If the West Virginia tight end ever wants to get into coaching, at least now he has some practical experience.

Urban's main contribution lately has been doing whatever he can from the sidelines to help the Mountaineers' other tight end, Will Johnson. Urban will watch plays, point out things that Johnson might not otherwise be able to see from his vantage point and do whatever he can to put Johnson in a better position to succeed.

"It was frustrating, but it was a good experience to watch and see and be able to help him,'' Urban said.

Urban won't go so far, though, as to take credit for Johnson's most significant contribution in Urban's absence. It was Johnson who made the leaping catch along the back line of the end zone at Marshall on Sept. 10 to put the Mountaineers in position to win that game in overtime.

"No,'' Urban said. "That was all Will.''

Shortly, though, Urban will be back in the position he handles best, not as a coach but a player. After rehabilitating a knee injury suffered in the first game of the season, the 6-foot-5, 249-pound junior is pretty much ready to play again.

He could see his first significant action Saturday when West Virginia (3-1) plays host to UNLV (1-4) at 3:30 p.m. at Mountaineer Field.

"I just want to go out and hit somebody,'' Urban said. "The LSU game I got one snap, but that was when we just took a knee to run the clock out at the end of the first half. But at least I got to hit somebody.''

Urban's issue is a strained or sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his knee. The good news is that it wasn't a tear. The bad news is that it was no less debilitating than had it been an injury to the more common anterior cruciate ligament.

"I was just running an out route and caught the ball and somebody jumped on my back,'' Urban said of the play early in the third quarter of WVU's 32-0 win over Coastal Carolina. "My knee drove into the turf.''

At the time, Urban didn't think much of the injury. If nothing was torn or otherwise seriously mangled he figured he would be back soon. After all, he'd never been hurt before and no one ever told him he would have to sit out a week or two weeks or even four.

"It's definitely tough, especially our first game [after he was injured] going down to Marshall,'' Urban said. "I was still carrying the hope that maybe I could play against them. And then [the date for his return] kept moving back and back. It was kind of depressing.''

Urban did his best to speed his recovery, going to treatment sometimes three times a day. But for a while things were so bad that he couldn't even stand on the leg.

"If I had to stand on my feet too long it would swell up,'' Urban said. "So I had to discipline myself not to do much of anything except go to class and then come here and do treatments.

"It's frustrating, but it's a learning experience, I guess. I've never missed a game in my life and then I got hurt at the end of the first game of the season.''

Despite West Virginia's limited use of tight ends, Urban's absence has still affected how the offense functions. Urban and the 6-2, 238-pound Johnson, a converted wide receiver, are obviously two different types of tight ends, and the plays they run best are different. Plus, it has limited the Mountaineers' use of two-tight end formations.

That should all get back to normal soon, though. Urban is likely to play at least a little bit Saturday against UNLV, but probably not as much as he or the coaches would like. But if that goes well, he should be close to 100 percent five days later when WVU opens Big East play against South Florida.

"I'm probably 90 percent,'' Urban said. "And I'm getting better. From last Thursday when we finished practice until we came back on Sunday I felt better. And from Sunday until now I feel better. I just have to keep progressing.''

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