Ka'Raun White
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
A Healthy White Could Be a Big Boost to WVU's Passing Game
August 20, 2017 07:33 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The time senior wide receiver Ka'Raun White spent away from the football field has helped him appreciate the time he's now spending on it.
"I was watching a lot but I was just thinking in my head, 'alright, man, when am I going to get back out there?'" he recently recalled. "I was asking the doctors and the trainers all types of questions. It was a little hard, but I got used to it."
White was beginning to really blossom into one of West Virginia's most reliable pass catchers toward the end of last season right before he went down with a broken ankle in the first half of the Mountaineers' late-November, 49-19 victory over the Cyclones.
He was on the verge of having a big day with a couple of early catches, including a 34-yarder for a touchdown when he caught a quick slant from quarterback Skyler Howard, made a move to the inside and blew past two Cyclone defenders to reach pay dirt.
But later in the half, Ka'Raun got tangled up with a Cyclone defender attempting to catch a deep pass, his right foot coming down awkwardly and causing a fracture to his lower leg.
For the Mountaineers, his injury couldn't have come at a worse time because White was really the only antidote they had to teams loading up the box to stop West Virginia's running game.
The development really started during midseason.
He hauled in a pretty 29-yard touchdown reception in WVU's big, 24-20 victory at Texas and paced the offense with six catches for 82 yards.
White also grabbed six passes for 60 yards in the loss at Oklahoma State and had a team-high-tying four grabs, including one for a touchdown, in the TCU win.
His season totals - 48 catches for 583 yards and five touchdowns - were second to Daikiel Shorts Jr.'s 55 catches for 815 yards heading into the regular season finale against Baylor.
So, it's not a coincidence West Virginia's passing game suffered mightily after White went down in the Iowa State game.
Against the Bears, the Mountaineers ran the ball 62 times on a chilly December afternoon while connecting on only 10 passes for 111 yards. Then, in the Russell Athletic Bowl game against Miami, West Virginia's passing attack struggled to find any rhythm in a 31-14 defeat.
WVU completed 17 passes that resulted in just 134 yards, the longest connection going for only 26 yards. Consequently, Miami was able to bring most of its defenders up to the line of scrimmage and dare the Mountaineers to throw the ball down the field.
West Virginia couldn't.
Having a healthy Ka'Raun White on the field could have made a difference in that game, either by catching quick slants and beating press coverage, or by getting down the field and using his size, strength and athleticism to outmuscle Hurricane defensive backs for 50-50 balls.
That is hopefully what a healthy Ka'Raun White can bring to West Virginia's passing attack in 2017.
It's been a long road to recovery for Ka'Raun, forced to sit out the entire spring and a portion of summer conditioning before he was finally cleared to resume work.
During his time away from the field rehabbing his leg, all he could do was catch tennis balls out of the JUGS machine or work on his upper body with the strength and conditioning staff. Ka'Raun said he caught 200 tennis balls in a row each day and if he dropped one before reaching 200, he would start over.
"I haven't dropped anything during live periods yet," White said a few weeks ago. "I was talking to David (Sills V) and he was like, 'catching those JUGS have helped a lot.' It's almost like second nature catching balls now."
He also worked really hard to develop his upper-body strength with the goal this year of warding off the corners, safeties and outside linebackers that he is going to encounter when he has to catch balls in traffic. You can see a noticeable difference in his chest, shoulders and arms.
"The strength staff got me right," White admitted.
And, once he was cleared to begin running full speed, he made the most of the time he had left leading into fall camp. He got with quarterback Will Grier as much as possible to work on their timing - something his brother, Kevin, advised him to do.
Kevin and Clint Trickett worked every day together on their timing during the summertime in 2014 and their hard work led to the great season West Virginia enjoyed in 2014 throwing the football.
"The coaches have been saying we need to work on our communication or else we're not going to be successful this season," White noted. "It's not just me, but all of the receivers out there."
Mountaineer fans would like nothing better than to see it happen once again this fall with Will Grier throwing passes and Ka'Raun White on the receiving end.
White admits his downfield burst has returned, but now it's a matter of getting his confidence back.
Hopefully that come when the games start counting, beginning on Sunday, Sept. 3, over in Landover, Maryland.
"It's time to start watching film, finding the weaknesses of our opponents, and getting to work," he concluded.
Indeed, game week is rapidly approaching.
"I was watching a lot but I was just thinking in my head, 'alright, man, when am I going to get back out there?'" he recently recalled. "I was asking the doctors and the trainers all types of questions. It was a little hard, but I got used to it."
White was beginning to really blossom into one of West Virginia's most reliable pass catchers toward the end of last season right before he went down with a broken ankle in the first half of the Mountaineers' late-November, 49-19 victory over the Cyclones.
He was on the verge of having a big day with a couple of early catches, including a 34-yarder for a touchdown when he caught a quick slant from quarterback Skyler Howard, made a move to the inside and blew past two Cyclone defenders to reach pay dirt.
But later in the half, Ka'Raun got tangled up with a Cyclone defender attempting to catch a deep pass, his right foot coming down awkwardly and causing a fracture to his lower leg.
For the Mountaineers, his injury couldn't have come at a worse time because White was really the only antidote they had to teams loading up the box to stop West Virginia's running game.
The development really started during midseason.
He hauled in a pretty 29-yard touchdown reception in WVU's big, 24-20 victory at Texas and paced the offense with six catches for 82 yards.
White also grabbed six passes for 60 yards in the loss at Oklahoma State and had a team-high-tying four grabs, including one for a touchdown, in the TCU win.
His season totals - 48 catches for 583 yards and five touchdowns - were second to Daikiel Shorts Jr.'s 55 catches for 815 yards heading into the regular season finale against Baylor.
So, it's not a coincidence West Virginia's passing game suffered mightily after White went down in the Iowa State game.
Against the Bears, the Mountaineers ran the ball 62 times on a chilly December afternoon while connecting on only 10 passes for 111 yards. Then, in the Russell Athletic Bowl game against Miami, West Virginia's passing attack struggled to find any rhythm in a 31-14 defeat.
WVU completed 17 passes that resulted in just 134 yards, the longest connection going for only 26 yards. Consequently, Miami was able to bring most of its defenders up to the line of scrimmage and dare the Mountaineers to throw the ball down the field.
West Virginia couldn't.
Having a healthy Ka'Raun White on the field could have made a difference in that game, either by catching quick slants and beating press coverage, or by getting down the field and using his size, strength and athleticism to outmuscle Hurricane defensive backs for 50-50 balls.
That is hopefully what a healthy Ka'Raun White can bring to West Virginia's passing attack in 2017.
It's been a long road to recovery for Ka'Raun, forced to sit out the entire spring and a portion of summer conditioning before he was finally cleared to resume work.
During his time away from the field rehabbing his leg, all he could do was catch tennis balls out of the JUGS machine or work on his upper body with the strength and conditioning staff. Ka'Raun said he caught 200 tennis balls in a row each day and if he dropped one before reaching 200, he would start over.
"I haven't dropped anything during live periods yet," White said a few weeks ago. "I was talking to David (Sills V) and he was like, 'catching those JUGS have helped a lot.' It's almost like second nature catching balls now."
He also worked really hard to develop his upper-body strength with the goal this year of warding off the corners, safeties and outside linebackers that he is going to encounter when he has to catch balls in traffic. You can see a noticeable difference in his chest, shoulders and arms.
"The strength staff got me right," White admitted.
And, once he was cleared to begin running full speed, he made the most of the time he had left leading into fall camp. He got with quarterback Will Grier as much as possible to work on their timing - something his brother, Kevin, advised him to do.
Kevin and Clint Trickett worked every day together on their timing during the summertime in 2014 and their hard work led to the great season West Virginia enjoyed in 2014 throwing the football.
"The coaches have been saying we need to work on our communication or else we're not going to be successful this season," White noted. "It's not just me, but all of the receivers out there."
Mountaineer fans would like nothing better than to see it happen once again this fall with Will Grier throwing passes and Ka'Raun White on the receiving end.
White admits his downfield burst has returned, but now it's a matter of getting his confidence back.
Hopefully that come when the games start counting, beginning on Sunday, Sept. 3, over in Landover, Maryland.
"It's time to start watching film, finding the weaknesses of our opponents, and getting to work," he concluded.
Indeed, game week is rapidly approaching.
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