Probably not, but I spoke Tuesday with WVU’s safeties coach and the coach who handles the special teams defenses — that is, the teams that go and tackle the kick and punt returners. It was part of a conversation for a story I’m working on for Friday and within Dunlap said he was concerned about facing Marshall’s return man Troy Evans in the first game of the season.

Remember, teams rarely go live on kick and punt returns in preseason practice, and even through all the special teams work we got to see in the first week, it wasn’t at full speed or with full contact. You can imagine the potential for disaster in that first game, especially with someone as skilled as Evans. 

Well, quite likely, Dunalp won’t have to worry about Evans Sunday.

Nevertheless, he and the rest of the defensive coaches have a lot on their minds because mysteries remain around Marshall. Oh, the Herd named a starting quarterback Tuesday, but what does anyone really know about true freshman Rakeem Cato?

Well, know this: Young man is confident. His high school played a 3-3-5, so he’s ready for that, and he’d prefer to play before a large and hostile crowd.

That’s fine with Cato. Just so there aren’t empty seats.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound quarterback participated in his first peaceful practice last Tuesday when MU Coach Doc Holliday opted to lock the gates to Edwards Stadium and prepare behind the veil.

Fans were permitted to watch practice in full during preseason camp, but Holliday put the kibosh on that with the Friends of Coal Bowl looming.

“When they closed the stadium down and there weren’t any fans, I had my worst practice since I’ve been here,” Cato said. “I looked up in the stands and nobody was there and I didn’t like it.

“The more fans, the better.”