Notebook: Present and Future on Display
September 07, 2014 10:24 AM | General
 |
|
| Freshman quarterback William Crest runs the football during Saturday's 54-0 victory over Towson at Milan Puskar Stadium. | |
| All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
West Virginia football fans got to see the present and the future under center for the Mountaineers during Saturday night’s 54-0 victory over Towson.
The present (Clint Trickett) was terrific, the senior completing 35-of-40 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns against the Tigers. In two games now against one of the best teams in FBS (Alabama), and one of the better teams in FCS (Towson), Trickett has completed 64-of-85 passes for 713 yards and three touchdowns - impressive numbers, for sure.
In fact, Trickett played so well against Towson and had the game well enough in hand to afford coach Dana Holgorsen the opportunity to give us a glimpse of the future (William Crest, Jr.).
Crest entered the game on the fourth play of the third offensive series of the third quarter with West Virginia comfortably ahead, 40-0. He immediately ripped off an 11-yard run that got the football to the Towson 17, and then two plays later, he was sacked by Towson’s Ryan Delaire for a six-yard loss and fumbled on the play.
“He got a little flustered there with the sack and fumble and everything,” said Trickett. “I told him that’s just part of it. You’ve got to put two hands on the football.”
Crest responded on his second offensive series by engineering a five-play, 45-yard drive that ended in the end zone when he scored from the 4. Crest also had a 13-yard run on the drive.
He got the Mountaineers into the end zone a second time with 6:32 remaining in the game when Andrew Buie bounced in from the 3. For the night, Crest completed 3 of 4 passes for 7 yards while also adding 27 yards on the ground.
“He obviously brings a different dynamic to the game, which is good for us,” said Holgorsen.
Crest’s college debut was very similar to some of the other prominent Mountaineer quarterbacks of the past.
Oliver Luck saw his first game action as a true freshman in 1978 against third-ranked Oklahoma in Norman when he completed 5 of 10 passes for 62 yards with an interception.
Major Harris’ college debut came against Ohio in 1987. In that game he completed just 3 of his 9 pass attempts for 52 yards and a touchdown with just seven yards on the ground.
Marc Bulger was 1 of 3 passing for 9 yards in his college debut against Pitt as a redshirt freshman in 1996.
Rasheed Marshall’s college lid-lifter in 2001 at Boston College saw him complete 5 of 7 passes for 57 yards with an interception before he suffered a broken wrist that kept him out of the next six games of the season.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Pat White ran six times for 20 yards and completed 3 of 6 passes for 63 yards in his first college game against Syracuse in 2005.
And Geno Smith’s college debut as a true freshman in 2009 turned out to be a 5-of-8, 50-yard, one-interception effort in West Virginia’s 41-30 loss to Auburn.
Holgorsen said he made the decision earlier this week to play Crest if the situation presented itself on Saturday.
“We just kept evaluating him,” he said. “If we had an opportunity to put him in he was going to be the next guy in. We’ve talked to Paul (Millard) about redshirting, and I still don’t know if that’s going to be possible because he’s a guy that can come in and run our entire offense any time we want to.
“But William has been getting a bunch of reps and the only way he can continue to get as many reps as he can and be effective down the road is if we keep repping him,” added Holgorsen. “If you put him in there and play him it gives you a reason and an opportunity to rep him a bunch.”
Crest was the No. 1 quarterback target on West Virginia’s recruiting board last winter after a standout four-year career at Baltimore’s Dunbar High. The four-star recruit led the Poets to a pair of state titles in 2011 and 2012 and he passed for more than 2,200 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior in 2013.
Crest appeared poised and calm during his first collegiate appearance, according to his coach.
“You never know how guys are going to go in … a true freshman at quarterback?” said Holgorsen. “There aren’t many of them that play. His attention to what I’m doing on the sidelines is off the charts.”
Holgorsen said when he finally made the decision to put him in the game, he looked at Crest, who already had his helmet on, and simply told him to get in there.
“He just sprinted in there,” said Holgorsen. “He made some really good decisions on some of the run-game stuff that we did. I didn’t have to calm him down, though. His mood and mentality is really good. He’s extremely mature for a quarterback at this level for being a freshman.”
Holgorsen said he could even stomach Crest’s first-series turnover, considering the situation and the circumstances at the time.
“If there was ever going to be a turnover that you can get something positive out of it that’s probably going to be one of them,” Holgorsen said. “The game was in hand. He’s got to be able to have better ball security in those situations and he will probably learn from it.”
Actually, Crest did learn from it.
“He bounced back and had a touchdown run, was efficient, and did some good things,” said Trickett. “I want him to do so well that you don’t even know and I’m proud of him.”
Yes, the present and the future were both on display Saturday night at Milan Puskar Stadium.
And both gave Mountaineer football fans plenty of reason for optimism.
Post by WVU Football.
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
Saturday, April 18
