Sands Impressed With O
July 22, 2010 02:48 PM | General
(2:49 p.m.)
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| Brodrick Jenkins |
Did you realize West Virginia’s top three cornerbacks heading into fall training camp all played quarterback in high school? In addition to Brandon Hogan and Keith Tandy, WVU’s No. 3 corner Brodrick Jenkins was known more for having the ball in his hands than chasing down guys with it while playing at South Fort Myers High.
“I always went to camps as a defensive back but I always played with the ball in my hands at quarterback, running back or receiver,” Jenkins said Wednesday. “I played defensive back in high school and I worked on it since I was a little kid with my cousins, but I was recruited here as a receiver. I told them, ‘I think I will probably be better off playing on defense.”
Jenkins got a lot of work at right corner this spring and is one of the guys DB coach Dave Lockwood will be looking to this fall in the secondary.
“He just told me that he knew what I could do and he wants to see me bring it out,” Jenkins said. “When I heard that I had to show him that I could play. I just have to focus and want it.”
Like most freshman, Jenkins wasn’t as focused as he should have been last fall because he knew he likely was going to redshirt.
"During the fall I knew I wasn’t going to play so I didn’t really come into it as, oh I can play and I’m going to get on the field,” he admitted. “Now this spring, it was anybody’s game and I just went in there and tried to take advantage of it.”
Jenkins is focused now. Fall camp starts in two weeks.
Thursday Tidbits …
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| Robert Sands |
“The offense has been doing pretty good,” he said. “They have been getting a lot of touchdowns on us. That’s not necessarily a knock on us - they are just getting better as a unit.”
There has been a lot of talk about defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel wanting his players to do more disguising this year. Sands says he will only do that when he’s certain everyone is playing the defense they are supposed to be playing when the disguising is going on.
“You absolutely, absolutely have to know what you are doing,” Sands said. “You can disguise so much and almost forget what the defense is because you’re trying to disguise so hard. You’ve got to be able to disguise and know what you’re doing at the same time.”
Having three guys in the secondary playing cover two and the other guy playing cover one is not a good way to go about things.
“That would hurt,” Sands laughed.
“They think by us being light up front that we can’t handle the run so they try to pound us but that plays right into our hands because we swarm to the ball so easily that it’s not really a factor,” Sands said. “Once they realize they can’t run they’ve got to put it into the air and we’re trying to make a play. Every now and then the opposing coaches call a good play and catch us off guard with it. That’s why we go over to the sidelines and make adjustments during the game.”
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| Dorrell Jalloh |
While everyone on campus was celebrating West Virginia’s upset victory over Penn State, former coach Don Nehlen was worrying about who was going to be in his lineup the following week against Virginia. As it turned out, the Mountaineers lost that game 27-7 and dropped the next two against Rutgers and Temple to finish the regular season with a 7-4 record.
Two months later, a healthy West Virginia team ran TCU right out the Houston Astrodome in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
More recently, I recall injuries playing a big part in West Virginia’s collapse in 1997 when the Mountaineers dropped four of their last five games after beginning the season 6-1.
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| Kyle Cooper |
Ebanks – 15.0 ppg., 42.4 FG%, 3.6 rpg., 1.4 apg.
Gansey – 12.8 ppg., 48.9 FG%, 3.8 rpg., 1.0 apg.
Answer: Dave Johnson with 12. Among those Johnson tutored at Georgia were tight ends Leonard Pope, Ben Watson and Randy McMichael.
Have a great weekend!
