On Friday, West Virginia U. head football coach Bill Stewart beamed with emotion about getting out onto the field for the team’s first scrimmage.
Just 24 hours later, though, Stewart walked out of the scrimmage looking far less excited.
Sloppy tackling, bad breaks on the ball, missed blocks, dropped balls and fumbled snaps marred the Mountaineers first scrimmage of training camp, Stewart said.
“I’m not real pleased with that 80-plus play scrimmage,” Stewart said. “The effort was pretty good, but the Mountaineers did not play up to standards today.”
Senior running back Noel Devine agreed with Stewart, but said WVU will continue to improve on the aspects that didn’t go so well in the team’s first scrimmage.
“We will never be satisfied because there is always room for improvement,” Devine said. “For us to be a Big East Championship-caliber team we have to work on the little things.”
Amongst all the sloppy play, Stewart did see a few things from his offense to help ease his disappointment.
Devine took a handoff over the right side, proceeded to break two tackles and outrun a defensive back to score on a 79-yard touchdown run.
“All I know is Number 7 is quick, and he made a great play,” Stewart said. “Noel was electrifying, just as he always is.”
Devine finished the scrimmage with four carries for 99 yards and one touchdown. He played just four drives.
Also scoring touchdowns for the Mountaineers were freshman running back Trey Johnson on a 17-yard touchdown run and fullback Ryan Clarke who punched it in from one yard out.
Tyler Bitancurt kicked two field goals for WVU from 34 and 35 yards, and Corey Smith made one from 32 yards in a display of kicking that left Stewart with a neither happy nor displeased attitude.
“Kicking was just 50-50, but we are gaining on it,” Stewart said.
Scrimmage Notes
-Senior receiver Jock Sanders had four catches for 23 yards, which was good enough for second amongst all receivers on the day. Freshman receiver Ivan McCartney led the team with 24 yards. McCartney picked up all his yards on a spectacular catch from fellow freshman Barry Brunetti.
-Sophomore quarterback Geno Smith was impressive. He finished the day at 9 of 10 passing for a total of 57 yards.
Junior left tackle Don Barclay gave an assessment of Smith’s performance.
“I would give he somewhere between an A and a B,” Barclay said. “He made some nice reads, he moved up in the pocket well, he made some nice throws and he also is leading out there too, that is the biggest part.”
-Stewart was also pleasantly surprised with his team’s ability to get plays from the sidelines to the huddle efficiently.
“We had very good clock management – no problems, not one,” Stewart said. “As far as that, I thought we were flawless.”
-Sophomore receiver Tavon Austin, who the coaching staff is looking to implement into the offense more this season, finished with two receptions for 27 yards two rushes for 13 yards.