MORGANTOWN —
After last Saturday’s camp-closing scrimmage, one of the media mavens made the observation that West Virginia’s offensive line seemed to be as unsettled at the end of camp as it was at the start and wondered as media mavens tend to do what Coach Bill Stewart might due if that matter isn’t cleared up by the Sept. 4 opener against Coastal Carolina.
Stewart mulled the question over for a moment, as football coaches tend to do, then came up with the perfect answer.
“Run to the left,” he said.
That, of course, brought a chorus of laughter. Yes media mavens even to laugh on occasion.
It also carried a strong element of truth. With the veteran Donny Barclay at left tackle and the improving sophomore Josh Jenkins at guard, and not fully sure how the right side will shake out, does it not make sense to run to strength and away from you weakness.
In many ways, it was terribly disappointing to Stewart that he didn’t settle the right side situation but life is what you make of it and he’s going with what he’s got.
“We’ll give the right side plenty of opportunities to make plays,” he said. “When you’ve got Barclay, Jenkins and Joe Madsen (the center) on the left side, you’ll go to that side naturally. But you saw when we were doing the red zoine drill, plenty of plays were going to the right and I was really pleased with how they hung in there.”
So just how does the right side shake out?
Well, when the scrimmage started, redshirt freshman Cole Bowers was at right guard and redshirt sophomore Jeff Braun at right tackle. It didn’t take long, however, to see that Stewart and his offense line coach Dave Johnson were looking at lot of options.
“Coach Johnson is preparing his offensive line for a war in the trenches,” Stewart said.
The key to whole offensive line may well be the guy who didn’t start in the scrimmage, that being Eric Jobe, a senior sand the most experienced of the linemen, also among the most versatile.
A year ago Jobe and Joey Madsen switched off between center and guard, depending upon whether or not they were facing a team that liked to use a nose guard. Jobe started the year as a center but made the move without any problem. He also could play tackle, too.
So, it would not be surprising if at time the line looked like this:
LT Barclay, LG Jenkins, C Jobe, RG Madsen, RT Bowers.
Or this:
LT Barclay, LG Jenkins, C Madsen, RG Bowers, RT Braun.
Or:
LT Barclay, LG Jenkins, C Madsen, RG Jobe, RT Bowers or Braun.
“It’s a constant shuffle, trying to get the right mix,” Jobe admitted after the scrimmage.
It is best, of course, to settle on a lineup and do situational substituting, rather than going helter-skelter from game to game and series to series and, even, play to play.
Jobe understands the situation, though, as the odd man out or even as a utilityman.
“Each guy brings something different,” he said. “Madsen is a fierce competitor who gets off the ball so well. I’m amazed at Cole [Bowers] athleticism and speed, but he doesn’t have the experience.”
There is a wild card who is about to make his presence felt, too, and that would be true freshman Quinton Spain out of Petersburg, Va., the town that gave us another rather large athlete, Moses Malone.
A freshman who was given clearance by the NCAA Clearing House only a week ago, Spain is not ready to play yet but, at 360 pounds and with a prep reputation to match that size, he could stabilize the line by mid-season.
Certainly, Stewart has noticed him.
“How can I miss him? He’s blocking my view out there,” Stewart joked in his post-scrimmage get together. “He pass-blocked well; he picked up a twist. When he hits you, he moves you. He’s a big and powerful man; his feet are good. He did get beat on one play, but he hits everything head-on, and he’ll get better. That’s the life for offensive linemen.”
It certainly is. Even a media maven understands that.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
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