By Bob Hertzel
MORGANTOWN — A year ago at this time, he was a concept more than a player, this talented athlete named Bradley Starks.
He was part quarterback, part wide receiver, the man who could do anything and yet, at the time, was not ready to do anything.
The West Virginia coaching staff knew they had a special player in Starks, who had come to them as a quarterback, a position that was well manned with Patrick White and Jarrett Brown.
The Wildcat formation had not yet been unveiled in Miami, and so the things they were doing with Starks were revolutionary. He would run, he would catch, he would throw. He just didn’t have a position.
The plan was to unleash him at Colorado. They had plays designed to take advantage of his abilities.
They backfired.
Starks fumbled once deep in Colorado territory, then on a flanker pass he missed a wide open Jock Sanders for what would have been a touchdown, badly underthrowing.
West Virginia lost in overtime and he has had to live with that for an entire year.
“That hurt,” he admitted. “An overtime loss stays there a long time, but you have to keep working.”
And that is what Starks has done.
If it hadn’t been said before in song, we would be saying now what a difference a year makes.
“Last year I was just getting my feet wet (at a new position),” he said. “Now I feel more comfortable.”
It’s Colorado time again. Redemption.
That, however, is not how Starks is looking at it.
It isn’t about him or how he plays. It’s about coming off a loss to Auburn and righting the ship.
It’s about team and putting together the pieces that came apart last week.
Starks has a defined role now.
He is a wide receiver, the second leading receiver on the team with nine catches, which is more than half as many as he had all of last year.
He has proven he can catch the ball deep, which is crucial to the philosophy Coach Bill Stewart is preaching.
He wants to stretch the field vertically and with Starks at one wide receiver and Alric Arnett at the other, he presents dangerous bookends to any defense.
Against Auburn, Starks was on the receiving end of a 58-yard completion, matching the longest completion of the year.
“That catch he made was outstanding,” Stewart said. “Bradley Starks has just given us such great vertical stretch. He and Arnett give the team great vertical stretch and that has an effect against defenses.”
But Starks gives the Mountaineers an aspect that really troubles defenses, for he also can be used as the Wildcat quarterback, a position he played once this year and ran the ball.
Defenses must be ready to defend Starks as the tailback in the Wildcat and Jarrett Brown out on the flank, Starks either running or throwing the ball. They all now have on film both, Starks having completed his first collegiate pass against Auburn for 31 yards.
In another era he would be referred to as a “triple threat” back, able to run, throw and catch, although in the single wing era it was run, throw and kick.
Starks, however, has added a fourth dimension and that is his ability to block. Both he and Jock Sanders have become savage blockers on the perimeter, which helps open up running lanes for Noel Devine.
“I love physical contact,” Starks admitted. “There’s nothing I’d rather have.”
He says it goes back to when he was a child and playing with the older, bigger kids.
Now he’s not playing with older kids, but he is playing with bigger kids and he’s been getting his licks in.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
