If you would have traveled around the outskirts of White Sulphur Springs, WV yesterday in a circular pattern you would have taken a friendly wager that in the middle of said circular pattern it would be cloudy and rainy, but as only “Gods Country” would have it, it wasn’t. Maybe the boom of the Mountaineer Musket scared the rain away, maybe The roar of the “Let’s Go…..Mountaineers” cheer struck fear into Mother Nature’s eyes, nevertheless, the Mountaineer faithful were out in droves. About 6,000 of them to be exact made their way North, South, East, and West to the beautiful Greenbrier Resort to see their 2016 West Virginia Mountaineers take the field for the annual Gold-Blue game. For some players, butterflies ran ragged through their jittery bodies. For others, it was their last ride. Their last Spring Game playing in front of Mountaineer Nation. Some questions were answered, for others, maybe only temporarily. The questions will remain until September 3rd when the Mountaineers play host to the Missouri Tigers. Hell, it was even a great day to be a Mountaineer for Marshall coaching great Bobby Pruett too, who was roaming the sidelines with Don Nehlen and the owner of the Greenbrier Resort, Jim Justice. After an 8-5 record last season, and an exciting victory against Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl it was back to work to try and prepare to exceed the 8 wins, and get the most in a season since joining the Big 12 in 2012.
Returning 13 starters, among 22 seniors is a good starting point for trying to get over that hump. On the day Skyler Howard all but solidified his spot as the starting quarterback once again. Saying that “The Game has really slowed down for me, I’m understanding what Coach Holgorsen is seeing from the sideline.” Howard looked comfortable in the pocket on the day completing 18 passes on 26 attempts with 270 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. Howard made one mistake on the day throwing a pick six to the defense. Backup QB’s William Crest and David Sills each threw a touchdown a piece on the day. Crest threw two picks as well. Howard’s targets on the outside this year will also be battling for supremacy. Shelton Gibson, Daikiel Shorts, Gary Jennings, and Freshmen Marcus Simms definitely have the speed to give other Big 12 teams fits on the outside. When asked about the day Simms had Holgorsen replied ” He has no idea what he’s doing and it’s fun to watch, he does everything wrong and all he does is score touchdowns.”
When asked about Rushel Shell and the running game Holgorsen said “We want Shell to be a better practice player, we know what he can do out on the field, we believe in him.” Shell will be the starting running back this year for WVU. I do not believe this will ever be a question. In the case of needing a backup WVU has a plethera of running backs. Kennedy McKoy who is a Freshmen out of Lexington, North Carolina got the majority of the carries on the day outside of anyone not named Shell or Crest. McKoy had 8 carries for 57 yards with a pretty 30 yard scamper. William Crest also ran the ball several times having 12 carries for 90 yards.
The main questions that will need to be answered lie on the defensive side of the ball. Trying to replace names such as Joseph, Barber, Dillon, Worley, Kwiatkoski can become a huge task and a huge hole to fill. Redshirt Seniors Noble Nwachukwu and Christian Brown return as starters to try an help mesh some younger talent. The linebacker core has a great amount of concern with all three starters gone. Junior Linebacker Xavier Preston will be tasked with filling those shoes. In the secondary Redshirt Junior Shane Commodore will compete for playing time this spring as well. Commodore had two interceptions on the day, which will give him the confidence he needs going forward. Also in the secondary, Askew-Henry, who started 13 games last season, is looking to be atop the leading tacklers on the team once again.
Going forward into the season lies directly on this years senior class. Will they be able to steer the path to greatness for the younger group of guys coming in? One thing that I believe needs to be addressed is the energy in which the defense plays. Gauging anything by Spring Game standards would be jumping the gun a bit prematurely. But, will the younger guys be able to swarm the ball like Joseph and Worley did? Skyler Howard needs to be consistent in what he is doing. The Offensive line needs to give him time to get the ball downfield to his speedsters on the outside. Orlosky will do his job. Everyone else needs to be on the same page. Holgorsen will be sure to get the kinks out come September 3rd, and I think this team can compete with anyone in the Big 12. The offense could be a force to be reckoned with that’s for sure, but on the defensive side of the ball the motto for this year needs to be “All 11 swarm to the ball.”
Written By: Joshua Petry
*This Blog Contains Affiliate Links*
For more Blogs visit:https://sportsnerdz.com/blogs/
