Football Notebook

Quarterback Skyler Howard passed for 829 yards and eight touchdowns in 2014.

All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo

It looks like West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen will need to add a few more chairs to the quarterback room this year.

On Monday, Holgorsen announced that high school quarterbacks Chris Chugunov and David Sills have enrolled in school and will be available to practice this spring.

Those two will join holdovers Skyler Howard, William Crest, Jr. and Paul Millard to give the Mountaineers five scholarship quarterbacks for the spring. That’s the most scholarship QBs that I can recall on the Mountaineer roster at one time since 2005 when Rich Rodriguez had seven quarterbacks to begin fall camp.

If you recall, Pat White and Adam Bednarik sat out the 2004 season as redshirts behind starter Rasheed Marshall and backup Charles Hales with Dwayne Thompson serving as the team’s No. 3 quarterback that year.

Rodriguez brought in three high school quarterbacks on signing day (Jarrett Brown, T.J. Mitchell and Nate Sowers) and then added ex-pro baseball player and former record-setting state prep quarterback J.R. House to the roster in the summertime.

Interestingly enough, the seven quarterbacks on the roster that fall combined to attempt just one pass the prior year – that one attempt coming from Thompson on a flanker reverse-pass to Marshall late in the Pitt game that fell incomplete.

So in terms of game experience, this year’s group will be much more prepared heading into the season than that group (Pat White) that led WVU to a Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia.

Howard started the final two games of the season and also had considerable playing time in the loss to Kansas State - the sophomore completing 56-of-110 passes for 829 yards and eight touchdowns for the year.

Crest, too, got on the field in 2014 during West Virginia’s blowout victory over Towson and he finished the game completing 3-of-4 passes for 7 yards while also running five times for 27 yards and scoring a touchdown. However, Crest injured his throwing shoulder soon afterward and was basically shelved him for the rest of the year.

Millard, now a senior, appeared in seven games in 2013 and completed 93-of-168 passes for 1,122 yards and six touchdowns while splitting time with Clint Trickett. This year Millard was able to redshirt.

Among the returners, Millard’s biggest strength is his overall knowledge of the offense and the experience he has gained through the years in Holgorsen’s system. Howard’s strengths are his playmaking abilities and competitive nature, while Crest is probably the most athletically gifted of the group.

Sills, an Elkton, Md., resident, once made a verbal commitment as an eighth grader to attend USC before opening up his recruitment when Coach Lane Kiffin was fired. Sills played in just three games this year before suffering a broken ankle that ended his senior season. He completed 38-of-74 passes for 594 yards and seven touchdowns after throwing for 2,688 yards and 27 touchdowns as a junior in 2013.

He also ran for more than 800 yards and 21 touchdowns during his junior and senior seasons.

Chugunov, from Skillman, N.J., led Montgomery High to the state playoffs where they lost in the first round to Trenton. Chugunov completed 15-of-31 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns in that game and finished the season completing 196-of-358 passes for 2,855 yards and 27 touchdowns with only three interceptions.

Chugunov earned second team all-state honors in 2014.

All five guys should get plenty of reps, which should make for a very interesting spring this year, to say the least.

***

Final NCAA team statistics were compiled Tuesday morning following Monday night’s national championship game and here is where West Virginia finished in all categories:

3^rd Down Conversion % - 45^th, 0424

3^rd Down Conversion % Defense – 9^th, .314

4^th Down Conversion % - 86^th, .455

4^th Down Conversion % Defense – 12^th, .304

Blocked Kicks – 41^st, 2

Blocked Kicks Allowed – 59^th, 2

Blocked Punts – 16^th, 1

Blocked Punts Allowed – 1^st, 0

Completion Percentage – 23^rd, .637

Defensive TDs – 29^th, 2

Fewest Penalties – 95^th, 85

Fewest Penalties Per Game – 93^rd, 6.54

Fewest Penalty Yards – 95^th, 757

Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game – 88^th, 58.23

First Downs Defense – 55^th, 257

First Downs Offense – 11^th, 337

Fumbles Lost – 124^th, 19

Fumbles Recovered – 124^th, 2

Kickoff Return Defense – 92^nd, 22.33

Kickoff Returns - - 16^th, 23.93

Net Punting – 72^nd, 37.04

Passes Had Intercepted – 54^th, 10

Pass Intercepted – 54^th, 12

Passing Offense – 9^th, 317.0

Passing Yards Allowed – 71^st, 231.2

Passing Yards per Completion – 61^st, 12.12

Punt Return Defense – 119^th, 13.65

Punt Returns – 124^th, 3.00

Red Zone Defense – 85^th, .854

Red Zone Offense – 83^rd, .800

Rushing Defense – 63^rd, 168.2

Rushing Offense – 43^rd, 182.8

Sacks Allowed – 85^th, 2.38

Scoring Defense – 72^nd, 27.6

Scoring Offense – 34^th, 33.5

Tackles For Loss Allowed – 101^st, 6.85

Team Passing Efficiency – 33^rd, 140.82

Team Passing Efficiency Defense – 28^th, 116.24

Team Sacks – 99^th, 1.54

Team Tackles For Loss – 47^th, 6.4

Time of Possession – 59^th, 29.52

Total Defense – 66^th, 399.4

Total Offense – 12^th, 499.8

Turnover Margin – 119^th, -1.15

Turnovers Gained – 113^th, 14

Turnovers Lost – 118^th, 29

Winning Percentage – 56^th, .538

And, here is where West Virginia players finished among the nation’s top 20:

Completion Percentage – Clint Trickett, 11^th, .671

Completions Per Game – Clint Trickett, 6^th, 25.55

Field Goals per Game – Josh Lambert, 1^st, 2.31

Kickoff Return TDs – Mario Alford, 2^nd, 2

Kickoff Returns – Mario Alford, 8^th, 28.6

Passing Yards Per Game – Clint Trickett, 10^th, 298.6

Receiving TDs – Mario Alford, 12^th, 11; Kevin White, 19^th, 10

Receiving Yards – Kevin White, 6^th, 1,447

Receiving Yards Per Game – Kevin White, 8^th, 111.3

Receptions Per Game – Kevin White, 6^th, 8.4

Scoring – Josh Lambert, 8^th, 10.4

***

Wide receiver Kevin White’s invitation to this year’s Senior Bowl makes it 11 years in a row that West Virginia has had at least one player in college football’s top all-star game.

Defensive end Will Clarke and running back Charles Sims were invited to last year’s Senior Bowl, played annually in Mobile, Alabama. Overall, White will make the 49^th West Virginia player to participate in the game.

This year’s Senior Bowl will be played on Saturday, January 24 and will be televised nationally on the NFL Network.

White could be a mid-to-late first round pick in this year’s NFL Draft. Wide receiver Mario Alford is also a draft possibility this year because of his outstanding speed and versatility.

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