Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Spring Game Answers Some Questions, But More Questions Remain
April 15, 2019 01:28 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – So, what did we learn after watching Saturday's 96-play, split-squad Gold-Blue scrimmage?
We learned that Neal Brown's first West Virginia University football team is going to be a work in progress. The coach said as much during his post-scrimmage remarks.
"There were some really good aspects on the field and some things obviously need to get corrected before we line up and play James Madison at the end of August," he said.
Brown mentioned before spring drills began that he will name a starting quarterback when it becomes clear. Following Saturday's scrimmage, it is not yet clear to him.
"I don't know yet," he admitted. "Will we have a pecking order after this? We may. I'm not going to commit myself to anything right now. I think we've made strides at quarterback, but I don't think we're ready to go play a game just yet."
Based purely on statistics, Oklahoma Austin Kendall had the best afternoon of the four quarterbacks competing for the starting job. His final adjusted passing figures released afterward had him completing 7-of-12 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown for the victorious Gold squad.
That was more accurate than Jack Allison's 11-of-24 passing for 112 yards and a touchdown for the Blue team, but some of that can probably be attributed to the guys Allison was playing with and against.
Freshman Trey Lowe III, also playing for the Gold, was credited with 4 completions in 7 attempts for 51 yards and a touchdown. Lowe showed some elusiveness when he got out into the open field although quarterbacks were not permitted to be tackled.
"I thought Trey had some nice runs," Brown offered. "If we were actually tackling the quarterback he may have had a couple that he would have broken off."
Freshman Trent Jackson attempted 4 passes, completing a pair for 2 yards.
One of Allison's long passes down the near sideline was completed to Ricky Johns but he was ruled out of bounds by the official in front of the play. A replay review may have changed that call, which would have given Allison a passing yardage total similar to Kendall's.
Allison's accuracy also improved later in the scrimmage.
"I thought he was a little tight early," Brown said. "He missed a post ball. I thought his decision making at times was better than it had been throughout the spring. He throws a really nice ball, but we've got to get him not to float around in the pocket. He's got to move up in the pocket and help his offensive linemen."
Pocket awareness is something Kendall needs to improve upon as well.
"What we've got to eliminate with Austin is the negative play. You saw the one where he took a sack, and he spun out of it," Brown explained. "You just can't have big negative plays. I don't think he threw a pick, which is something that he did earlier in the spring, so I think we're growing in that regard.
"And what he needs is reps. That's something you've just got to go out and get a bunch of team reps to understand moving up and moving out of the pocket," Brown said.
We saw all of the quarterbacks attempt numerous passes down the field - something Brown's Troy teams did frequently.
He believes threatening defenses vertically is a must in today's college game.
"Guys in the secondary that are really well coached do a great job of reading routes and those type of things and our guys are no different, so we want to threaten the guys downfield and really give some one-on-one opportunities," Brown said.
Kendall targeted Sam James several times and the sophomore speedster finished with a scrimmage-best four catches for 85 yards, two of those 39-yard-plus grabs on go-routes. On his second long catch of the scrimmage, James made an outstanding adjustment while the football was in the air to snare it before falling backwards out of bounds.
It was an extremely difficult catch to make.
"I didn't see it," Brown said. "I was shielded on the play, but he's a guy that I'm excited about. He runs well. He's coachable. He plays with a lot of energy, and he's very humble but hungry as well. I think his future here is really bright."
Brown also complimented the progress junior right guard Michael Brown has made this spring, calling him the team's most improved player.
"You are talking about a guy that didn't play one single snap of football in high school. I'm really proud of him," Brown said. "He's learning the game and he's learning what's expected of him. He's still got to drop some weight, and I think as he drops weight he's going to be more effective, but he's really strong and explosive."
Defensively, the coach mentioned junior defensive lineman Jeffery Pooler Jr. as one of the most improved players on that unit.
He also singled out the Saturday afternoon play of Stone Wolfley, Exree Loe, Jordan Adams, Derrek Pitts Jr, Shea Campbell, VanDarius Cowan and Keith Washington Jr.
Additionally, Brown noted the exceptional play of the Stills brothers, Darius and Dante, along the defensive line. He called that unit "one of the bright spots" of the spring.
"I don't think we have enough bodies there just yet, but with this system I think you are going to see Darius Stills be a productive player," Brown said. "Dante is starting to learn to play and he's got a ton of ability. At times this spring he's been really difficult to block. Reese Donahue has been real solid, Brenon Thrift has shown some signs and Taijh Alston and Pooler have done some good things."
And although the running backs weren't able to get free much on Saturday, Brown is still very high on what that group can accomplish in 2019. It's simply a matter of getting the guys up front some more experience and developing a couple of more offensive linemen between now and Aug. 31.
In the meantime, Brown said his staff will be on the lookout for more players until the beginning of fall camp.
"We are always going to be creative here in how we build our roster. I think if you look at our running back room we've got competition day in and day out and I think we still need that in a lot of rooms. There are some rooms we don't. We are definitely going to be active this spring and into the summer as far as adding some pieces," he concluded.
Saturday Audio
We learned that Neal Brown's first West Virginia University football team is going to be a work in progress. The coach said as much during his post-scrimmage remarks.
"There were some really good aspects on the field and some things obviously need to get corrected before we line up and play James Madison at the end of August," he said.
Brown mentioned before spring drills began that he will name a starting quarterback when it becomes clear. Following Saturday's scrimmage, it is not yet clear to him.
"I don't know yet," he admitted. "Will we have a pecking order after this? We may. I'm not going to commit myself to anything right now. I think we've made strides at quarterback, but I don't think we're ready to go play a game just yet."
Based purely on statistics, Oklahoma Austin Kendall had the best afternoon of the four quarterbacks competing for the starting job. His final adjusted passing figures released afterward had him completing 7-of-12 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown for the victorious Gold squad.That was more accurate than Jack Allison's 11-of-24 passing for 112 yards and a touchdown for the Blue team, but some of that can probably be attributed to the guys Allison was playing with and against.
Freshman Trey Lowe III, also playing for the Gold, was credited with 4 completions in 7 attempts for 51 yards and a touchdown. Lowe showed some elusiveness when he got out into the open field although quarterbacks were not permitted to be tackled.
"I thought Trey had some nice runs," Brown offered. "If we were actually tackling the quarterback he may have had a couple that he would have broken off."
Freshman Trent Jackson attempted 4 passes, completing a pair for 2 yards.
One of Allison's long passes down the near sideline was completed to Ricky Johns but he was ruled out of bounds by the official in front of the play. A replay review may have changed that call, which would have given Allison a passing yardage total similar to Kendall's.
Allison's accuracy also improved later in the scrimmage.
"I thought he was a little tight early," Brown said. "He missed a post ball. I thought his decision making at times was better than it had been throughout the spring. He throws a really nice ball, but we've got to get him not to float around in the pocket. He's got to move up in the pocket and help his offensive linemen."
Pocket awareness is something Kendall needs to improve upon as well.
"What we've got to eliminate with Austin is the negative play. You saw the one where he took a sack, and he spun out of it," Brown explained. "You just can't have big negative plays. I don't think he threw a pick, which is something that he did earlier in the spring, so I think we're growing in that regard.
"And what he needs is reps. That's something you've just got to go out and get a bunch of team reps to understand moving up and moving out of the pocket," Brown said.
We saw all of the quarterbacks attempt numerous passes down the field - something Brown's Troy teams did frequently.He believes threatening defenses vertically is a must in today's college game.
"Guys in the secondary that are really well coached do a great job of reading routes and those type of things and our guys are no different, so we want to threaten the guys downfield and really give some one-on-one opportunities," Brown said.
Kendall targeted Sam James several times and the sophomore speedster finished with a scrimmage-best four catches for 85 yards, two of those 39-yard-plus grabs on go-routes. On his second long catch of the scrimmage, James made an outstanding adjustment while the football was in the air to snare it before falling backwards out of bounds.
It was an extremely difficult catch to make.
"I didn't see it," Brown said. "I was shielded on the play, but he's a guy that I'm excited about. He runs well. He's coachable. He plays with a lot of energy, and he's very humble but hungry as well. I think his future here is really bright."
Brown also complimented the progress junior right guard Michael Brown has made this spring, calling him the team's most improved player.
"You are talking about a guy that didn't play one single snap of football in high school. I'm really proud of him," Brown said. "He's learning the game and he's learning what's expected of him. He's still got to drop some weight, and I think as he drops weight he's going to be more effective, but he's really strong and explosive."
Defensively, the coach mentioned junior defensive lineman Jeffery Pooler Jr. as one of the most improved players on that unit.
He also singled out the Saturday afternoon play of Stone Wolfley, Exree Loe, Jordan Adams, Derrek Pitts Jr, Shea Campbell, VanDarius Cowan and Keith Washington Jr.
Additionally, Brown noted the exceptional play of the Stills brothers, Darius and Dante, along the defensive line. He called that unit "one of the bright spots" of the spring.
"I don't think we have enough bodies there just yet, but with this system I think you are going to see Darius Stills be a productive player," Brown said. "Dante is starting to learn to play and he's got a ton of ability. At times this spring he's been really difficult to block. Reese Donahue has been real solid, Brenon Thrift has shown some signs and Taijh Alston and Pooler have done some good things."
And although the running backs weren't able to get free much on Saturday, Brown is still very high on what that group can accomplish in 2019. It's simply a matter of getting the guys up front some more experience and developing a couple of more offensive linemen between now and Aug. 31.
In the meantime, Brown said his staff will be on the lookout for more players until the beginning of fall camp.
"We are always going to be creative here in how we build our roster. I think if you look at our running back room we've got competition day in and day out and I think we still need that in a lot of rooms. There are some rooms we don't. We are definitely going to be active this spring and into the summer as far as adding some pieces," he concluded.
Saturday Audio
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