MORGANTOWN —
The last two years, J.T. Thomas has established himself as one of most dynamic linebackers in the Big East, but while that has satisfied the fans, it has left him with an empty feeling because the 9-4 record the Mountaineers put together weren’t enough.
“Not at all,” the man who figures to join safety Robert Sands as the heart and soul of the defense said earlier this week in a gathering with a media starved for any kind of news in the middle of a long, hot summer. “At least since I’ve been here at West Virginia, we’ve always had 11-win or 10-win talent but haven’t gotten there.”
Thomas believes that will change in the coming season.
“There’s no reason we can’t win 10 or more games next year,” he said.
He says it with a determination that shows through with every word. He says it with a sense of urgency for he knows that this is his senior season.
“This is my last time playing as a Mountaineer,” Thomas said. “The only thing I’m guaranteed is another season.”
One more year to get over the hump, to erase the memory of that loss to Pitt in Rich Rodriguez’s final game as West Virginia coach, to not only head into a major bowl game but maybe into a championship game.
Is it a longshot?
Certainly, but it’s his and the other seniors only shot.
“I’m taking a different approach and I’m pretty sure the rest of the seniors are too,” he said. “We all realize this is our last time to do what we need to do before we get out of here.”
Time moves rapidly when you are young. One day you are being recruited, the next day it seems you are wondering what the future holds, trying to bring along kids, teach them the lessons he has learned in his time.
“We’re heading in the right direction,” Thomas said. “There’s still a couple of guys who have to buy in, but we’re working on that.”
The defense seems to be on the verge of a breakout season, the kind Steve Dunlap engineered when he was defensive coordinator in 1996 and had the likes of Mike Logan and Vann Washington and Gary Stills and Barrett Green.
It is experienced and hungry, improved dramatically over the course of the second half of last season as Sands grew in the safety spot and Reed Williams’ surgically repaired shoulders allowed him to do some things.
“I feel like I’ve been playing with these guys forever,” he said.
It is a veteran defensive unit, with seniors Scooter Berry at defensive tackle, Chris Neild at nose guard, Sidney Glover at safety, Brandon Hogan at corner and Pat Lazear at linebacker and a number of other seniors competing for starting spots.
“We’ve been together for three years. We took our lumps and bruises for two years, 9-4
and 9-4. Now its time for us to put it all together. It’s everybody’s last chance to have that season we want to have. We certainly have the talent to do it,” Thomas said.
But Thomas knows the truth that it takes more than talent to win. There is that special something that develops on a team and carries it to its full potential.
“In past years there was less talent here at West Virginia than there is now and they won more games,” Thomas said. “We have to find whatever they had and make it work for us.”
What he is talking about is chemistry, the kind of chemistry that is made in the summer, built in the weight room and during the torturous sessions that strength coach Mike Joseph puts them through. It is senior led and Thomas believes this team has the necessary senior leadership on both sides of the ball, even though his coach Bill Stewart earlier was quoted as saying he was looking for leaders.
“I don’t want to go against Coach Stew’s word,” Thomas said, “but we have leaders. Now we have to find some followers. I’m not dubbing myself a leader, but I’ve always been that guy. I’ve been the guy people look up to as a leader and to lead the right way both on and off the field.”
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
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