MORGANTOWN - It's not rocket science, this West Virginia offense.

There's a little bit of quarterback Pat White here, some Noel Devine at tailback there and slot receiver Jock Sanders mixed in. Toss in a little bit of variety in the form of the rest of West Virginia's skill position players and that offense could be as good or perhaps even better than it's ever been.

As coach Bill Stewart is wont to say, "It's not plays we need, it's players.''

"It's real simple: 5, 7, 9 must touch the ball. They have to,'' Stewart said, referring to White, Devine and Sanders, respectively. "Then you throw in Will Johnson, Alric Arnett, Tito Gonzales and Dorrell Jalloh in the mix and we can be very diversified and push the ball everywhere. That's what our goal is.''

Well, as the Mountaineers finished their two-week preseason camp Saturday, never has it been more apparent just how important the right players are to making the system work.

Devine and Sanders didn't take part at all in the team's final scrimmage of camp. White was dressed in a hands-off jersey that disguised how dangerous he can be. Johnson, the combination fullback and tight end, and Jalloh, the most experienced slot receiver, didn't play because of injuries. Ditto Bradley Starks, who figures to join Arnett and Gonzales as the top wide receivers.

And because of that, the offense struggled, failing to score a touchdown or really even get into position to do so, save for one early drive that was blown up by penalties and a dropped center snap.

What did become apparent during the scrimmage - and throughout camp, for that matter - is that West Virginia's new coaching staff isn't content to let the offense remain a two- or even three-man show as it has been the past two seasons. White and the departed Steve Slaton and Darius Reynaud did almost all of the heavy lifting in recent seasons, jobs that would now fall to White, Devine and Sanders.

But just as the offense has changed its look with more motion and a variety of new sets, it will also shift its focus slightly. The quarterback and tailback will still be the focal points and the slot receiver will get considerable touches. But they won't handle the ball to the point of predictability.

"[White and Devine] cannot carry the ball [all of the time] in crucial situations,'' Stewart said. "In order to avoid some of the games we've had in the past, we have to spread the ball. We have to to win a championship.''

MORGANTOWN - It's not rocket science, this West Virginia offense.

There's a little bit of quarterback Pat White here, some Noel Devine at tailback there and slot receiver Jock Sanders mixed in. Toss in a little bit of variety in the form of the rest of West Virginia's skill position players and that offense could be as good or perhaps even better than it's ever been.

As coach Bill Stewart is wont to say, "It's not plays we need, it's players.''

"It's real simple: 5, 7, 9 must touch the ball. They have to,'' Stewart said, referring to White, Devine and Sanders, respectively. "Then you throw in Will Johnson, Alric Arnett, Tito Gonzales and Dorrell Jalloh in the mix and we can be very diversified and push the ball everywhere. That's what our goal is.''

Well, as the Mountaineers finished their two-week preseason camp Saturday, never has it been more apparent just how important the right players are to making the system work.

Devine and Sanders didn't take part at all in the team's final scrimmage of camp. White was dressed in a hands-off jersey that disguised how dangerous he can be. Johnson, the combination fullback and tight end, and Jalloh, the most experienced slot receiver, didn't play because of injuries. Ditto Bradley Starks, who figures to join Arnett and Gonzales as the top wide receivers.

And because of that, the offense struggled, failing to score a touchdown or really even get into position to do so, save for one early drive that was blown up by penalties and a dropped center snap.

What did become apparent during the scrimmage - and throughout camp, for that matter - is that West Virginia's new coaching staff isn't content to let the offense remain a two- or even three-man show as it has been the past two seasons. White and the departed Steve Slaton and Darius Reynaud did almost all of the heavy lifting in recent seasons, jobs that would now fall to White, Devine and Sanders.

But just as the offense has changed its look with more motion and a variety of new sets, it will also shift its focus slightly. The quarterback and tailback will still be the focal points and the slot receiver will get considerable touches. But they won't handle the ball to the point of predictability.

"[White and Devine] cannot carry the ball [all of the time] in crucial situations,'' Stewart said. "In order to avoid some of the games we've had in the past, we have to spread the ball. We have to to win a championship.''

Not that White and Devine aren't pretty good options most of the time.

"We'll be good. We'll be real good if [White] carries it every down,'' Stewart said. "But sooner or later they're going to load the box up on you and beat you. That's why in the Fiesta Bowl we spread the wealth, why we threw the ball on first-and-10, why we did some other things with reverses.''

The added motion helps, too, which is not the same as changing the offense.

"Here's the deal: Would you rather have [Devine] running the belly option or out there on the flank with the ball in his hands?'' Stewart said. "If I was a defensive guy, I'd do my best to keep [Devine] as close as I could to the tackles. But when we swing him out there, somebody's got to cover him. When we swing [Sanders] out there, somebody's got to cover him. That's what I want to see. I want to see someone cover [Devine and Sanders] in the open field.

"That's what I mean about spreading the wealth. We are not changing this offense one bit. We're just [putting in] some window dressing, some motion and movement, some smoke and mirrors.''

The same is essentially true on defense. The defensive coaching staff is much more familiar than is the offensive staff, what with coordinator Jeff Casteel and defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich returning. And while the two new additions on that side - Steve Dunlap and David Lockwood, both former Division I-A coordinators - have brought some new ideas, the 3-3-5 scheme remains essentially the same.

It's sometimes hard for Stewart to fathom the criticism that defensive scheme generates.

"We're not changing,'' Stewart said. "You can write about having no sacks or having no this or that. All I know is our defense carried us last year and we won 11 football games. Our defense won the Fiesta Bowl. That's all I know. I don't care about sacks or any of that stuff. I care about how many W's are there and how many L's are there? That's the bottom line.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.