MORGANTOWN - There was a scary moment during West Virginia's first full-contact workout of the spring Saturday afternoon, but it didn't come during anything close to a full-contact drill.
MORGANTOWN - There was a scary moment during West Virginia's first full-contact workout of the spring Saturday afternoon, but it didn't come during anything close to a full-contact drill.
No, instead it was during a skeleton passing drill when tailback Noel Devine crossed over the middle and collided with linebacker Anthony Leonard. It was three or four minutes before Devine was helped to his feet and limped gingerly off the field.
And as it turned out, there were actually a couple of pieces of good news that eventually came of the mishap. For starters, Devine's injury was just a bruised quad muscle. He returned about 45 minutes later, and although he didn't take part in any more drills, coach Bill Stewart said the injury was nothing to be concerned about.
"If it were a game he would have kept playing,'' Stewart said.
The other plus that came of the incident? Well, it forced Tavon Austin to take some snaps at tailback in Devine's place. And he didn't disappoint.
"I told you about little No. 1,'' Stewart said, referring to Austin. "[Devine] better not rest too long with that quad.''
Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement. After all, it seems doubtful that Austin or anyone else is going to unseat Devine as West Virginia's primary ball carrier.
Still, Austin showed the flashes of quickness and brilliance that have convinced Stewart and the coaching staff not only to make him the primary backup to Devine, but move him temporarily to wide receiver just to get him on the field.
Austin took only a handful of snaps at tailback, but he displayed the kind of moves that made him a high school legend in Baltimore, once catching a little flare pass, making a couple of defenders miss and then zig-zagging his way back across the field.
"Arm tackles,'' starting free safety Robert Sands yelled while watching the No. 2 defense trying to corral the 5-foot-9, 173-pound sophomore. "Too many arm tackles.''
Trouble was, getting even an arm on Austin was problematic.
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Austin shines in relief of Devine
MORGANTOWN - There was a scary moment during West Virginia's first full-contact workout of the spring Saturday afternoon, but it didn't come during anything close to a full-contact drill.
No, instead it was during a skeleton passing drill when tailback Noel Devine crossed over the middle and collided with linebacker Anthony Leonard. It was three or four minutes before Devine was helped to his feet and limped gingerly off the field.
And as it turned out, there were actually a couple of pieces of good news that eventually came of the mishap. For starters, Devine's injury was just a bruised quad muscle. He returned about 45 minutes later, and although he didn't take part in any more drills, coach Bill Stewart said the injury was nothing to be concerned about.
"If it were a game he would have kept playing,'' Stewart said.
The other plus that came of the incident? Well, it forced Tavon Austin to take some snaps at tailback in Devine's place. And he didn't disappoint.
"I told you about little No. 1,'' Stewart said, referring to Austin. "[Devine] better not rest too long with that quad.''
Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement. After all, it seems doubtful that Austin or anyone else is going to unseat Devine as West Virginia's primary ball carrier.
Still, Austin showed the flashes of quickness and brilliance that have convinced Stewart and the coaching staff not only to make him the primary backup to Devine, but move him temporarily to wide receiver just to get him on the field.
Austin took only a handful of snaps at tailback, but he displayed the kind of moves that made him a high school legend in Baltimore, once catching a little flare pass, making a couple of defenders miss and then zig-zagging his way back across the field.
"Arm tackles,'' starting free safety Robert Sands yelled while watching the No. 2 defense trying to corral the 5-foot-9, 173-pound sophomore. "Too many arm tackles.''
Trouble was, getting even an arm on Austin was problematic.
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MORGANTOWN - There was a scary moment during West Virginia's first full-contact workout of the spring Saturday afternoon, but it didn't come during anything close to a full-contact drill.
No, instead it was during a skeleton passing drill when tailback Noel Devine crossed over the middle and collided with linebacker Anthony Leonard. It was three or four minutes before Devine was helped to his feet and limped gingerly off the field.
And as it turned out, there were actually a couple of pieces of good news that eventually came of the mishap. For starters, Devine's injury was just a bruised quad muscle. He returned about 45 minutes later, and although he didn't take part in any more drills, coach Bill Stewart said the injury was nothing to be concerned about.
"If it were a game he would have kept playing,'' Stewart said.
The other plus that came of the incident? Well, it forced Tavon Austin to take some snaps at tailback in Devine's place. And he didn't disappoint.
"I told you about little No. 1,'' Stewart said, referring to Austin. "[Devine] better not rest too long with that quad.''
Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement. After all, it seems doubtful that Austin or anyone else is going to unseat Devine as West Virginia's primary ball carrier.
Still, Austin showed the flashes of quickness and brilliance that have convinced Stewart and the coaching staff not only to make him the primary backup to Devine, but move him temporarily to wide receiver just to get him on the field.
Austin took only a handful of snaps at tailback, but he displayed the kind of moves that made him a high school legend in Baltimore, once catching a little flare pass, making a couple of defenders miss and then zig-zagging his way back across the field.
"Arm tackles,'' starting free safety Robert Sands yelled while watching the No. 2 defense trying to corral the 5-foot-9, 173-pound sophomore. "Too many arm tackles.''
Trouble was, getting even an arm on Austin was problematic.
"The little guy is tough to bring down,'' Stewart said. "Now you see why we have to get him on the field.''
For the most part, Austin seems destined to be on the field this fall at wide receiver. Stewart and the offensive coaches have committed to making him the backup to Devine at tailback rather than last year's backup, slot receiver Jock Sanders, because they don't want to be adjusting more positions than they have to. If Sanders backs up Devine, then Austin has to move to the slot to replace Sanders.
"We're better off just making one move,'' Stewart said. "And we think Tavon can handle it.''
But as long as Devine remains healthy, Austin will play outside as a wide receiver because it is the only place to get him on the field on offense. In limited time last season, Austin caught 15 passes and averaged 10 yards per catch and returned 17 kickoffs for a 25-yard average, including a 98-yard touchdown against Connecticut.
For his part, Austin doesn't care where he lines up on the field, as long as he's on the field.
"Just give me a chance somewhere,'' he said.
BRIEFLY: Normally during the spring, West Virginia's kickers and punters would spend most of their time working out on the school's grass practice field when they weren't taking part in special teams periods at the beginning and end of practice.
This spring, though, they are relegated to the indoor building where punting is particularly troublesome because of a relatively low ceiling. The grass practice fields were re-planted last fall and won't be ready for use until the summer, hopefully by the time the school plays host to its June camps.
Devine wasn't the only tailback who watched much of Saturday's practice. Redshirt freshman Daquan Hargrett turned an ankle and missed most of the workout. And wide receiver J.D. Woods suffered a hamstring injury.
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Austin shines in relief of Devine
MORGANTOWN - There was a scary moment during West Virginia's first full-contact workout of the spring Saturday afternoon, but it didn't come during anything close to a full-contact drill.
No, instead it was during a skeleton passing drill when tailback Noel Devine crossed over the middle and collided with linebacker Anthony Leonard. It was three or four minutes before Devine was helped to his feet and limped gingerly off the field.
And as it turned out, there were actually a couple of pieces of good news that eventually came of the mishap. For starters, Devine's injury was just a bruised quad muscle. He returned about 45 minutes later, and although he didn't take part in any more drills, coach Bill Stewart said the injury was nothing to be concerned about.
"If it were a game he would have kept playing,'' Stewart said.
The other plus that came of the incident? Well, it forced Tavon Austin to take some snaps at tailback in Devine's place. And he didn't disappoint.
"I told you about little No. 1,'' Stewart said, referring to Austin. "[Devine] better not rest too long with that quad.''
Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement. After all, it seems doubtful that Austin or anyone else is going to unseat Devine as West Virginia's primary ball carrier.
Still, Austin showed the flashes of quickness and brilliance that have convinced Stewart and the coaching staff not only to make him the primary backup to Devine, but move him temporarily to wide receiver just to get him on the field.
Austin took only a handful of snaps at tailback, but he displayed the kind of moves that made him a high school legend in Baltimore, once catching a little flare pass, making a couple of defenders miss and then zig-zagging his way back across the field.
"Arm tackles,'' starting free safety Robert Sands yelled while watching the No. 2 defense trying to corral the 5-foot-9, 173-pound sophomore. "Too many arm tackles.''
Trouble was, getting even an arm on Austin was problematic.
