Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Versatile Quartet at Running Back Ready To Contribute
August 06, 2018 07:22 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Two of the most impactful players in college football happen to reside on West Virginia's offense - quarterback Will Grier and wide receiver David Sills V.
Everyone knows about them.
Hardcore college football fans also know about 1,000-yard receiver Gary Jennings Jr., speedster Marcus Simms and Alabama transfer T.J. Simmons, who join Sills to make up the rest of West Virginia's four-man wide receiver rotation.
The offensive line could have the best pair of bookend tackles in the Big 12 in Yodny Cajuste and Colton McKivitz, and the inside guys, Josh Sills, Isaiah Hardy, Jacob Buccigrossi and Matt Jones, continue to progress nicely.
West Virginia has tight ends now to utilize in the pass and run games.
The only real question concerning the offense this year is who is going to carry the football when Grier is not throwing it?
Justin Crawford, a rare two-time, 1,000-yard rusher, departed before last year's Heart of Dallas Bowl and the two guys behind him, Kennedy McKoy and Martell Pettaway, combined to carry the ball 16 times for 35 yards in West Virginia's disappointing 30-14 loss to Utah.
Collectively, the running game accounted for just 29 yards when factoring in the two times since-departed backup quarterback Chris Chugunov was sacked that afternoon.
But that was last year.
Grier is confident the four guys he's handing the ball to this year are more than capable of getting the job done this fall.
"(Monday) was our first day in pads, and I'm really pleased with them, their burst upfield and staying north and south," he said. "It's a really good group, and I like where they're at."
It's not a group of clones either because each guy brings something a little different to the table, whether it's McKoy's versatility running and catching the football, Alec Sinkfield's fast twitch and quick burst, or Pettaway's straight-ahead power.
Then there's the new guy in the room this year, 211-pound freshman Leddie Brown, who some believe could end up being a bigger, faster version of Wendell Smallwood. The two were once high school teammates at Eastern Christian Academy along with Sills V, who certainly knows what Brown is capable of doing.
"I remember we were playing in Texas, and I just remember him running the ball so hard, and he was just a freshman then," Sills V recalled. "I think he ran for over 100 yards, and he was running people over and that's when I knew he was different."
Grier hasn't seen that much of Brown yet, but admits he sure does look good in pads.
"Leddie might be the biggest (of the four)," Grier said. "Once he develops a little bit in the weight room, he's going to be real, real big."
Sinkfield is probably the one guy in the group capable of hitting a home run every time he touches the football, while Pettaway is the ball carrier most likely to keep the sticks moving on third and short or the one who can power the football in from the 1.
McKoy? He does a little bit of everything.
"Kennedy is just a great football player," Grier noted. "He's got a knack for it."
If you recall, it was McKoy who offensive coordinator Jake Spavital put in the Wildcat formation last year against Oklahoma when Grier was out with a broken finger, and he responded by rushing for a career-high 137 yards.
Before that, he was primarily used as West Virginia's change-of-pace guy behind Crawford. He could also line up in the slot and be utilized in the passing game.
Now, we'll see this year if McKoy or one of the others is capable of stepping up their games to complement Grier's lethal right arm.
"Nobody has a job right now," McKoy admitted Monday afternoon. "We're all pushing each other, and we're all rooting for each other. We're all together."
McKoy said a season-ending meeting with new running backs coach Marquel Blackwell and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital got him in the right frame of mind to attack summer conditioning.
He said his top goals this summer were to get bigger, stronger and more durable to be able to put himself in a position to become the team's every-down back.
"Right now with my game, I'm working on the little things like my footwork part of things and my technique part of things," McKoy said. "We have a lot of good competition in our room with Pettaway and Sinkfield. For me, it's more about staying consistent to earn that role."
And McKoy knows it won't be easy because the other three guys out there are wanting to do the same thing.
All of them have their individual strengths, which means the guy who goes out on the field first against Tennessee is probably going to be the one who best fits what Grier and Co. are doing in the passing game.
"I'm more of an all-around guy," McKoy admitted. "I can go out and catch the ball in the slot a little bit and still do some things in the backfield. Sinkfield is probably our smoothest guy. His cuts are real smooth; he's got good hips and good feet.
"And you know Pettaway is going to run real hard every time he touches the ball," McKoy added. "It was our first day in pads (Monday) and we saw some good things out of Leddie."
Whoever that guy is (or guys), he (they) is (are) going to have to adhere to this year's team motto: "Trim the fat."
McKoy explained it this way, "Everybody goes hard and if you're not going hard then you are going to get out. Everybody plays to higher standards.
"Just how we attacked spring practice and how we attacked film … everybody was held to a higher standard no matter if they were a projected starter or a projected scout-team guy," McKoy explained. "It's about how can we be mentally tough, what team is all-in and who can come together and get the job done at the end of the season?" he concluded.
Everyone knows about them.
Hardcore college football fans also know about 1,000-yard receiver Gary Jennings Jr., speedster Marcus Simms and Alabama transfer T.J. Simmons, who join Sills to make up the rest of West Virginia's four-man wide receiver rotation.
The offensive line could have the best pair of bookend tackles in the Big 12 in Yodny Cajuste and Colton McKivitz, and the inside guys, Josh Sills, Isaiah Hardy, Jacob Buccigrossi and Matt Jones, continue to progress nicely.
West Virginia has tight ends now to utilize in the pass and run games.
The only real question concerning the offense this year is who is going to carry the football when Grier is not throwing it?
Justin Crawford, a rare two-time, 1,000-yard rusher, departed before last year's Heart of Dallas Bowl and the two guys behind him, Kennedy McKoy and Martell Pettaway, combined to carry the ball 16 times for 35 yards in West Virginia's disappointing 30-14 loss to Utah.
Collectively, the running game accounted for just 29 yards when factoring in the two times since-departed backup quarterback Chris Chugunov was sacked that afternoon.
But that was last year.
Grier is confident the four guys he's handing the ball to this year are more than capable of getting the job done this fall.
"(Monday) was our first day in pads, and I'm really pleased with them, their burst upfield and staying north and south," he said. "It's a really good group, and I like where they're at."
It's not a group of clones either because each guy brings something a little different to the table, whether it's McKoy's versatility running and catching the football, Alec Sinkfield's fast twitch and quick burst, or Pettaway's straight-ahead power.
Then there's the new guy in the room this year, 211-pound freshman Leddie Brown, who some believe could end up being a bigger, faster version of Wendell Smallwood. The two were once high school teammates at Eastern Christian Academy along with Sills V, who certainly knows what Brown is capable of doing.
"I remember we were playing in Texas, and I just remember him running the ball so hard, and he was just a freshman then," Sills V recalled. "I think he ran for over 100 yards, and he was running people over and that's when I knew he was different."
Grier hasn't seen that much of Brown yet, but admits he sure does look good in pads.
"Leddie might be the biggest (of the four)," Grier said. "Once he develops a little bit in the weight room, he's going to be real, real big."
Sinkfield is probably the one guy in the group capable of hitting a home run every time he touches the football, while Pettaway is the ball carrier most likely to keep the sticks moving on third and short or the one who can power the football in from the 1.
McKoy? He does a little bit of everything.
"Kennedy is just a great football player," Grier noted. "He's got a knack for it."
If you recall, it was McKoy who offensive coordinator Jake Spavital put in the Wildcat formation last year against Oklahoma when Grier was out with a broken finger, and he responded by rushing for a career-high 137 yards.
Before that, he was primarily used as West Virginia's change-of-pace guy behind Crawford. He could also line up in the slot and be utilized in the passing game.
Now, we'll see this year if McKoy or one of the others is capable of stepping up their games to complement Grier's lethal right arm.
"Nobody has a job right now," McKoy admitted Monday afternoon. "We're all pushing each other, and we're all rooting for each other. We're all together."
McKoy said a season-ending meeting with new running backs coach Marquel Blackwell and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital got him in the right frame of mind to attack summer conditioning.
He said his top goals this summer were to get bigger, stronger and more durable to be able to put himself in a position to become the team's every-down back.
"Right now with my game, I'm working on the little things like my footwork part of things and my technique part of things," McKoy said. "We have a lot of good competition in our room with Pettaway and Sinkfield. For me, it's more about staying consistent to earn that role."
And McKoy knows it won't be easy because the other three guys out there are wanting to do the same thing.
All of them have their individual strengths, which means the guy who goes out on the field first against Tennessee is probably going to be the one who best fits what Grier and Co. are doing in the passing game.
"I'm more of an all-around guy," McKoy admitted. "I can go out and catch the ball in the slot a little bit and still do some things in the backfield. Sinkfield is probably our smoothest guy. His cuts are real smooth; he's got good hips and good feet.
"And you know Pettaway is going to run real hard every time he touches the ball," McKoy added. "It was our first day in pads (Monday) and we saw some good things out of Leddie."
Whoever that guy is (or guys), he (they) is (are) going to have to adhere to this year's team motto: "Trim the fat."
McKoy explained it this way, "Everybody goes hard and if you're not going hard then you are going to get out. Everybody plays to higher standards.
"Just how we attacked spring practice and how we attacked film … everybody was held to a higher standard no matter if they were a projected starter or a projected scout-team guy," McKoy explained. "It's about how can we be mentally tough, what team is all-in and who can come together and get the job done at the end of the season?" he concluded.
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