The Charleston Daily Mail Wrote:Mountaineers already prepping for opening foe
By Mickey Furfari
For the Daily Mail
August 22, 2008

MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia University's football coaches are getting a jump on preparing for the season's opener against Villanova a week from Saturday at Mountaineer Field.

"We broke down Villanova game tapes this summer, and on Monday we actually put together scout teams and began preparing for the first game," associate head coach Doc Holliday said earlier in the week.

"We're in kind of a 'game week' mode and preparing for Villanova's offense and defense. But we're still trying to get better on both sides of the ball."

Holliday, who is director of recruiting and also coaches the fullbacks and tight ends, said head coach Bill Stewart's staff is spending about 20 minutes of each day's practice having their players work against Villanova's offense and defense as simulated by scout teams.

"The rest of the time we're working on fundamentals and techniques and our hurry-up offense," he said.

They also are still involved in situational scrimmaging designed to improve play-execution.

In spending practice time mostly with the offensive unit coordinated by Jeff Mullen, Holliday said the biggest thing to him is that the younger players have picked up on the schemes and plays pretty well.

"They're lining up properly for scrimmages and not making a lot of mistakes," he said.

"You're never totally pleased. Until you go out and play somebody else, you won't know where you are, team-wise. But I think the kids are executing pretty well, and the quarterbacks are making good decisions."

With nine true or redshirt freshmen on the tentative offense two- and three-deep chart, the veteran coach and former Mountaineer player readily admits that it's not a situation that the coaches prefer. But they're trying to make the best of it.

"Having so many young players on offense is not a situation that you'd like to be in," he said. "You'd rather have a situation where you could redshirt some newcomers. Unfortunately, it's a situation where some freshmen are going to have to play this year."

"So they have to learn quickly You try to get your program into position where you don't have to count on freshmen like this. Of course, when you have a special kid that can come in and play right away, that's a good thing this year."

Since Aug. 2, Stewart and his assistants have been trying to find out among the newcomers who when put onto the field give West Virginia the best chance to win. Holliday thinks redshirting will take care of itself.

The Mountaineers will be excused after this afternoon's practice and given all day Saturday and most of Sunday as time off.

The Charleston Daily Mail Wrote:WVU freshman to make immediate impact
By Mickey Furfari
For the Daily Mail
August 21, 2008

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Tyler Urban admittedly did not come in expecting to make some type of impact as a true freshman on West Virginia University's football team.

But the 6-foot-4, 240-pound native of North Huntingdon, Pa., is listed as the starting tight end on the school's tentative two-deep roster for the season opener against Villanova here Aug. 30.

"The coaches have not mentioned anything about redshirting me," said Urban, a standout ever since preseason practice began Aug. 2. "I still have a lot of stuff to work on. It's an exciting process."

He will be backed up by senior Sammy Morrone or redshirt freshman Tyler Rader.

Urban said he will play more of a tight end position than fullback or H-back, two other slots listed along with tight end under WVU's prevailing posture. But he did play fullback in high school, rushing for 510 yards and seven touchdowns on 80 carries. He also played defense.

He was asked the differences between him and Will Johnson, a sophomore listed as the starting fullback.

"We're two completely different types of tight ends," Urban explained. "He'll play in the backfield and will play that position more often. We're two different body types. I'm a little bigger and he's a little quicker."

"So when we're playing together, we fit pretty well. I'm more of the blocking tight end. I'm still learning the offense, but right now I'm the blocking tight end."

Urban helped lead Norwin High School to a 7-4 record and an appearance in the WPIAL quarterfinals as a senior. In his junior year, he rushed for 500 yards and a 6.2-yards-per-carry average.

He made the Class 4A All-State second team and was named to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Terrific 25. Urban also was a member of the National Honor Society.

* * *

SENIOR LINEBACKER Reed Williams said before Wednesday's scrimmage he hoped to absorb a hard hit on his shoulders. He underwent surgery on both of them in February.

"I'm not (medically cleared) yet, but I hope to be," last year's leading tackler said. "We'll see what happens. We've still got more than a week left before the first game to get ready. If I'm not able to go, there are guys behind me that can take care of the job."

The Charleston Gazette Wrote:Urban planning to catch a few at TE
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
August 22, 2008

MORGANTOWN - It's not as if Tyler Urban spent a lot of time researching the subject, but when it comes to the recent history of the involvement of pure tight ends in West Virginia's offense he has a pretty good grasp.

"I just know,'' he said with only the slightest grin, "that it was very little.''

No kidding.

Just as random examples, the last time a tight end led West Virginia in receiving was 17 years ago, when Alex Shook caught 23 passes. The last time a tight end actually put up more than token numbers was 10 years before that, when Mark Raugh caught 64 balls. Even Anthony Becht, without much question the best tight end at WVU in the past two decades, caught only 84 passes in his career.

So what in the world makes a 6-foot-4, 240-pounder like Urban voluntarily step into what has been a tight end black hole?

Well, change. And the hope that the days of tight ends-as-tackles is something that he can help eliminate.

"I met with [new offensive coordinator Jeff] Mullen before I came and he said they were going to open up the offense and get the tight ends actually involved in the routes,'' Urban said. "I know tight ends were used like extended tackles before, but toward the end last year they started using Owen [Schmitt] more at tight end.''

Figure on that trend continuing this season for two primary reasons. First, of course, is Mullens' new offensive scheme. Second is the presence of Urban.

"He is going to be a great one,'' West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said. "You can talk about Anthony Becht and how he developed, but this kid looks like a tight end right from Day One.''

Urban plays like one, too, so much so that when the Mountaineers begin the 2008 season on Aug. 30 against Villanova Urban just might be in the starting lineup as a true freshman. Part of that could depend on the health of Will Johnson's ankle and part on simply how the Mountaineers line up for the first snap of the season. But whether it is the first play, the first series or whenever need be, Urban will be a contributor.

"They said I should have a chance of coming in and maybe playing,'' Urban said. "But it is somewhat surprising. It's a lot to take in at first.''

Urban came to West Virginia from North Huntingdon, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh. Pitt was apparently uninterested, but both Maryland and West Virginia were on his trail after watching him play fullback and linebacker in high school.

His recruiting was between West Virginia and Maryland going into his senior season - he actually committed to the Terps at one time - and while both seem like good options (successful programs in BCS conferences) there were drawbacks to both. Despite having never played the position, Urban saw himself as a tight end, the position largely ignored by West Virginia. And while Maryland has had some terrific success with tight ends of late, the Terps weren't recruiting him as such, but instead as a defensive end and outside linebacker. That's what West Virginia's former staff wanted him to do, too.

As the season wore on last fall, Urban was being recruited in part by Stewart, who at the time would have been his position coach as a tight end. It was a couple of weeks after Stewart had visited Urban and had dinner with him that Rich Rodriguez left for Michigan, which begat the changes that eventually landed Stewart the head coaching job. The new staff was so enamored of Urban that at one point Stewart and two others drove nearly 500 miles from one recruiting stop to Urban's high school basketball practice.

The coaching change also brought the eventual changes in the offense, suddenly transforming Urban from just another in a packed class of defensive linemen to a rare and valuable commodity as a tight end.

"It did work out pretty well, didn't it?'' he asked.

Urban was quick to make his mark in camp, working into the No. 1 offense in a two-tight end set. In West Virginia's first scrimmage, he caught a pass in wide-open spaces and turned it into a 42-yard gain.

"It shocked me a little bit,'' Urban said. "I looked around and didn't see anybody, so I just took off.''

It also prompted an expected reaction from the defense, one that might soon become outdated.

"Surprise,'' linebacker J.T. Thomas said. "When was the last time a tight end caught a pass here, right?''

Reach Dave Hickman at (304) 348-1734 or dphickman1@aol.com.

The Charleston Daily Mail Wrote:Devine the crucial man for WVU this season
By Jack Bogaczyk
Daily Mail Sports Editor
August 22, 2008

MORGANTOWN -- So, here was Noel Devine on ESPN2 on Thursday morning, being asked how the sophomore West Virginia running back might like to be in New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

Then, the technical gods took over, making this "First Take" segment from the Puskar Center the only take, crashing the cell phone hookup, ending the interview (which was curiously accompanied by on-screen graphics that included a Pitt logo?).

Maybe somebody somewhere knew something.

Devine has wondrous ability and potential, but he hasn't started a game for the Mountaineers and he's a Heisman Trophy candidate?

Jock Sanders may be the Y receiver in the slot for WVU, but this longtime pressbox sitter says Devine is the X factor for the nation's eighth-ranked team. He needs to be better than very good.

Why? Because WVU has a dearth of proven running back candidates. Asked earlier this week what concerns him about a week before the season that he may not have previously fretted over, WVU Coach Bill Stewart didn't hesitate to answer.

"It's the depth at running back and wide receiver, and in the secondary," the first-year coach said. "It's not so much the depth simply, it's the lack of game-playing experience at those spots."

The same day, after the WVU depth chart appeared and had true freshman Mark Rodgers as the backup running back to Devine, Sanders was asked if he really wasn't the No. 2 at that crucial spot.

See, sometimes depth charts can be disingenuous. They are at times as much motivational as informational.

"The coaches really don't want me there, because if I'm there, it means somebody else hasn't stepped up," Sanders said. "They want me in the slot. I'll play either one. We'll see how it plays out. I know the coaches would rather someone else be in the backfield."

"If I have to play running back, I'll play running back, and I'll be happy doing it when I'm not playing in the slot."

Stewart called Sanders "more valuable at the slot to us, but he's the No. 2 tailback if needed. Jock's ball skills are phenomenal. He's like the little kid in the neighborhood with the scruffy hair, and maybe his head is busted up and snot's running out of his nose ... but he always ends up with the ball. You love that."

Quarterback Pat White may be the 'Eers' presumptive Heisman nominee, but he may not be the key to whether WVU wins 11 games, finishes in the top 10 and wins a big bowl again.

That may be Devine. White has a quality backup in Jarrett Brown. The 5-foot-8 Devine's shadow hasn't been found yet.

There's something else, too.

Devine averaged 8.6 yards per carry and gained 627 yards in 12 games last season. He scored six touchdowns. Yet, when Villanova visits Mountaineer field next Saturday, it will mark Devine's first start.

He has yet to prove he can carry the workload, much less the mantle that has belonged to such recent WVU backfield horses as Amos Zereoue, Avon Cobourne, Quincy Wilson and Steve Slaton.

Devine may have game experience but not starting experience. It's different. Not so long ago, Jason Colson was solid as a backup to Cobourne and Wilson, but when Colson had to start -- when he had to carry the team as well as the ball -- he fumbled.

OK, Devine is more talented than Colson, but you get the idea. It's the concept that's under consideration.

Devine has to bring more than his tremendous acceleration to the job. If White is No. 1 (and the real Heisman candidate on this team, until proven otherwise), Devine has to be 1-A -- particularly if WVU wants to keep Sanders in the slot and be able to back up Devine with Rodgers and other rookies.

If Stewart is losing sleep over how all of this is going to work out, it's because some numbers keep playing table games in his head ... and they're considerably higher than 5 (White), 7 (Devine) and 9 (Sanders).

The number is 2,630.

"Somebody told me the other day that in Steve Slaton, Owen Schmitt and (Darius) Reynaud, we lost about 2,600 yards," Stewart said. "That's a lot of our offense. We've got to figure out how we find that."

The Mountaineer Field turf got its annual blessing the other day, but those yards aren't going to just come from divine providence.

A lot of them must come from Devine. He's got to grab that starting job and run with it.

Contact Sports Editor Jack Bogaczyk at jackb@dailymail.com or (304) 348-7949.

The Charleston Daily Mail Wrote:WVU's Clarke slimming down while filling fullback role
By Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sports writer
August 22, 2008

MORGANTOWN -- The major obstacle preventing Ryan Clarke from being the player he envisioned being is that he actually was the player he envisioned being.

He just happened to be alone in that belief.

Clarke played linebacker and fullback for DeMatha Catholic High (Hyattsville, Md.) and helped the Stags win two state titles and 33 of 37 games his final three years. He had offers to play at a number of major schools, but just about every one came with a caveat.

"They'd come back and say, 'We don't use a fullback anymore,'" Clarke said. "Most of them wanted me as a linebacker."

Clarke wanted to be a fullback and found his chance when West Virginia University reached out in the winter. He knew the Mountaineers not only used the fullback, but featured it with run and pass plays.

"When I came for my visit, I saw Owen Schmitt played at about 260 pounds," the WVU freshman said. "I thought that was the ideal weight so I thought that's what I should get up to."

Clarke spent the time between signing in February and arriving on campus this summer lifting weights and eating protein shakes. He showed up weighing 260.

He was overweight and out of shape or, as WVU Coach Bill Stewart said, "carrying an extra suitcase."

"The coaches said they wanted me down at 240," Clarke said.

Clarke understood.

He noticed he was sluggish and nowhere near as nimble as he'd once been when he ran a 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds. He was encouraged, though, when he quickly dropped five pounds and noticed a little more bounce to his steps. The coaches stuck with him and he stuck with the plan and is now down to 252.

He just can't stay on the field. Clarke missed time late in preseason camp with a hamstring problem and is now battling pink eye.

"I'll never put a kid on the field if I don't feel he's ready to play and is going to make mistakes," fullbacks/tight ends coach Doc Holliday said. "He's not there yet, but hopefully we can get him there."

Clarke runs hard inside and enjoys the contact that comes with turning away a defender, but he's also drawn praise for his receiving skills.

"It's kind of surprising the kind of athlete he is for as big as he is," Holliday said.

He's a big part of a position for which Holliday and Stewart have big plans this season.

They converted Will Johnson from receiver to play their hybrid tight end-fullback position and recruited Clarke as a fullback and Tyler Urban as a tight end in hopes of teaching them to play this new position they say adds a dimension to the spread offense.

"The old days of the big, burly, old-fashioned fullback that played here in the 1970s, '80s and early '90s are probably over," Stewart said. "We don't have that type of offense anymore. Now he has to be a fullback, a slot receiver, a tight end, block the edges, block in the backfield."

Johnson has the overall advantage while the two freshmen will be used in a way that makes the most of their strengths. Urban, a 6-4, 240-pound newcomer from North Huntington, Pa., would start at tight end while Clarke would play in the more traditional -- if not inglorious -- fullback role.

"I'm used to that," he said. "I don't have a problem with blocking."

Urban has the edge blocking on the line of scrimmage and catching pass down the field, but Holliday said Clarke is the better runner and blocker in the backfield.

"This is a new time and people are changing their offenses to the spread offenses," Clarke said. "This is one of the last places that still uses the fullback. It's up to me to make plays when I get a chance."

Contact sportswriter Mike Casazza at mikec@dailymail.com or (304) 319-1142. His blog can be found at blogs.dailymail.com/wvu.

It looks like a bit of work will remain undone at Mountaineer Field until after the Villanova game...

The Daily Athenaeum Wrote:Projects won’t be completed in time
Tony Dobies, Managing Editor
Issue Date: Friday August 22, 2008
Section: Sports Section


Media Credit: KENDAL MONTGOMERY/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Top: The new main scoreboard at Milan Puskar Stadium is expected to be finished by Aug. 30. Advertisements will also be placed in time.

The new south end zone scoreboard at Milan Puskar Stadium is still expected to be finished on time, West Virginia University associate athletic director Russ Sharp said Thursday.

But, only one ribbon board will be completed by the Aug. 30 deadline.

“We’re disappointed,” Sharp said. “You shoot for Aug. 30, and that’s the goal that you have on every project since I’ve been here. You want to be done when it’s supposed to be done, and 99 percent of the time we hit the deadline. Unfortunately, it’s just not going to happen with this one.”

The east ribbon board, which will run down the sideline on the upper level of the student section side of the stadium, is expected to be finished on time.

Sharp said, despite it being finished for the WVU football team’s season opener against Villanova, the athletic department will take “baby steps” when using the new technology.

The west side ribbon board won’t be completed, though.

“It’s a five-day job, so it just can’t happen,” Sharp said. “Five days to put them up, then you have to run power to them and test them, so it’s just not something that can happen.”

The structural frames for the LED panels have not arrived yet for the west side but are expected around Aug. 29. The panels, according to Sharp, were sent in April and the power for the ribbon boards was installed through a separate project coordinated by the athletic department in July.

Most of the frames for the east side board have arrived, and the rest are expected to show up soon, Sharp said.

The west side board project should get underway on Sept. 2.

“I expect by the Marshall game we will be 100 percent done,” Sharp said. “They’ve got to go through the testing. It’s just a big electronic component where they’ve got to do a lot of testing, but it’s not tremendously complicated as long as it’s wired right. It ought to be put through the paces pretty quick.”

He attributed the inability to finish by the deadline to a late start among other setbacks.

“The contract wasn’t signed until late March. Plus you’ve got to go through a lot of design work, and that probably took a little more time than it should have,” Sharp said. “But it really comes down to fabricating those frames, the structure that’s going to hang the LEDs.”

Panasonic workers began to make the final connections on the main scoreboard Thursday morning. They will then test run the scoreboard, and technicians from Japan will begin to adjust the board for color among other things early next week.

Advertising frames, which sit to the right, left and bottom of the actual LED scoreboard, are still without the actual panel ads, but Sharp said a separate contractor will install then next week.

“There’s no danger of that not happening by game time,” Sharp said, adding that a piece to top the scoreboard and cover the sound system will be completely installed next week as well.

The main scoreboard will go through numerous tests prior to the season opener, and Sharp said he doesn’t expect any flaws, but like with the old board that was taken out earlier this summer, anything can happen.

“There’s a lot of things that could go wrong – there’s a lot of components up there,” he said. “We’re hoping for the best, we’re planning for the best and I expect it to be working and certainly Panasonic expects it to be working."

“Panasonic wants this to be a showcase. I think they are going to dedicate 100 percent of their resources to make sure it’s perfect.”

The athletic department has also discussed ideas to expand the stadium with additional suites.

“We feel like there is a demand for suites and club seats, so there’s always some type of an effort to enhance our fans’ experience and enhance our revenue,” Sharp said. “We don’t have a timetable at this point.”

Sharp said that the department has not discussed any other additional seating.

The new WVU Coliseum scoreboard is completed, minus some ad paneling. Sharp expects the sound system to be put up in the next few weeks so it is ready for the WVU volleyball team’s season opener on Sept. 12.

“By the time we hit the first volleyball game, we will have some stuff working well, and once we get to Midnight Madness in the middle of October, everything will be full-go,” Sharp said.

He added that the lighting has been installed and tested. The new shutter system will allow the Coliseum to go completely dark in just two seconds.

A lot of it sounds like excuses. All of this was known at the start of the project, and a time cushion was supposed to have been scheduled in. Either the project manager wasn't up to snuff, or incompetance on the supply side held up the project.

One way or the other, somebody dropped the ball...

This line bothers me a bit...

Quote:“We’re hoping for the best, we’re planning for the best and I expect it to be working and certainly Panasonic expects it to be working."

That usually means beta testing, and that's d@mn near always a disaster on startup.