Photo by: Drew Mathis
WVU Fall Training Camp Report #6
August 11, 2021 05:14 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It was a heavy workday for the West Virginia University football team on day six of preseason camp.
It was one full squad this morning up at the Steve Antoline Family Practice Facility with the team doing lots of inside run and teamwork. Officials were also on hand for today's practice, which began around 10 a.m. and concluded at 12:45 p.m. following some two-minute work.
Overall, there was some good in all three phases, but coach Neal Brown thought too many guys were on the ground today when they shouldn't have been.
"You talk about compete-with and what that means is we want to compete as hard as we can against offense and defense, but at the same time we want to take everybody that goes into this practice into the Maryland game," he said. "We just didn't do a great job of that with too many guys on the ground, and defensively, we had poor fundamentals in tackling. We gave up some big plays, and offensively, we didn't execute in some key situations at the end of the game, but the defense stepped up and played a really nice two-minute drill."
Brown thought the offense performed well this morning during third-down situations.
"But it's too much up and down," he admitted. "For us to be a really good football team, or a great football team, we've got to be consistent, and for us to be consistent, our best players and the guys that are veterans, they've got to lead with consistency, and we're not there yet.
"Here is the thing with this team, we're talented and we've got some guys that have played football, and now it's time to take the kids gloves off," Brown added. "When it's time to work, it's time to work, and when it's time to play, we can play, but it was a work day today."
Brown said football must be played with emotion, but teams cannot get too emotional. There's a distinct difference between the two.
"Our Achilles heel here for way too long - before I was here and the last two years - is we've been too emotional," he explained. "And when you are emotional others can dictate your reactions. Until we get mature enough to be able to play the game with emotion without being emotional, we're not going to be what we want to be."
There were some noteworthy individual plays during today's practice on both sides of the ball. Receiver Sam Brown had a great block to spring a swing pass to freshman running back Justin Johnson Jr. for a long gainer.
Jackie Matthews outfought Bryce Ford-Wheaton for a 50-50 ball on the near sideline for a tremendous pass breakup. True freshman receiver Kaden Prather made a great adjustment on a downfield pass to the near sideline to come up with an acrobatic catch, and true freshman safety Davis Mallinger came up with a bobbled ball to return it for a touchdown for the defense.
There were other newcomers sprinkled in with the veteran plays such as true freshman Wyatt Milum at right tackle and Penn State transfer Lance Dixon at weakside linebacker.
"I just think you've got to throw guys in there and see how they respond," Brown said. "How do you know if they're ready if you don't give them those opportunities? We put them in there and we'll evaluate the film and see how it went."
Day Six Preseason Camp Tidbits …
* I counted at least a half-dozen NFL scouts observing today's practice, which gives you an indication of the type of talent Neal Brown and his coaching staff have been recruiting the last couple of years.
* John Skinner, a center on West Virginia's 1962 team that won eight games and defeated Syracuse for the first time ever at old Archbold Stadium, took in today's practice with his son-in-law. Skinner, a retired attorney living in Charles Town, West Virginia, said he is spending the week vacationing in nearby Deep Creek Lake, Maryland.
* It's difficult for me to think of a wide receiver that I've seen here with better hands than Reese Smith. That dude catches absolutely everything near him, no matter how high or how low the passes are. He's so good I bet you he could catch them with his elbows!
* Penn State transfer Lance Dixon certainly looks the part in pads. The Oak Park, Michigan, resident played nine games for the Nittany Lions last year, finishing with 10 total tackles including seven solos and 2½ tackles for losses. Dixon has four years of college eligibility with the Mountaineers.
* Freshman Ja'Corey Hammett, who is still nursing a knee injury from high school, played at Miami Northwestern High - the same prep program that produced standout WVU linebacker Robert Pickett who played on the 1989 Fiesta Bowl team. Varsity Club Director Dale Wolfley asked Hammett if he knew who Pickett was and Hammett said he did.
* Players made available to the media following today's practice included wide receiver Winston Wright Jr., running back Leddie Brown, cornerback Nicktroy Fortune and linebacker Exree Loe.
Brown was asked how he got the first name Leddie. He said his father named him Leddie in honor of his uncle Leddie Brown, a Philadelphia police officer who was killed in the line of duty two years before Leddie was born. What a touching story! Credit goes to veteran reporter Bob Hertzel for asking the question.
* Count Winston Wright Jr. among those who believe Jarret Doege is throwing the ball better this camp than at any time since he transferred here from Bowling Green. Wright attributes it to the hard work they put in this summer on their own getting their timing down.
* Coach Neal Brown has said on a number of occasions that the return game is a big priority for his team this fall. Wright Jr., one of the guys back deep on kickoffs, said he's been working hard on pressing blocks and hitting the seams more quickly.
Based on how well kickoffs were blocked, Brown thought there were some big returns left on the field last year.
* Incidentally, Wright Jr. said he's added five pounds of muscle this summer and is up to 185 for fall camp.
* Loe admitted after today's practice that the defensive communication needs to improve in the coming days.
* Bruce Feldman recently came up with his list of college football's "Athletic Freaks" and two West Virginia University players made the 101-player listing – No. 38, defensive tackle Jordan Jefferson and No. 51, wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton.
* Yesterday, WVU Director of Athletics Shane Lyons was one of 23 individuals appointed by the NCAA Board of Governors to sit on a working committee tasked with charting the future of the organization as it prepares for its special constitution in November.
With all of the weighty issues going on in college sports today, this 23-person committee is going to be establishing a template for how the college sports industry is going to operate well into the future.
* Thursday is the team's first day off from preseason camp. The Mountaineers will resume light work on Friday. Saturday, the team will be inside the stadium for an officiated scrimmage that will be closed to the general public.
* Word from the Mountaineer Ticket Office is ticket sales have been steady since it was announced late last month that sales for the Virginia Tech game have been suspended. I'm hearing interest is picking up for the home opener against LIU on Saturday, Sept. 11, at 5 p.m. That's a Coca-Cola Family Day game, which includes a $25 concession voucher when you buy four tickets.
Tickets for West Virginia's five home games against LIU, Texas Tech on Oct. 2, Iowa State on Oct. 30, Oklahoma State on Nov. 6 and Texas on Nov. 20 remain on sale and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by calling toll-free 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
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