Today’s lesson: Don’t get smacked in the face
August 6, 2012 by Mike Casazza
Fun little part of practice today. Receiver Isaiah Hayes catches a pass in a screen drill and fights his way around cornerback Brandon Napoleon, apparently by making use of a slap to the head at the end of the play.
Cornerback Pat Miller did not like that … not because Hayes did it, but because Napoleon allowed it to happen without recompense. Receiver Stedman Bailey couldn’t have been happier, though.
“I like their mentality right now. We’re trying to develop some leaders just like everybody across the country. We probably have a few more on offense than we do on defense, but the defense is playing like they have a chip on their shoulder and to me they’re flying around and playing hard.”
There were other exchanges, though, and a few involved smacking and shoving. One in particular nearly necessitated no headgear. Watch Cody Clay and K.J. Dillon toe the line.
Later, Jordan Thompson had another one of his fun little moments, though it was slightly overshadowed post-whistle by shenanigans.
You’re sensing a theme here: WVU couldn’t wait to get physical, even if one another, to finally exorcise some of the emotions that have been building inside them as the hype and anticipation build around them. Holgorsen allowed it, though not to extremes.
“We’re not fighting because we hate each other. We’re fighting because the aggressive nature of what these kids are like. We had more fights than I would’ve liked today, but there are people across the country that would like to trade places with me, because they can’t get their guys to fight.
“I’ve been in that situation before. That’s just intensity and competing. If it starts hurting the drill, that’s when I say something about it. If it’s a quick little fight, and they’re tugging on each other, it’s not a big deal. It happened later on in practice where it disrupted the drill so I had to get involved, calm everyone down, and try to make a few throw up and continue the drill.”
So there were no problems that we saw during the 30 minutes inside the barbed wire. There was, instead, the good, bad and sometimes ugly you tend to expect. Check out this sequence, as proof. A block, a wiggle and a fumble.
We were again treated to special teams work and got our first look at kickoffs. No one I saw made it into the end zone, even with the new rule that makes it much easier to do so, but I don’t think that was a goal. That said, Josh Lambert can kick it really high and probably really far.
Don’t take my word for it. Allow No. 82, Devonte Mathis, to testify.
My favorite part of special teams work? Try this on for size …
That’s Will Clarke playing the outside guard position on a field goal … he was on the protection team, not the block team. I wonder if they’ll just use him wherever he can help this season. I certainly wouldn’t tell him “No.”
All in all, still fun and useful stuff to watch and absorb, as Dana Holgorsen found a moment to do with his son Logan.
