are doing a tremendous job,” Stewart said. “I kept them out today because being the last day of camp - I didn’t want anyone to fall on them. We have two weeks to go and maybe I’m paranoid, but I feel so bad for all of our athletes all over America right now that can’t play because of an injury.
“I keep praying hard, not only for the Mountaineers but for young men all over this country to stay healthy. It’s really frustrating to see people get hurt, and I’m praying that it doesn’t happen to us,” Stewart said. “I hate that it happens to other people.”
Consequently, Pat White ran the first offense and his younger brother Coley White quarterbacks the twos. The two units ran a total of 52 plays resulting in three field goals, including an impressive 49-yarder by Pat McAfee to end the scrimmage. McAfee’s field goal came during the team’s two-minute drill and could have easily been good from more than 60 yards.
“That was really good to see,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart.
With Devine and Sanders both watching, freshman Mark Rodgers had an opportunity to shine. Rodgers carried four times for 43 yards including a nifty 30-yard run on a reverse, changing directions and causing a couple of DBs to miss him in the open field. Rodgers also caught three passes for 16 yards to finish the scrimmage with 59 all-purpose yards.
Pat White was an efficient 15 of 19 passing for 70 yards with an interception. Cornerback Kent Richardson got the pick after making a nice break on a pass intended for tight end Tyler Urban.
Earlier, another White interception by Boogie Allen was waved off by a defensive pass interference penalty.
In addition to his 49-yard field goal to end the scrimmage, McAfee also kicked a 32 yarder and backup Chris Glenn began the scrimmage with a 37 yarder.
Backup running back Terence Kerns ran seven times for 25 yards with the second offense while wide receiver Alric Arnett caught a scrimmage-best five passes for 24 yards with the ones.
“A lot of good things out there today, and I think our defense played outstanding,” Stewart said. “Again, two interference calls with one in the pass skeleton drill and the other one which was frustrating to see. The bottom line is that we gave the number ones good work and the number twos got 30 plays; and we got points when we were down to the two-minute drill and we made the kick. That was a big kick by Pat McAfee.”
Today’s scrimmage concludes fall camp. Fan Day is scheduled for Sunday inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility. Fall semester classes at WVU begin on Monday.
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