MORGANTOWN - Bill Stewart was not at all pleased with West Virginia's first full-scale scrimmage of the preseason Saturday, and with good reason.
"Hopefully him and me on the same side [will cause some problems],'' said Thomas, who was asked if he were a blocker which one he would take. "I don't know who exactly, but as long as we can make it hard on opposing offensive lines to know who to block, we'll be better.''
Aside from those plays by Irvin and Devine, the scrimmage was eventful primarily for its sloppiness. Quarterbacks Geno Smith and freshmen Barry Brunetti and Jeremy Johnson combined to complete 16-of-18 passes for 113 yards and no interceptions, but for the most part they were safe and simple routes.
Smith did complete a nice 24-yarder to Tavon Austin along the sideline to convert a third down and Brunetti hit freshman Ivan McCartney on a quick timing route down the sideline for 24 yards to set up a touchdown. Smith also hit Jock Sanders for 16 yards across the middle to convert a third down at his own 5 the play before Devine's touchdown run.
But mostly the passes were short and safe and the execution on run plays sloppy beyond the No. 1 offense. The dropped snaps and exchange problems belonged mainly to the freshmen, particularly Johnson, who also had a pitch batted down for a turnover by freshman safety Michael Dorsey.
Brunetti finished 4-for-4 passing for 44 yards and ran for a 2-yard touchdown. Johnson was 3-for-4 for nine yards.
Smith was 9-of-10 for 60 yards, Sanders caught four passes for 25 yards and Austin caught two passes for 27 yards and ran three times for 18 yards.
A handful of players missed the scrimmage, most notably cornerback Keith Tandy, safety Sidney Glover, nose guard Chris Neild and receiver Brad Starks. All but Neild have minor injuries. Stewart merely held out Neild to see others play. Larry Ford started in his place because Josh Taylor was also out.
The only special teams play during the scrimmage was by the field goal/PAT units and they were not all that pleasant. All-Big East kicker Tyler Bitancurt made field goals of 34, 35 and 38 yards, but missed from 47. The No. 1 unit also missed two PATs, one when holder Jeremy Kash couldn't get the snap down and the second when Bitancurt hit the left upright.
Transfer kicker Corey Smith also missed one in the mid-40s range, but made two from 37 and 48 yards.
Sophomore Shawne Alston scored with the No. 2 offense twice, once from a yard out at the end of a red-zone drill and then on an 8-yard run in goal line. Austin also scored for the No. 1 offense in goal line on a 5-yard en-around.
Alston got more work than any other back, carrying 11 times for 36 yards, all with the No. 2 offense.
Chris Snook also scored when he caught a two-point conversion pass from Brunetti on the last play of the scrimmage. Freshman running back Trey Johnson had a touchdown run of 17 yards with the No. 3 units on the field.
All in all, though, Stewart left the field disappointed in a lot of things.
"I'm glad we didn't play today,'' Stewart said. "There's one team that can beat the Mountaineers. One team. They were on this field [Saturday]. They won. The team that can beat West Virginia, beat West Virginia.''
MORGANTOWN - Bill Stewart was not at all pleased with West Virginia's first full-scale scrimmage of the preseason Saturday, and with good reason.
"Sloppy tackling, not breaking on the ball, not doing back-side cutoff blocks, not hustling, drops, exchange snaps,'' Stewart said by way of listing WVU's deficiencies. "I'm not real pleased. [We] didn't play up to our standards today.''
Still, the afternoon was not a total loss by any stretch of the imagination for a couple of big reasons.
Noel Devine was one and Bruce Irvin the other. Two players who are expected to deliver big this season did just that right from the start during Saturday's 60-minute scrimmage.
Devine, the Mountaineers' All-America candidate at tailback, broke a 79-yard touchdown run during the No. 1 offense's third series. He pretty much retired after that with 99 yards on just four carries.
"It's good to practice good habits and I think that's going to be a good habit this year,'' Devine said of breaking the day's biggest play. "I think you're going to see long runs like that.''
Devine would play just one more short series after that and then sat down.
"Noel was electrifying, as always,'' Stewart said. "We got him out of there early because I've seen what he can do.''
What Stewart hadn't seen, at least in the semi-formal setting of an officiated scrimmage, was what Irvin could do. And that became apparent even before Devine's long run.
The first two times the No. 1 offense had the ball, they faced early passing situations - first a third-and-7 and then a third-and-12 after a penalty. Both times the No. 1 defense went with its 40 package that includes four pass rushers, Irvin and Will Clarke being the ends.
And both times Irvin rushed quarterback Geno Smith for sacks. On the first he was nearly untouched because linebacker J.T. Thomas was also rushing from the left side. On the second, he simply bull-rushed new right tackle Jeff Braun.
It was enough to leave even Devine in awe. He was explaining afterward how the offense needs to work more on pass protection and was asked if he specifically meant line play or blocking by the backs.
"I think it's just a good job by Bruce Irvin,'' he said, shaking his head. "He's something. He's got strength and quickness.''
Thomas, who had missed much of the last few days of contact because of a sore neck, played every snap with the No. 1 defense and marveled at the play of Irvin, too.
"Hopefully him and me on the same side [will cause some problems],'' said Thomas, who was asked if he were a blocker which one he would take. "I don't know who exactly, but as long as we can make it hard on opposing offensive lines to know who to block, we'll be better.''
Aside from those plays by Irvin and Devine, the scrimmage was eventful primarily for its sloppiness. Quarterbacks Geno Smith and freshmen Barry Brunetti and Jeremy Johnson combined to complete 16-of-18 passes for 113 yards and no interceptions, but for the most part they were safe and simple routes.
Smith did complete a nice 24-yarder to Tavon Austin along the sideline to convert a third down and Brunetti hit freshman Ivan McCartney on a quick timing route down the sideline for 24 yards to set up a touchdown. Smith also hit Jock Sanders for 16 yards across the middle to convert a third down at his own 5 the play before Devine's touchdown run.
But mostly the passes were short and safe and the execution on run plays sloppy beyond the No. 1 offense. The dropped snaps and exchange problems belonged mainly to the freshmen, particularly Johnson, who also had a pitch batted down for a turnover by freshman safety Michael Dorsey.
Brunetti finished 4-for-4 passing for 44 yards and ran for a 2-yard touchdown. Johnson was 3-for-4 for nine yards.
Smith was 9-of-10 for 60 yards, Sanders caught four passes for 25 yards and Austin caught two passes for 27 yards and ran three times for 18 yards.
A handful of players missed the scrimmage, most notably cornerback Keith Tandy, safety Sidney Glover, nose guard Chris Neild and receiver Brad Starks. All but Neild have minor injuries. Stewart merely held out Neild to see others play. Larry Ford started in his place because Josh Taylor was also out.
The only special teams play during the scrimmage was by the field goal/PAT units and they were not all that pleasant. All-Big East kicker Tyler Bitancurt made field goals of 34, 35 and 38 yards, but missed from 47. The No. 1 unit also missed two PATs, one when holder Jeremy Kash couldn't get the snap down and the second when Bitancurt hit the left upright.
Transfer kicker Corey Smith also missed one in the mid-40s range, but made two from 37 and 48 yards.
Sophomore Shawne Alston scored with the No. 2 offense twice, once from a yard out at the end of a red-zone drill and then on an 8-yard run in goal line. Austin also scored for the No. 1 offense in goal line on a 5-yard en-around.
Alston got more work than any other back, carrying 11 times for 36 yards, all with the No. 2 offense.
Chris Snook also scored when he caught a two-point conversion pass from Brunetti on the last play of the scrimmage. Freshman running back Trey Johnson had a touchdown run of 17 yards with the No. 3 units on the field.
All in all, though, Stewart left the field disappointed in a lot of things.
"I'm glad we didn't play today,'' Stewart said. "There's one team that can beat the Mountaineers. One team. They were on this field [Saturday]. They won. The team that can beat West Virginia, beat West Virginia.''
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