MORGANTOWN —
A prescription that included some TLC from his teammates, a spoonful of advice from home and some good, old-fashioned common sense cured the case of homesickness freshman quarterback Jeremy Johnson was undergoing and got him back on the field for the West Virginia University Mountaineers.
After missing two days and three practices, the freshman from Silisbee, Texas, 2,200 miles away, Johnson was back in time for a midweek scrimmage after considering leaving to go to school closer to home, mentioning Baylor as a possibility.
“Our football team and staff did a nice job,” said coach Bill Stewart, who indicated he was not happy with some of the coverage of the situation, which he referred to as sensationalism.
“He was a freshman who was just homesick, that’s all,” Stewart said.
In many ways his parents were the most influential in seeing that he stuck to his commitment at WVU.
“His father is a minister, a good man. He helps with the Little League at home. It’s a great family,” Stewart said. “There’s a couple of things parents can give to a child. You give them roots and give them wings.
“His mother gave him roots and now she was telling him to take to his wings and go.”
Johnson and Barry Brunetti of Memphis, both freshman, are battling for the backup job to starting quarterback Geno Smith and expect to fight for the No. 1 job with Smith next season.
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West Virginia was taken aback when it learned that the NCAA Clearinghouse had some problems with freshman offensive lineman Marquis Wallace from Brooke High, removing him from the field and studying his case. Wallace previously had been cleared.
If Wallace is found to have been ineligible, under NCAA rules, he will never again be allowed to play for WVU or in the Big East.
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So many running backs have stepped forward this spring that running back coach Chris Beatty says “I wouldn’t trade what we have for anyone else’s backs right now.”
Among the most impressive have been diminutive Daquan Hargrett, Shawne Alston and freshman Trey Johnson from Richmond, Va., who Beatty says “can be a dynamic player here.”
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All summer one name keeps coming up, that of junior safety Eain Smith, who just happens to be another from Miramar High in Florida that has sent WVU quarterback Geno Smith, wide receivers Stedman Bailey and Ivan McCartney and defensive lineman Josh Taylor.
Smith has intercepted at least three passes this camp and is in line to do a lot of playing, if not start.
“He is not nicked like in years past,” Stewart explained.
Another safety, senior Sidney Glover, who has a history of being nicked, was in green again and is fighting off a minor injury.
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The aforementioned Josh Taylor also was in green, which means limited participation, due to an ankle injury but he put himself into the hard-knocking “Victory Drill.”
Freshman offensive tackle Quinton Spain, who was just in his third day of practice, also tried to get into the “Victory Drill” but was stopped because he is not allowed contact or full pads until his fifth day.
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Deep in receivers, it has become apparent that redshirt freshman Stedman Bailey is a budding star. Blessed with big, strong hands, he has been making spectacular catches all summer and added another one, taking one off the grasstop during a scrimmage.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
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