Mountaineers eager to play Gold-Blue game

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April 29, 2010

By BRIAN WOODSON Bluefield Daily Telegraph The Bluefield Daily Telegraph Thu Apr 29, 2010, 05:00 AM EDT

BLUEFIELD — The West Virginia Mountaineers’ football team will meet once more before wrapping up spring drills. They’ll do it in front of a big crowd.

It’s safe to say the Mountaineers are eager to play in front of an audience.

“I am pretty excited,” West Virginia defensive back Robert Sands said. “It is a Friday night game underneath the lights in our own home stadium, so hopefully we will get a big turnout. I hope we show them what our defense has.

“It is even more fun when the fans are there to watch. It gives a little extra motivation to the offense and defense so it will be fun out there.”

It’s not the defense that is the question heading into the 2010 season. That would be the offense, which is trying to replace Jarrett Brown, who started last season.

The competition in the spring — which has been led by Geno Smith and Coley White — will be the focus of West Virginia’s annual Gold-Blue spring game that will be played on Friday at Milan-Puskar Stadium.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m., with an admission fee of $5, with all proceeds benefiting the WVU Children’s Hospital.

Third-year head coach Bill Stewart is also excited to be playing front of WVU fans, and not the seats that have set empty through the initial 14 practices of the spring.

“I hope the team will play with great emotion on Friday. They have done that most of the spring,” Stewart said. “We have had hard hitting practices and live situations, and I anticipate that will continue this Friday night before the Mountaineer faithful.”

West Virginia, which finished 9-4 last season, including a loss to Florida State in the Gator Bowl, has improved since spring preparations started on April 6, but not enough according to one quarterback candidate.

“They will never improve as much as I want them to in the spring,” said White, the brother of former West Virginia star Pat White. “We have done well, we have given effort and the guys have played hard, but never as well as I would like.”

The Mountaineers do return tailback Noel Devine, receivers Jock Sanders and Bradley Starks and four of five offensive linemen, but they are looking for people to catch the ball.

Stewart wants the ball in the hands of Tyler Urban, Will Johnson and Tavon Austin. Starks hopes the offense can make some plays to entertain the large crowd that is expected.

“I think it is more exciting when you have a couple thousand fans in the stands coming out from wherever they are coming from, far or not,” Starks said. “They want to see us play, and to have someone in the stands other than the coaches I think is awesome. We want to produce and be productive.”

Defensively, West Virginia returns nearly everyone, and could have one of the Big East’s top units. Perhaps even better than that.

They’ll provide a challenge to the West Virginia offense, which Stewart hopes to see shine on Friday.

“I want to see the ball in our playmaker’s hands,” Stewart said. “I want see us offensively, I want to see if our offensive line gels, and I want to see how hard our defense runs to the ball and if we are playing like we are in top form and knocking the ball loose.”

While spring practice will end once the game ends on Friday, West Virginia offensive lineman Eric Jobe said the work will continue in the offseason with the players working as a unit on their own.

“I think our (backups) are getting some good reps in this spring, and they are improving a lot,” Jobe said. “Fifteen spring practices isn’t really a lot, so we will have to get together over the summer and continue to work on our drills and technique so in fall camp, there isn’t much teaching going on.

“We want to be ready to roll, and I think we will have eight to 10 guys ready.”

West Virginia will return for fall preparations in August, with the season opening with a visit from Coastal Carolina on Sept. 4. The Mountaineers, who are expected to challenge for their first Big East title since 2007, will be ready.

“We want to improve on last year. Wherever we were ranked last year, we want to be higher,” Sands said. “Each and every individual on the team hopefully will have improved from last year, and we will have a better team.”

Sands, however, would like a little break once spring preparations are over.

“It is the last practice before summer break,” Sands said. “I am pretty excited about that. I can’t wait to go back home to Miami for a while.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

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Mountaineers eager to play Gold-Blue game

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