Mountaineers Wrap Up First Week of Fall Camp on Saturday
August 03, 2024 06:24 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia concluded practice four of preseason training camp inside Milan Puskar Stadium early Saturday afternoon.
The morning began with the annual Fan Day activities, which, according to Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing Noah Smith, attracted more than 1,700 participants despite threatening skies.
Once the meet and greet and autograph signing concluded around 11 am, the team conducted a light hour-and-half workout in helmets and shorts. Showers eventually arrived midway through today's practice, forcing those watching to move up to the stadium concourse.
Sophomore linebacker Trey Lathan was among today's practice standouts with a pair of interceptions during the team passing period.
Afterward, defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley and offensive coordinator Chad Scott were made available to the media.
"You know what the summers are now, so I feel like we had a pretty good summer," Lesley said. "You can get a lot more done in the summer, but it's still too early to tell. I really like the group. They're fun to coach and probably the biggest thing we've talked about is we don't have to coach effort. If you can do that then you've got a shot."
Scott said his group is much farther along than it was as this same point last season.
"We're putting a little more on those guys because they showed the ability to be able to handle it this spring and we've had a lot of work together this summer," he explained. "They did a great job with that, so we've been farther along in these first four days."
Scott indicated he's particularly pleased with his guys doing the little things right and paying attention to detail.
"We're creating some big plays and we're very talented and it's a great thing to see," he said. "There were times last year at this particular time when we had a few guys pressing and trying to make plays and right now they're trusting their ability to do the little things right to create those.
"The execution has been really good, and the mistakes have been minimal, and guys are flying around confidently," he added.
Lesley said the two veteran safeties, Aubrey Burks and Anthony Wilson, have had four solid practices so far and Lathan had "his best day" today. Josiah Trotter, Ben Cutter and Reid Carrico have helped transform the linebackers corps into its deepest group in Brown's six years here.
"That's fun to watch," Lesley admitted.
Up front, senior defensive end Sean Martin and veteran defensive tackle Edward Vesterinen earned praise from Lesley for their work so far.
West Virginia is scheduled to have Sunday off and then will resume practice work on Monday in shells before transitioning to full gear on Tuesday. Select assistant coaches and players will be made available following Monday's practice with no media activities planned on Tuesday.
Neal Brown is tentatively scheduled to meet with the media again on Aug. 7 following Wednesday's practice.
Season and mini-season tickets remain on sale through the Mountaineer Ticket Office and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Late last week, the Mountaineer Ticket Office announced that there were less than 500 mini-season tickets remaining.
West Virginia opens its 2024 season on Saturday, Aug. 31 against Penn State at Milan Puskar Stadium in a FOX Big Noon Kickoff. The FOX Big Noon studio crew will be in Morgantown to cover the game.
The morning began with the annual Fan Day activities, which, according to Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing Noah Smith, attracted more than 1,700 participants despite threatening skies.
Once the meet and greet and autograph signing concluded around 11 am, the team conducted a light hour-and-half workout in helmets and shorts. Showers eventually arrived midway through today's practice, forcing those watching to move up to the stadium concourse.
Sophomore linebacker Trey Lathan was among today's practice standouts with a pair of interceptions during the team passing period.
Afterward, defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley and offensive coordinator Chad Scott were made available to the media.
"You know what the summers are now, so I feel like we had a pretty good summer," Lesley said. "You can get a lot more done in the summer, but it's still too early to tell. I really like the group. They're fun to coach and probably the biggest thing we've talked about is we don't have to coach effort. If you can do that then you've got a shot."
Scott said his group is much farther along than it was as this same point last season.
"We're putting a little more on those guys because they showed the ability to be able to handle it this spring and we've had a lot of work together this summer," he explained. "They did a great job with that, so we've been farther along in these first four days."
Scott indicated he's particularly pleased with his guys doing the little things right and paying attention to detail.
"We're creating some big plays and we're very talented and it's a great thing to see," he said. "There were times last year at this particular time when we had a few guys pressing and trying to make plays and right now they're trusting their ability to do the little things right to create those.
"The execution has been really good, and the mistakes have been minimal, and guys are flying around confidently," he added.
Lesley said the two veteran safeties, Aubrey Burks and Anthony Wilson, have had four solid practices so far and Lathan had "his best day" today. Josiah Trotter, Ben Cutter and Reid Carrico have helped transform the linebackers corps into its deepest group in Brown's six years here.
"That's fun to watch," Lesley admitted.
Up front, senior defensive end Sean Martin and veteran defensive tackle Edward Vesterinen earned praise from Lesley for their work so far.
West Virginia is scheduled to have Sunday off and then will resume practice work on Monday in shells before transitioning to full gear on Tuesday. Select assistant coaches and players will be made available following Monday's practice with no media activities planned on Tuesday.
Neal Brown is tentatively scheduled to meet with the media again on Aug. 7 following Wednesday's practice.
Season and mini-season tickets remain on sale through the Mountaineer Ticket Office and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Late last week, the Mountaineer Ticket Office announced that there were less than 500 mini-season tickets remaining.
West Virginia opens its 2024 season on Saturday, Aug. 31 against Penn State at Milan Puskar Stadium in a FOX Big Noon Kickoff. The FOX Big Noon studio crew will be in Morgantown to cover the game.
Players Mentioned
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/ FootballRich Rodriguez | Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 03
Reid Carrico | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Jeff Weimer | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
