Posted by John Antonik on Wednesday, August 11, 2010
12:16 p.m.
Offensive linemen Josh Jenkins and Joe Madsen admit their group has a little chip on their shoulders as they begin the 2010 season. Madsen said they have taken on an underdog approach this year while Jenkins wants to get the Mountaineer program back to the top of the league standings.
“We want to accomplish that this year and that’s one of our main goals,” Jenkins said. “We definitely want to win bowl games, but the biggest chip is winning the Big East.”
Last year, Jenkins, Madsen, Don Barclay, Eric Grobe and Selvish Capers played literally every snap because of a lack of depth. The coaching staff wants to remedy that this fall although Jenkins said he has no problem doing it again this year if asked.
“Yeah, I’d play every down again this year,” he said. “That’s just what we love to do as offensive linemen. It’s nice seeing people getting better and being ready to play, but if we have to play every down we will.”
Jenkins said there were actually benefits to playing all of the time last year.
“(Having depth) makes it better because we know if someone goes down there is someone there to fill in, but as a group I think we get better and better playing next to each other with as many reps as we can get.”
All of that work together is beginning to pay dividends, according to Madsen.
“I see a lot of really good things out of all of the linemen, even the second-team guys were doing a lot better than they have, and I’m really excited to get the season going,” he said.
This Week's News and Notes …
Joe Madsen says offensive line coach Dave Johnson is the most meticulous person he has ever been around.
“You can be in a meeting for an hour and a half and only go over four plays because he analyzes every single person, but I’ve learned more in one meeting with Coach Johnson than I learned ever,” Madsen said.
Huddle presence was a phrase seldom used during the Rich Rodriguez years because the team never huddled. Today, that phrase is once again applicable and Josh Jenkins believes sophomore quarterback Geno Smith has it.
“He’s assertive and he takes control,” said Jenkins. “His voice is good – it’s loud and he lets us know the plays. He’s just very comfortable out there.
“Geno is sharp,” Jenkins added. “I think Geno is a smart kid and he’s like playing with a veteran because he knows what’s going on. He stays in the film room. He takes charge of the offense like he’s supposed to and I’m confident in him a lot.”
Scooter Berry had this to say about defensive end Bruce Irvin: “That dude is fast. I don’t know if anybody follows me on twitter, but I worked out with him this summer and we were doing resistance treadmill downstairs and he was hitting like 14 miles per hour with no form. I’m thinking to myself, ‘This guy is flying.’ He’s fast and I’m real excited about him.”
Here is one for all of you recruitniks out there who put so much faith in all those rating systems and stars that always seem to make or break a player's career … http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10220/1078572-150.stm
I remember well that Pitt team and it is astonishing to me that only three of those Panther players - Hugh Green, Rooster Jones and Benji Pryor - were considered high profile recruits.
Speaking of Russ Grimm (who Collier's story was actually about), I heard he once considered transferring to West Virginia because he was unhappy that Pitt had switched him to offensive line, so in order to keep him from leaving the program, Pitt coach Jackie Sherrill hired West Virginia's Joe Pendry to coach Grimm.
I'm sure Pendry's decision to join the enemy went over real well in Morgantown.
This might be the most athletic West Virginia team I've seen in 20 years of watching football practice in Morgantown. Now athleticism doesn't always translate into performance or toughness, but I can't recall ever seeing a better looking football team in shorts and shoulder pads and that's a credit to the great job strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph and his staff did this summer getting these guys ready.
For the first time since West Virginia went to the 3-3 stack, coach Bill Kirelawich actually has some options at defensive line if his key guys can remain healthy. One such option is a third down package that features Julian Miller, Scooter Berry, Will Clarke and Bruce Irvin in a four-man front. All four of those guys can get to the quarterback.
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Tavon Austin |
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Tavon Austin looks like a completely different guy. For one, he's at least 15 pounds heavier and now actually looks like a football player. Two, he has a year under his belt and it shows. The defensive coaches continue to rave about his playmaking ability out in space.
And while the defensive coaches continue to rave about Austin, the offensive coaches have been throwing similar praise back across the field.
“They are good on defense,” said third-year offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen. “If we can have any success this fall against what we think is the best personnel, the best scheme and what I think is the best defensive staff in our league, then that certainly helps us prepare for games this year.”
Mullen has been pleased with the development of freshmen quarterbacks Barry Brunetti and Jeremy Johnson. ‘We spent a long time recruiting those guys and talent wise, neither are a disappointment,” Mullen said. “They are exactly what we thought they were on tape and what we saw live and in person.”
However, he cautioned against making assumptions about either Brunetti or Johnson.
“Barry is perceived as a good thrower, but he runs pretty well too. And Jeremy is perceived as a good runner, but he throws the ball well,” Mullen said. “There are small differences but at the end of the day they are both very talented.”
I recall a conversation I had with Gary Stevens (the guy who recruited Oliver Luck to Morgantown) about all those record-setting offenses he ran at Miami under Jimmy Johnson and Howard Schnellenberger. Stevens told me he knew they were on to something special at Miami when the players quit asking for the ball and started asking them what they needed to do to win football games.
The Iowa State sports marketing department is keeping track of twitter usage from around the country and according to their most recent survey, West Virginia's twitter site WVUSportsBuzz is the 18th most active among colleges with 4,018 followers as of yesterday. No. 1 on the list is Florida with 12,545 followers.
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Jedd Gyorko |
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Jedd Gyorko continues to tear up minor league pitching. As of Aug. 10, the San Diego Padres pick is hitting .342 with five doubles at Single-A Fort Wayne after batting .330 with five home runs and 18 RBI in 26 games at rookie level Eugene.
Our local baseball expert Todd Murray of the Dominion Post rates Gyorko and Vince Belnome among the two best hitters he’s seen play at West Virginia.
Speaking of Belnome, the second-year pro is hitting .251 with 11 home runs and 70 RBI in 110 games at Single-A Lake Elsinore – one level above Gyorko in the Padres organization.
In 75 games last year, Belnome hit a combined .321 at Eugene and Fort Wayne with 10 home runs and 54 RBI.
Mike Gansey, star of West Virginia's NCAA tournament Elite Eight team in 2005, is off to Spain to play professionally for Canary CB after a productive season in the NBA D-League last year. Gansey has previously played overseas in Italy and Germany.
Deniz Kilicli is back in town sporting a new Mohawk haircut. The sophomore-to-be spent this summer back in his native Turkey.
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Bob Huggins |
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Mark your calendars for Friday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. On that date and time there will be a celebrity roast of coach Bob Huggins at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown with proceeds from the event benefiting the Norma Mae Mae Huggins Cancer Research Endowment Fund at The Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center.
Among those scheduled to attend the event include John Calipari, Frank Martin, Andy Kennedy, Ron Everhart, former Auburn football coach Terry Bowden, plus some surprise guests. Once they're done roasting Huggs, he will get a chance to have the last word.
To purchase tickets or to get more information, call Tammy Whitacre at (304) 293-8604.
For fans coming to home football games this year, there are a couple of changes to this year's game day policy to help fans enjoy their experience at Milan Puskar Stadium. Those needing assistance at the stadium can now use their mobile phones to text AID to 94597. Also, wristbands will be available at the north end zone Guest Services room for small children. Those wristbands will denote the child's parents, phone number(s) and seat location(s).
We have learned that Joe Papetti, a member of the 1954 Sugar Bowl team, has died. Papetti was a longtime teacher, football coach and athletic director in the Anne Arundel County (Md.) school system. Papetti was the first football coach at Glen Burnie High when the program began in 1964 and later at South River High in 1978. In 1986, the South River High football field was renamed Papetti Field in his honor.
In 1992, Papetti was inducted into the Maryland Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was 78.
Later this week or early next week we are planning to make the switch to Adobe Flash for all of our on-demand and live-event video streaming. Presently, users are required to download the Microsoft Silverlight player to watch windows media files.
We’ll be sure to keep you posted when the switch is made.
Have a great week!
