Defense Controls Gold-Blue Game
April 25, 2015 05:03 PM | General
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| Quarterback Skyler Howard attempts a pass during today's Gold-Blue Game at Milan Puskar Stadium. | |
| All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo | |
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Dana Holgorsen has been heaping praise on his defense all spring and it was his defense that came up big in today’s Gold-Blue Spring Game at Milan Puskar Stadium.
After allowing the first offense to score a touchdown on the opening possession of the scrimmage, the defense tightened up and permitted only one more score, that coming on a 45-yard Josh Lambert third quarter field goal.
Besides that: not much.
“They have a lot of experience and I can’t give Tony Gibson enough credit,” said Holgorsen. “He deserves all the credit for where we’re at. Getting us in a place defensively is something that we’ve obviously focused on around here for three or four years. We’re developing a lot of depth on that side of the ball. They are confident and they know what they’re going. Things are looking pretty good right there.”
The five quarterbacks who played this afternoon completed just 15-of-43 passes for 188 yards with two interceptions. No. 1 quarterback Skyler Howard was the most effective of the five, completing 9 of his 22 attempts for 121 yards, including a 48-yard hookup to Shelton Gibson down the near sideline that led to Jacky Marcellus’ 1-yard touchdown plunge.
This is what Holgorsen had to say about Howard’s performance this afternoon, “He does a great job taking care of the ball. He does a great job of putting the ball in play. He needs to be probably a little more consistent with his throws. From an operations perspective, getting on the same page as the guys around him is only going to help him get better and better.”
Gibson led all receivers with 84 yards on four catches, but it was the three receptions made by backup quarterback William Crest, two of those going for first downs, that created the most buzz afterward.
“He’s one of our better football players,” said Holgorsen. “A lot of this is what spring football is all about – the ability to experiment with different people at different things. I think we would all agree that he’s a pretty good football player, so we’re going to continue to do things and figure out what he does best.”
Crest completed 3-of-5 passes for 31 yards, ran two times for 16 yards, and, according to Holgorsen, could also be a candidate to catch punts this fall if needed.
Freshman running back Donte Thomas-Williams led all ball carriers with 87 yards on 15 attempts, while freshman quarterback David Sills contributed 71 yards on eight rushes. Eight different ball carriers accounted for 201 yards on the ground.
In all, the offense generated 389 yards and 21 first downs.
Sills, Crest, freshman Chris Chugunov, and Austin Hensley wore white jerseys while Howard was in a yellow (non-contact) jersey.
Regular running backs Rushel Shell and Wendell Smallwood did not dress for today’s scrimmage. Defensively, Gibson said there were six regulars not suited up for today’s scrimmage.
“This adds depth and it adds competition every day,” he noted. “Nobody has a starting job right now and we’re going to keep evaluating and they’re going to have to earn it every day and that just makes us better.”
The first and second defenses forced four turnovers, three of those coming in the second half, and nearly had a fifth when Shelton Gibson’s fumble near the sideline bounced out of bounds.
Mykal Manswell and Adid Charles were credited with interceptions, while Jaleel Fields forced a pair of fumbles that were both recovered by Eric Kinsey.
Larry Jefferson was credited with two sacks while Xavier Preston added another. The defense produced 11 negative yardage plays for the scrimmage totaling 40 yards.
Proceeds from today's game once again benefit WVU Children's Hospital.
Briefly:
- Martinsburg’s Justin Arndt was named this year’s Nickolich Award Winner as the top walk-on player in the program this spring. Holgorsen indicated after today’s scrimmage that Arndt was awarded a scholarship for the 2015 season.
“He deserves it,” said Holgorsen.
- At halftime, it was announced that The Pride of West Virginia has been invited to perform at the 2016 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, a great honor for Jay Drury’s Mountaineer marching band.
- Holgorsen heaped high praise on freshman linebacker Xavier Preston, calling him possibly West Virginia’s best defender right now. Preston played last year as a true freshman and is now a contender to start at Sam linebacker.
“Xavier is a kid that we really like and he just keeps getting better every day,” said Gibson. “You could tell he was going to be an impact guy from day one. We played him a little bit in the Alabama game in special packages and then we sat him a few games.
“Coming into the winter workouts you could see him getting bigger, faster, stronger and he’s our biggest linebacker by far at 240 pounds.”
Gibson said Preston has everything a coach looks for in a linebacker.
“By the time he’s done playing here he’s going to be as good as we’ve ever had here, I think,” said Gibson, adding, “in a 10-year period that I’ve coached at West Virginia he’s got all the tools and ability to be as good as anybody.”
-The defense used a scoring system for today’s scrimmage that awarded points for touchdowns, three-and-outs, stops and turnovers.
- No attendance estimate was included on today’s stat sheet handed out down in the team room, but the lower level on the press box side of the stadium appeared to be full.
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