MORGANTOWN —
Having gone through a midweek scrimmage on Wednesday and with another full-scale confrontation between the offense and defense scheduled for Saturday, West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart decided to take the foot off the pedal on Thursday morning for the first practice on the final day of two-a-days in camp.
He decided that his starting quarterback Geno Smith, who has done nearly nothing wrong all camp, could take a day to sit back and relax a bit while the young quarterbacks, Barry Brunetti and Jeremy Johnson, got most of the work.
“We gave him a day to sit back and learn from teaching,” Stewart said, explaining what he was trying to do. “He was sitting back with the coaches and watched the two young quarterbacks run the pass skeleton. It was good for him to see that from our view. It also gave the two freshmen a chance to work.”
Stewart believes the two young quarterbacks are progressing nicely.
“The more you are in the arena and the more reps you take the better it is. We wanted both freshmen to work with the first team today, because you just never know when an injury will occur. You hate to see that happen, but if it does, I want those linemen to have heard the voices of the other quarterbacks,” the coach said.
Smith could use the down time because he has grasped the entire offense quickly and, of course, has game experience from last year when he was behind Jarrett Brown.
“I’ve never been overwhelmed by any part of the offense,” Smith said. “I take it all in stride. Today, I saw this as a chance to help those young kids.”
Smith spoke with wisdom beyond his years, which in school terms is just as a sophomore.
“The backup is as important as the starter,” he said, explaining why he felt it was important to help bring along a couple of quarterbacks who could be challenging him for his position sometime in the future.
“It’s like they say, if you have one, you have none. It was like last year when I had to go in for Jarrett when he was injured.”
Smith did a decent job in that limited duty, but says he is far better today than he was then.
“I’ve grown in every way,” he said. “I’m bigger, faster, even with the foot injury I had, and smarter now.”
o o o o o o
It could be for West Virginia’s punting game that two legs are better than one.
While Stewart has tried and tried to separate punters Greg Pugnetti and Corey Smith, he has been unable to do so to date and surprised everyone on Tuesday when he said he might alternate them, even during the season.
“We could alternate punters,” he said, especially early.
The two so far have been inseparable in hang time, release time and distance.
“We may not be able to make a final decision until after they get out there with 55,000 people in the stands,” Stewart said. “They both are capable and both should be given a chance.”
o o o o o o
The injury report had little new.
Wide receiver Bradley Starks, who has battled injuries during his career, was out for another day and did not practice. Neither did Jorge Wright, a defensive lineman.
J.T. Thomas was still in green, meaning limited participation, as was defensive lineman Josh Taylor.
Returning to full speed practice was cornerback Keith Tandy and safety Sidney Glover, both projected to start in the secondary.
Trippe Hale, an important cog on special teams, also has been limited, but Stewart doesn’t seem worried about him.
“He’s a tough guy,” Stewart said, then speaking of his role, he added, “It takes a special guy to do it. That’s why it’s called special teams.”
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
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