WVU has never been worried about Dustin Garrison this preseason. All the comments and projections have been dripping with confidence and even satisfaction. To hear the Mountaineers, including Garrison, tell it, there is no concern.

He’s been in a green jersey for limited participation and he’s been in the white for full participation in both days with and without hitting, but he’s never been in the red jersey. That’s a big, big plus.

WVU has been patient and smart about it all and has frankly trusted Garrison’s word, save the day he did not want to wear a green jersey, but nevertheless put it on and went out onto the field.

How has this all happened? It’s a good question, and while running backs coach Robert Gillespie would like to tell you he knew this all along, he instead admits he’s been learning along the way.

Gillespie, who played the position in college at Florida and the NFL with the Washington Redskins, never had the injury. In seven years coaching the position in college, Garrison is Gillespie’s first player to tear an ACL.

“It’s all new to me,” Gillespie said. “I always try to speak off of experience so when I’m talking to them it’s about what I’ve seen and what I’ve done. This is a little different to me because I haven’t been through it. I don’t know mentally or physically what he’s feeling.”