Photo by: Raquel Rodriguez/Mountaineer Football
Mountaineers Complete Second Scrimmage of Fall Camp Saturday Morning
August 16, 2025 03:20 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The process of narrowing things down now begins for the West Virginia University football team.
The Mountaineers' second full-scale, officiated scrimmage inside Milan Puskar Stadium took place this morning. Coach Rich Rodriguez said it wasn't quite as long as the first scrimmage and the younger players got the bulk of the action today.
That was by design as the coaching staff begins paring the roster down to the varsity and scout teams by the middle of next week.
"We probably got about 80 plays in and played a lot of younger guys, just to try and get some good film to evaluate them on," Rodriguez said afterward.
"We had a few unforced errors and penalties, which we've got to get corrected. I think the defense played pretty well for the most part. Some of the young guys gave up a couple big plays, but the effort seemed to be good," he noted.
What Rodriguez sees on tape today will likely determine his practice planning for the next couple days before the start of the fall semester on Wednesday, which officially marks the end of preseason camp.
"Our total practice structure will probably stay the same," he says, "but what we feature and hone in on, who were going to hone in on with, all that we'll do. Monday and Tuesday are two full days of getting some semblance of getting ready for a game."
The Monday and Tuesday practices will begin setting the foundation for what the team will do for the season opener, including the creation of "answer sheets" Rodriguez and his staff will rely on for game days.
The coach said the initial draft for those will be completed in the next three days.
"Then, okay, here is our plan for Robert Morris," he explained.
"By next Wednesday, when school starts, we can't get 60 guys on offense and defense ready to play a game," he reasoned. "That's just too many people, and there is not enough time to get reps, so by next Wednesday or Thursday, we are going to have scout teams, and I will explain to the team the importance of being on the scout team and they may not be on the scout team all year.
"It might be for just the first week or two."
Fundamentally, Rodriguez said the tackling was solid once again this morning, although he's not sure if it was because of great fundamentals and technique or because the offensive players weren't doing enough in space to make defenders miss.
"There were a lot of people around the ball when we were tackling, which was good to see," he said.
Overall, the coach indicated there was some good and bad with this morning's work.
"The start of it, we had some unforced errors on offense and that's really frustrating," he noted. "Receivers not lining up right in a formation is inexcusable, and we had that happen twice.
"I yelled at the official because an offensive lineman was lined up in the backfield and I'm like, 'Don't we get a warning?' And he did warn them, which is what they usually do, so that's like double bad. That kind of stuff should never happen," he added.
Rodriguez said Sunday will consist of some long meetings with the offensive staff to figure out where they are and then move forward accordingly.
The defensive staff will be doing much of the same.
"The defense is doing a lot of stuff – a lot more than you would expect in a first couple of weeks in a first year, and that's part of our plan defensively is a lot of different looks and a lot of different things," Rodriguez admitted. "It can be a lot for a young guy or a new guy.
"We've got three more days of it before school gets started. The multiplicity of our defense is really unique, and I would be worried about it and pull back the reins if I saw us making big mental mistakes in practice, but I don't see that," he concluded.
Today's scrimmage concludes the daily media portion of preseason camp.
The next opportunity for Mountaineer fans to catch Rodriguez will be Monday evening, Aug. 25, during his weekly radio show at Kegler's Sports Bar.
Rodriguez's regular weekly news conferences will take place on Tuesdays at noon this year, followed by defensive coordinator Zac Alley and select players.
The Mountaineer Ticket Office announced last week the suspension of 304 Mobile Season Ticket Passes. Traditional season tickets are still available and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Season ticket sales recently surpassed 32,000, marking the highest ticket demand for Mountaineer football in more than a decade.
West Virginia's season opener with Robert Morris will kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, and will be televised on ESPN+.
The Mountaineers' second full-scale, officiated scrimmage inside Milan Puskar Stadium took place this morning. Coach Rich Rodriguez said it wasn't quite as long as the first scrimmage and the younger players got the bulk of the action today.
That was by design as the coaching staff begins paring the roster down to the varsity and scout teams by the middle of next week.
"We probably got about 80 plays in and played a lot of younger guys, just to try and get some good film to evaluate them on," Rodriguez said afterward.
"We had a few unforced errors and penalties, which we've got to get corrected. I think the defense played pretty well for the most part. Some of the young guys gave up a couple big plays, but the effort seemed to be good," he noted.
What Rodriguez sees on tape today will likely determine his practice planning for the next couple days before the start of the fall semester on Wednesday, which officially marks the end of preseason camp.
"Our total practice structure will probably stay the same," he says, "but what we feature and hone in on, who were going to hone in on with, all that we'll do. Monday and Tuesday are two full days of getting some semblance of getting ready for a game."
The Monday and Tuesday practices will begin setting the foundation for what the team will do for the season opener, including the creation of "answer sheets" Rodriguez and his staff will rely on for game days.
The coach said the initial draft for those will be completed in the next three days.
"Then, okay, here is our plan for Robert Morris," he explained.
"By next Wednesday, when school starts, we can't get 60 guys on offense and defense ready to play a game," he reasoned. "That's just too many people, and there is not enough time to get reps, so by next Wednesday or Thursday, we are going to have scout teams, and I will explain to the team the importance of being on the scout team and they may not be on the scout team all year.
"It might be for just the first week or two."
Fundamentally, Rodriguez said the tackling was solid once again this morning, although he's not sure if it was because of great fundamentals and technique or because the offensive players weren't doing enough in space to make defenders miss.
"There were a lot of people around the ball when we were tackling, which was good to see," he said.
Overall, the coach indicated there was some good and bad with this morning's work.
"The start of it, we had some unforced errors on offense and that's really frustrating," he noted. "Receivers not lining up right in a formation is inexcusable, and we had that happen twice.
"I yelled at the official because an offensive lineman was lined up in the backfield and I'm like, 'Don't we get a warning?' And he did warn them, which is what they usually do, so that's like double bad. That kind of stuff should never happen," he added.
Rodriguez said Sunday will consist of some long meetings with the offensive staff to figure out where they are and then move forward accordingly.
The defensive staff will be doing much of the same.
"The defense is doing a lot of stuff – a lot more than you would expect in a first couple of weeks in a first year, and that's part of our plan defensively is a lot of different looks and a lot of different things," Rodriguez admitted. "It can be a lot for a young guy or a new guy.
"We've got three more days of it before school gets started. The multiplicity of our defense is really unique, and I would be worried about it and pull back the reins if I saw us making big mental mistakes in practice, but I don't see that," he concluded.
Today's scrimmage concludes the daily media portion of preseason camp.
The next opportunity for Mountaineer fans to catch Rodriguez will be Monday evening, Aug. 25, during his weekly radio show at Kegler's Sports Bar.
Rodriguez's regular weekly news conferences will take place on Tuesdays at noon this year, followed by defensive coordinator Zac Alley and select players.
The Mountaineer Ticket Office announced last week the suspension of 304 Mobile Season Ticket Passes. Traditional season tickets are still available and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Season ticket sales recently surpassed 32,000, marking the highest ticket demand for Mountaineer football in more than a decade.
West Virginia's season opener with Robert Morris will kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, and will be televised on ESPN+.
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