MORGANTOWN - When West Virginia began its second full-scale scrimmage of the preseason Wednesday afternoon, Eugene Smith was right where he was for the first - guiding the No. 2 offense.

By now, that should come as little surprise since the 6-foot-3, 195-pound true freshman has been as impressive as any newcomer in the Mountaineers' camp.

It certainly is no surprise to Smith himself.

"Yeah, I did,'' Smith said when asked if he expected to progress this far, this fast.

So is that confidence, cockiness or what?

"Oh, I'm not cocky at all,'' said Smith, a four-star recruit from Miramar, Fla. "I'm very confident in myself, but in a humble way. I'm very confident in my abilities.''

Apparently, so are West Virginia's coaches. Granted, the depth behind starting quarterback and fifth-year senior Jarrett Brown isn't much. There's sophomore Bradley Starks, who is a starting wide receiver, but who would likely be moved back behind center should something happen to Brown in camp or the early stages of the season. Other than Starks, the only other scholarship quarterback on the roster is redshirt freshman Coley White, who just seems a bit too raw right now.

And that's why West Virginia's coaches hoped all along that Smith would be able to jump in with both feet when he arrived. The trouble is, he jumped in with only one, the other having been broken in an ATV accident shortly after he arrived in Morgantown in June.

But that healed quickly and actually was a benefit to Smith.

"It was a bad experience, but it also taught me a lesson at the same time,'' Smith said. "But I have to say it happened at a great time for me because I got a chance to learn from it.''

And the lesson he learned?

"Just be cautious of everything you do because there's a bigger picture,'' Smith said. "It's not just me being selfish. It's about the team and me helping the team.''

MORGANTOWN - When West Virginia began its second full-scale scrimmage of the preseason Wednesday afternoon, Eugene Smith was right where he was for the first - guiding the No. 2 offense.

By now, that should come as little surprise since the 6-foot-3, 195-pound true freshman has been as impressive as any newcomer in the Mountaineers' camp.

It certainly is no surprise to Smith himself.

"Yeah, I did,'' Smith said when asked if he expected to progress this far, this fast.

So is that confidence, cockiness or what?

"Oh, I'm not cocky at all,'' said Smith, a four-star recruit from Miramar, Fla. "I'm very confident in myself, but in a humble way. I'm very confident in my abilities.''

Apparently, so are West Virginia's coaches. Granted, the depth behind starting quarterback and fifth-year senior Jarrett Brown isn't much. There's sophomore Bradley Starks, who is a starting wide receiver, but who would likely be moved back behind center should something happen to Brown in camp or the early stages of the season. Other than Starks, the only other scholarship quarterback on the roster is redshirt freshman Coley White, who just seems a bit too raw right now.

And that's why West Virginia's coaches hoped all along that Smith would be able to jump in with both feet when he arrived. The trouble is, he jumped in with only one, the other having been broken in an ATV accident shortly after he arrived in Morgantown in June.

But that healed quickly and actually was a benefit to Smith.

"It was a bad experience, but it also taught me a lesson at the same time,'' Smith said. "But I have to say it happened at a great time for me because I got a chance to learn from it.''

And the lesson he learned?

"Just be cautious of everything you do because there's a bigger picture,'' Smith said. "It's not just me being selfish. It's about the team and me helping the team.''

In a perfect world, of course, Smith wouldn't be called upon to help the Mountaineers this season, at least not in crucial situations on Saturdays. Were that to happen it would mean that something had happened to Brown, which could be a worst-case scenario for West Virginia's offense, which despite an abundance of skill position players is attempting to adjust to a nearly new offensive line and the loss of quarterback Pat White.

Then again, ask Smith if he arrived this summer with the mindset to win the backup quarterback job or the quarterback job period and one gets a fairly predictable answer from anyone who has a competitive nature.

"That's my goal, to be the quarterback. Period,'' Smith said. "But as a teammate, I understand that what the coaches say is best for the team. I'm a total team player. But my main goal is just to come in and compete - whether I'm [No.] 1, 2 or 3 - just to compete every day and work as hard as I can.''

In fairness to Coley White, it should be pointed out that one of the reasons Smith has gotten virtually all the work with the No. 2 offense is that he's new and the coaches want to see what he can do. White had his chance in the spring. That's why coach Bill Stewart refuses to publicly settle on a backup quarterback until the end of camp on Saturday.

But so far Smith has appeared as anything but a true freshman and seems far more poised than White. His performance in the scrimmages hasn't been lights out, but that's not what West Virginia is looking for. Smith has been fairly unflappable, staying in the pocket and delivering the football or executing the running game.

Of course, it helps his pocket presence that Smith is wearing a no-contact jersey and he knows he can't get hit. That will make anyone more relaxed.

Still, he's done almost everything right.

"He's got a physical skill set that I really like,'' offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen said. "He's got a natural presence in the pocket. He does a real good job of protecting the football, not seeing the rush, keeping his eyes downfield, getting on a number of different receivers throughout a progression. And then he does a nice job delivering the football. Clearly, the mental aspect he has to work on, but that would be true for any freshman.''

One thing Smith doesn't seem to be short of is that presence.

"I never feel pressure,'' Smith said. "I'm pretty comfortable with the things I can do on the field. It's basically just being cool, calm and collected and showing my teammates I'm confident so they can have that confidence in me.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.