Football Notebook
July 31, 2017 11:18 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Sifting through some of Dana Holgorsen’s pre-camp comments to the media on Sunday evening …
On his team’s potential … “I think the potential is pretty good,” he said. “You look at all of the projections out there, we are supposed to stink (picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 preseason media poll). But we are in a pretty good spot. Our depth is pretty good. Putting together our special teams stuff, we have a lot to choose from.
“We have been building this team to the point where our second team guys look like our first team guys.”
On the health status of starting weakside linebacker David Long Jr. and backup center Jacob Buccigrossi … “The two knee guys are way ahead of schedule. Whether they miss one game to four games, we are going to get them back pretty quick. We’ll have a full roster come Big 12 time,” he said.
Long was seen jogging along the sidelines during Sunday’s practice and is considered to be West Virginia’s top defensive playmaker.
Buccigrossi earned praise for his play during the spring as the team’s backup center before going down with a knee injury in late March.
Holgorsen said former Tennessee transfer Ray Raulerson had a good summer and starting left guard Kyle Bosch will also get some work at center for insurance behind top snapper Matt Jones.
Meanwhile, Dylan Tonkery will get the first crack at Long’s weakside linebacker job until he returns.
On offensive tweaks they are considering for this season … “Yeah, there are going to be changes,” he said. “We have a different type of quarterback this year than we had last year so that’s going to change things. It’s been fun to watch (Will Grier) progress. I haven’t really seen him with the ball since the spring game.”
On having some bigger, more physical wide receivers to work with this year than in past seasons … “I like those body types, the bigger-type guys,” Holgorsen admitted.
Of the 15 wide receivers currently on the Mountaineer roster, 13 are listed at 6-feet or taller and four are at least 6-feet-3 inches tall.
And of the 15, seven weigh at least 200 pounds.
“Those are the body types that we’re looking for,” he said.
On the development of junior college transfer David Israel as the team’s No. 3 quarterback this year … "He doesn’t know what we call inside zone, which is the easiest thing we do,” Holgorsen said.
“He doesn’t know which way is which. It’s not his fault because he just got here. But we have to bring him along.”
Holgorsen said offensive coordinator Jake Spavital will have to spend some extra time with Israel getting him up to speed to the point where he is capable of running the offense if the situation arises, but in a perfect world it would be best to redshirt him this season.
“Hopefully, we’re not in that position (where he needs to play), but we have to bring him along, which means we will force-feed him reps.”
On having a five-week preseason camp this year, which is a week longer than in prior seasons … “Last year, we had four weeks plus two days and I was like, ‘God, I don’t know what I’m going to do with them.’ It’s something we’re going to have to be creative with.
“They’re going to have a day off during camp, and that’s never happened before. I made a big deal to them (Sunday) morning when we met with them. ‘You’re going to have more rest and relaxation time, but camp is going to be camp and it’s still going to be hard.’
“The thing about it is it’s going to be long so we have to be creative on keeping their attention,” Holgorsen said.
Typically, week three is usually when players’ attention spans begin to wander when classes start and the rest of the students get back on campus.
That will be something Holgorsen and his staff will keep an eye on the week after Fan Day, which takes place on Sunday, August 13.
Game-week prep for Virginia Tech won’t begin until Monday, Aug. 28, although the Mountaineers will likely start preliminary work on the Hokies well before that.
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