Jenkins determined to protect QB Smith

MORGANTOWN — The success of the West Virginia football team this season largely hinges on the right arm and left foot of Geno Smith.

Keeping both protected will be the responsibility of Josh Jenkins, and the remainder of an offensive line that includes four returnees from last year’s 9-4 campaign.

While Smith, who is recovering from a broken foot suffered last January, is protected at practice with WVU defenders ordered to stay away from the prized sophomore quarterback, the same can’t be said for the opposition.

Keeping them away is the task ahead for Jenkins and friends.

“The quarterback never needs to get touched, period,” said Jenkins, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound junior, and a second-year starter at offensive left guard. “Definitely in practice and as the season comes along, we are going to try and protect him even if he has a great foot or a bad foot.

“We want to keep him off the ground as much as we can this year and that is our main goal.”

Jenkins is part of an offensive line that rarely left the field last season. Missing only Selvish Capers, who was drafted by the Washington Redskins, the ‘Eers return four starters, including Jenkins, who took part in an amazing 853 plays in ‘09.

Among this many duties is to keep opposing defenders away from Smith, a vital part of West Virginia’s hopes for the season since his backups will probably be true freshmen Barry Brunetti and Jeremy Johnson.

Smith is the third starting quarterback — after Pat White and Jarrett Brown — that Jenkins has protected for at West Virginia. Smith played in five games last season in relief of Brown, and impressed Jenkins.

“I feel like Geno is sharp. I feel like he has been playing here, you couldn’t tell he is a new kid,” Jenkins said. “He takes care of the offense, he takes control and he just leads very well, he is a sharp young man.”

While Jenkins arrived at West Virginia with plenty of press clippings, including being a first-team USA Today All-America, Smith had much the same hype before arriving in Morgantown from Florida.

He’s confident in his ability, and Jenkins has noticed.

“I think the way you have to be as a quarterback, I think you have to come in with a little arrogance about yourself,” Jenkins said. “Quarterback is a big player and a lot of people are going to be depending on you and if anything falls, it is going to be the offensive line and it is going to be the quarterback.

“I think he is ready for it all, and I think because of how sharp he is, he is going to do well.”

Jenkins expects the same from his line mates. His fellow returnees, right tackle Don Barclay (839 plays), center Eric Jobe (852) and right guard Joe Madsen (840), also rarely left the field last season.

“We are so tight now that we feel like if we don’t come off the field again this year it won’t be a big deal because we have been there once and we can do it again,” Jenkins said. “That’s how we feel about it.”

“I think as a group it just makes everything so much easier because we played all those snaps last year together and that makes a huge difference.”

Jenkins expects that unit to be cohesive this season, helping the high-powered Mountaineers put points on the board. The only question is right tackle, where sophomore Jeff Braun has the inside track to replace Capers.

“Everything is coming more easy to us,” said Jenkins, who starred at Parkersburg High School, leading the Big Reds to consecutive Class AAA titles in 2006-07. “We are picking up blitzes better, our communication — which wasn’t all the way there last year — is better this year as it should because we know each other now so that is great.”

An offensive line rarely gets the attention that so-called skill players get, and especially this season at West Virginia, where the roster includes such athletic performers as Noel Devine, Jock Sanders, Bradley Starks, Tavon Austin and Smith.

“We’ve got so much talent and so many weapons with Tavon, Noel, Jock, Bradley, Geno, and it just goes on and on,” Jenkins said. “I think that is going to make a lot of difference because no one is ever going to know where the ball is going to go because anyone can make big plays and make special plays at any time.”

The talent expands to the line. There is even the possibility that Jenkins and friends might actually get a little rest this season.

“It helps to know that if someone goes down during the season that we are going to have someone to come in and we won’t miss a beat,” Jenkins said. “That is what it is nice to know about and it is nice just to see the guys getting better every day and everyone getting better.”

Jenkins said Monday that even as he enters his third season of practicing under the hot August sun, he hasn’t found fall drills to get any easier over time.

“No, not at all, I think the coaches push us more and more every year and I think we expect more and more as the years come so it doesn’t get any easier,” Jenkins said. “I think our team is a lot more physical this year, and everyone is in a lot better shape at the start of camp than we were last year and I think that is paying off.

“I think the team all together was very physical. It was a good day out there, a lot of competition, we’ve got a long way to go, but we are getting there.”

While preseason preparations for the Sept. 4 opener with Coastal Carolina are continuing, Jenkins is confident the Mountaineers will fight the heat and do what it takes to be ready to play ball.

“It’s hot out there, but things are going good,” Jenkins said. “I think we are getting better every day, I think we are making a lot of progress as a team, I think we are bonding pretty well together and I think we have good things to come.”

How good?

That remains to be seen, but West Virginia will definitely be in the hunt for a Big East championship, a title that has eluded the Mountaineers since 2007.

“I think we have a good chance of doing big things this year,” Jenkins said. “We will find out when the season comes.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

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