Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Saturday Scrimmage Recap
April 01, 2023 02:52 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia got in about 65 live plays during this morning's scrimmage inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
Mild temperatures and sunny skies greeted approximately 150 high school coaches who observed today's practice during the program's annual coaches' clinic.
The team conducted a fundamental practice yesterday in shorts and helmets for the coaches in town getting tips from the Mountaineer coaching staff.
"We've got a lot of West Virginia high school coaches here today for our coaches' clinic. It was a big recruiting day for us, too, so there were a lot of people out in the stadium," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. "This was the second Saturday we got into the stadium, and I thought we had really good energy."
Brown singled out several defensive performers during this morning's practice, which lasted about two and a half hours and included special teams and drill work.
"I thought the defensive line had their best day. Sean Martin, I thought he showed some flashes of what he can be, which is a great run defender and a guy who can apply some pressure in the pass game with his speed and with his length getting push on the pocket," Brown said. "(Davoan) Hawkins had a nice day, and I thought our noses – Hammond Russell and Mike Lockhart – we need those interior D-tackles, and they're both playing into shape.
"(Jared) Bartlett had a couple of pressures and he's playing more efficient with his movement. He's controlling his body better."
Brown mentioned true freshmen linebackers Josiah Trotter and James Heard Jr., a pair of four-star recruits.
"They missed some plays because they play a little bit out of control, but we saw some flashes from them," he said.
Players in the secondary who caught Brown's eye include safeties Keyshawn Cobb, Aubrey Burks and Marcis Floyd.
Offensively, junior quarterback Garrett Greene took all of the reps with the ones this morning because freshman Nicco Marchiol was out today because of an illness. Brown said it wasn't anything significant.
Getting quarterback reps with the twos were Sean Boyle, Scott Kean and Jake Robbins. The offense was also without a couple of offensive linemen, including center Zach Frazier, named yesterday to Walter Camp's Preseason All-America team.
Consequently, there was a lot of blending of players going on within the two units.
"In spring ball, much more so than fall camp, is you can't get all caught up in looking at the whole unit," Brown noted. "Today, with the first offense, they kind of had some different guys out there. We're breaking in some new guys at center so you might have a run play that was blocked well, but our snap was off so our back never gets to his aiming point.
"Well, it's frustrating because you're not getting yards, but at the same time you've got four other O-linemen plus the tight end getting a really good rep on that play," he explained. "You have to be careful not to get really caught up in that. I learned a long time ago not to be emotional after spring practices, good or bad, because it's really about growth and getting better. Sometimes it's not a lot of clean football because your timing is off, or you've got guys who are injured, or you lost somebody from the previous year, and you haven't had a chance to replace him yet.
"You have to look, individual wise, who is getting better?"
Brown said Greene did some good things in the run game and he was also impressed with tight ends Will Dixon and LSU transfer Kole Taylor, who made some really nice catches in Thursday's practice.
NC State transfer Devin Carter wasn't targeted as much during today's scrimmage, but Brown likes the work he's put forth so far in the passing game. He is expected to be one of West Virginia's go-to guys in the passing game this fall.
Brown was also pleased with running back CJ Donaldson, who took "about four or five live reps" today and produced one of the two touchdowns generated by the offense. The other was scored by wide receiver Hudson Clement, a redshirt freshman from Martinsburg, who caught a pass from Greene.
"The twos were a little bit limited in what we did, just because we had those young quarterbacks out there because Nicco was sick," Brown admitted.
Operationally, Brown said it was a "pretty clean" scrimmage with no turnovers and just a few penalties called during the team period.
He said the special teams work was also a big positive this morning.
"We're making strides special teams wise. I'm pleased with where we are at on that side of the ball," he said.
Four-star signee Rodney Gallagher from nearby Uniontown, Pennsylvania, attended today's practice. Brown said the staff will have plenty of time to get the wide receiver up to speed on the Mountaineer offense when he is permitted to begin working with the team later this summer.
Today's scrimmage marks the halfway mark for spring ball, with seven more practices slated before the Gold-Blue Game takes place on Saturday, April 22, at 1 p.m. inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
This year's spring game will be presented by Encova.
The team will have practices next Tuesday and Thursday and then will have four days off for Easter break. Brown said there will be a lot of 11-on-11 work during the remainder of the spring.
Mild temperatures and sunny skies greeted approximately 150 high school coaches who observed today's practice during the program's annual coaches' clinic.
The team conducted a fundamental practice yesterday in shorts and helmets for the coaches in town getting tips from the Mountaineer coaching staff.
"We've got a lot of West Virginia high school coaches here today for our coaches' clinic. It was a big recruiting day for us, too, so there were a lot of people out in the stadium," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. "This was the second Saturday we got into the stadium, and I thought we had really good energy."
Brown singled out several defensive performers during this morning's practice, which lasted about two and a half hours and included special teams and drill work.
"I thought the defensive line had their best day. Sean Martin, I thought he showed some flashes of what he can be, which is a great run defender and a guy who can apply some pressure in the pass game with his speed and with his length getting push on the pocket," Brown said. "(Davoan) Hawkins had a nice day, and I thought our noses – Hammond Russell and Mike Lockhart – we need those interior D-tackles, and they're both playing into shape.
"(Jared) Bartlett had a couple of pressures and he's playing more efficient with his movement. He's controlling his body better."
Brown mentioned true freshmen linebackers Josiah Trotter and James Heard Jr., a pair of four-star recruits.
"They missed some plays because they play a little bit out of control, but we saw some flashes from them," he said.
Players in the secondary who caught Brown's eye include safeties Keyshawn Cobb, Aubrey Burks and Marcis Floyd.
Offensively, junior quarterback Garrett Greene took all of the reps with the ones this morning because freshman Nicco Marchiol was out today because of an illness. Brown said it wasn't anything significant.
Getting quarterback reps with the twos were Sean Boyle, Scott Kean and Jake Robbins. The offense was also without a couple of offensive linemen, including center Zach Frazier, named yesterday to Walter Camp's Preseason All-America team.
Consequently, there was a lot of blending of players going on within the two units.
"In spring ball, much more so than fall camp, is you can't get all caught up in looking at the whole unit," Brown noted. "Today, with the first offense, they kind of had some different guys out there. We're breaking in some new guys at center so you might have a run play that was blocked well, but our snap was off so our back never gets to his aiming point.
"Well, it's frustrating because you're not getting yards, but at the same time you've got four other O-linemen plus the tight end getting a really good rep on that play," he explained. "You have to be careful not to get really caught up in that. I learned a long time ago not to be emotional after spring practices, good or bad, because it's really about growth and getting better. Sometimes it's not a lot of clean football because your timing is off, or you've got guys who are injured, or you lost somebody from the previous year, and you haven't had a chance to replace him yet.
"You have to look, individual wise, who is getting better?"
Brown said Greene did some good things in the run game and he was also impressed with tight ends Will Dixon and LSU transfer Kole Taylor, who made some really nice catches in Thursday's practice.
NC State transfer Devin Carter wasn't targeted as much during today's scrimmage, but Brown likes the work he's put forth so far in the passing game. He is expected to be one of West Virginia's go-to guys in the passing game this fall.
Brown was also pleased with running back CJ Donaldson, who took "about four or five live reps" today and produced one of the two touchdowns generated by the offense. The other was scored by wide receiver Hudson Clement, a redshirt freshman from Martinsburg, who caught a pass from Greene.
"The twos were a little bit limited in what we did, just because we had those young quarterbacks out there because Nicco was sick," Brown admitted.
Operationally, Brown said it was a "pretty clean" scrimmage with no turnovers and just a few penalties called during the team period.
He said the special teams work was also a big positive this morning.
"We're making strides special teams wise. I'm pleased with where we are at on that side of the ball," he said.
Four-star signee Rodney Gallagher from nearby Uniontown, Pennsylvania, attended today's practice. Brown said the staff will have plenty of time to get the wide receiver up to speed on the Mountaineer offense when he is permitted to begin working with the team later this summer.
Today's scrimmage marks the halfway mark for spring ball, with seven more practices slated before the Gold-Blue Game takes place on Saturday, April 22, at 1 p.m. inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
This year's spring game will be presented by Encova.
The team will have practices next Tuesday and Thursday and then will have four days off for Easter break. Brown said there will be a lot of 11-on-11 work during the remainder of the spring.
Players Mentioned
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