MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - There is just something about having some big, physical pass catchers on your football team.

 

Although Georgia’s Leonard Pope played tight end, I can remember how much fear he struck into the minds of West Virginia’s defensive coaches a decade ago when they started game-planning for the Bulldogs prior to the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl.

 

Here was the possibility of Pope, a 6-foot-8-inch man standing tall out in the slot, going up against defenders nearly a foot shorter than him in certain areas of the field, particularly down the seams.

 

“This guy is so big he can eat peanuts off the top of our guys’ helmets,” former WVU coach Rich Rodriguez said of Pope.

 

But inexplicably, Georgia didn’t take advantage of its big advantage with Pope in the passing game until the Bulldogs got behind 28-0 early in the second quarter. And when they did finally go to him, he really hurt West Virginia’s defense and it opened up other areas of the field for the Bulldogs to exploit.

 

Pope ended up catching six passes for 50 yards and an important touchdown near the end of the first half to get Georgia back into the game. By the fourth quarter, West Virginia’s defense was running on fumes and the Bulldogs simply ran out of time.

 

That’s just one example of how a how a big, physical pass-catching target can impact a football game.

 

West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen is mostly known for the “system” wide receivers he’s been involved with through the years, smaller guys such as Danny Amendola, Patrick Edwards and Wes Welker at other places, as well as the current guys Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and Mario Alford that he’s had at West Virginia.

 

But if you more closely examine Holgorsen’s history, you will notice that he’s also had lots of success with bigger, more physical pass-catching targets as well.

 

Justin Blackmon stands 6-feet-1 inches and weighs more than 200 pounds. Go research what Holgorsen was able to do with him, or Michael Crabtree, a 6-foot-1-inch, 215 pounder. 

 

Of course, there is also Kevin White and his very healthy 6-foot-3-inch, 216-pound frame that the Chicago Bears are eager to finally unleash on NFL defensive backs this fall.

 

Bigger is not always better, but bigger can sometimes make things a whole lot easier for the offense. WVU wide receivers coach Tyron Carrier explains.

 

“First of all, my big guys are as tough as can be,” he said. “Anything that comes around them they catch it and whoever is trying to deliver the blow they’ve got to be prepared for it because they are going to bring it back. They intimidate those guys on the other side of the ball.”

 

Intimidation is one thing; production is something entirely different.

 

Think back to the late 1990s when Shawn Foreman was hurting opposing defenses with his size, his athleticism and those huge pair of hands that enabled him to go up in the air and get the football. Quarterback Marc Bulger was one of the most accurate passers ever, but accuracy didn’t matter that much with Foreman on the receiving end because he was big enough and strong enough to go up and catch those passes that weren’t perfect.

 

It was the same deal a few years later with Chris Henry. The Mountaineers’ best pass play when Henry was on the field was “throw it up in the air to Chris, on two!”

 

Well, this year Holgorsen has two receivers who can put pressure on defenses simply because of how big and strong they are - 6-foot-2-inch, 203-pound sophomore Gary Jennings and 6-foot-1-inch, 200-pound junior Ka'Raun White.

 

These guys give WVU a physical presence that can’t be coached. Don’t discount, too, the value they can bring to the team in the run game as downfield blockers.

 

“Gary is strong. He’s very, very physically strong,” admitted Mountaineer defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, whose defenders are tasked with covering him every day. “He can impose his will on you and he goes up and gets the ball, so will Ka'Raun. He brings the same deal as well.”

 

Carrier says having some bigger receivers working certain areas of the field, coupled with the fleet pass catchers the Mountaineers have on the flanks, can put more pressure on the defense.

 

Of equal importance, it can also improve a quarterback’s passing accuracy.

 

“It makes it very easy for the quarterbacks to hit their targets,” Carrier explained.

 

That certainly makes sense. A seam pass or a deep out thrown to a 5-foot-9-inch guy is a lot tougher to complete than one going to someone who stands 6-2 or 6-3, so having those bigger guys out there to catch the ball is like the offense possessing a security blanket, especially on third downs when the completions are much tougher to get.

 

“I tell (Jennings) ‘you are my peace,’” Carrier said.

 

Jennings’ production last year came in small bursts - four catches for 28 yards against Liberty, one catch for 20 yards against Kansas and two catches for 68 yards and a touchdown against Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl.

 

But the knowledge he gained last season as a true freshman should really help him in 2016.

 

“I learned a lot of things over the course of the year, it is quite amazing,” he said. “I learned how to run routes differently and I learned how to just do a bunch of different things that have built me up as a receiver. You don’t know what you don’t know until you learn something else.”

 

Such as learning how to use his big body to his advantage?

 

“The coaches stress physicality, they stress route running and they stress a lot of things other than physicality as well, but it’s a very important part of being a receiver and part of my game as well,” Jennings said. “It helps out a lot.”

 

Indeed, it does.

 

Since Carrier’s arrival midway through spring ball last March, he has been drilling into his receivers’ minds the importance of mastering their technique and paying close attention to detail. There is so much more to being a productive college wide receiver than just running fast and catching the football.

 

It includes accountability, reliability and dependability.

 

It also includes having some ‘swag’ that all of the really good receiver corps you can think of through the years possessed. That’s how those great Miami wide receivers used to always go about their business.

 

Well, of course, West Virginia is not there yet with this group of receivers, but you get the sense that is the direction Carrier would like to take his guys.

 

Having some speedy, deep threats to put vertical pressure on the defense is a start, for sure, but adding some physicality to the deal with guys such as Jennings and White can give the Mountaineers yet another dimension to their offense - something last year’s passing attack really didn’t possess, at least in a consistent manner.

 

It’s something definitely worth keeping an eye on this season.

 

“I don’t know if we’re going to face a better receiving corps in the Big 12 this year,” Gibson admitted. “They’re loaded out there. They just keep running guys in. They all look the same. They’re all fast. They all can catch.”

 

Some of the guys out there catching the passes just happen to be little bit bigger, too.