Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
WVU Fall Training Camp Report #10
August 16, 2021 04:51 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Wet-ball work was on the menu Monday morning for the West Virginia University football team.
Steady rain, at times heavy, gave the Mountaineers an opportunity to handle the football in less than ideal conditions.
Overall, coach Neal Brown thought his team performed well this morning.
"It was good," he said afterward. "It was light rain at some points and other times it really rained hard. It was great work for centers, quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and also for special teams as far as fielding punts and trying to get some holds down with a wet ball. I'm glad we had a little weather today."
Considering the conditions, the wide receivers consistently caught the football during drill and teamwork. During red zone one-on-ones, the receivers made multiple catches in a row, and some nice grabs were made during the team period later in practice.
"We've caught the ball well the entire camp, period, and we caught it well today even with the rain," Brown said.
Sam James made a nice sliding catch in the end zone on a long pass from quarterback Jarret Doege, and later, freshman Kaden Prather made an adjustment on a pass thrown behind him to secure a catch in the corner of the end zone.
Defensively, cornerback Daryl Porter Jr. and safety Alonzo Addae made interceptions.
Brown continues to be impressed with Doege's work behind center with the ones.
"I thought Doege had a really big-time day. I thought he was extremely accurate today. If it was a dry day, I would have said that, but with the rain it was even more so impressive," Brown said.
The team got in 17 periods of solid work, which amounted to about two hours of practice time before the Mountaineers left the field around noon.
"I think it says we're getting a little mentally tougher. We're not letting the elements inhibit us from having a successful day. It was a good, quality practice," Brown said. "We had kind of some ebbs and flows and we've got to be more consistent on both sides.
"I thought the defense was really good on third down. I thought the offense was really effective running the football, and I liked the energy they started practice with," Brown added.
After reviewing the tape of last Saturday's scrimmage inside the stadium, Brown thought the two lines played extremely physical.
"It was by far the most physical, 11-on-11 work we've had in the three years I've been here," he said. "I thought our attention to detail with the ones was good. I thought the twos, and they're young and I don't want to make excuses for them, but our attention to detail wasn't what it needed to be to be able to play the schedule we've got to play."
Tomorrow, Brown said the practice plan calls for lots of situational work.
"None of it is going to be tackle to the ground, but we're going to line up and play a bunch of situations because we need to play, especially our twos," he explained. "We just need to play situational football."
Wednesday is an off day for the team for the first day of the fall semester and Thursday's afternoon practice Brown is terming a "medium" practice.
Friday, the Mountaineers will have their second officiated scrimmage of camp under the lights at Milan Puskar Stadium. Saturday's practice to conclude the week will be a recovery day.
"We've got to continue to show improvement all the way through the 25th when we're at the end of camp. Everything is with urgency now. We're under three weeks now to get ready to play and so we know kind of what our issues are, and we've got to go about fixing them," Brown concluded.
Briefly:
* Assistant coaches Matt Moore and A.J. Jackson and players Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Scottie Young met with media following this morning's practice.
Moore indicated that this year's offensive line has its highest ceiling since he's been here. He also noted a real battle is going on at right tackle between sophomore Parker Moorer and true freshman Wyatt Milum. Moore said Moorer got the one reps during Saturday's scrimmage and today he switched it up and gave Milum the one reps this morning.
* Moore said he feels really good about his top seven, with redshirt freshman Jordan White really counting as a two-for-one player because he backs up both guard positions and can also play center. In addition to White, junior left guard James Gmiter has been getting some snapping work behind starting center Zach Frazier.
* Moore mentioned the hard work Virginia transfer Ja'Quay Hubbard has put in during the offseason getting himself into much better shape. Hubbard is currently working with the twos at left tackle behind starter Brandon Yates.
Speaking of conditioning, Doug Nester has slimmed down to 321 pounds and Moore said his physical conditioning is to the point now where he would have no issue playing him "80 snaps in a game" if needed. Moore said Nester needs to continue working on his pad level and hand placement.
* First-year defensive line coach A.J. Jackson said he would like to have eight or nine players ready by the start of the season because he likes to rotate a lot of players.
* Jackson commented he really has enjoyed watching the daily battles between Akheem Mesidor and Zach Frazier – two high-level young players. Jackson believes Mesidor has the potential to play on Sundays if he continues to work hard and improve.
* Ford-Wheaton admitted the new Robo-QB machine West Virginia purchased during the summer has really helped him improve his downfield pass catching skills, particularly tracking balls over his shoulder. Those have been the catches that have given him the most difficulty in the past.
* I asked safety Scottie Young who Ford-Wheaton reminded him of during his Pac-12 playing days at Arizona and Young mentioned USC receiver Michael Pittman, now playing with the Indianapolis Colts.
Young listed several other offensive players he has been impressed with during camp, including running back Leddie Brown and slot receiver Winston Wright Jr.
* West Virginia received three votes in today's Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll, released earlier today. Opponents Oklahoma (No. 2), Iowa State (No. 7) and Texas (No. 21) were also listed in this year's Preseason Top 25.
Iowa State (Oct. 30) and Texas (Nov. 20) are on this year's home schedule. Tickets for the 2021 season remain on sale and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
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