Yesterday was the first day of padded practices at WVU, which is somewhat interesting in that it could have actually happened Sunday. Dana Holgorsen instead chose to make Sunday a lighter day that reviewed the first three days. The highlight whenever the Mountaineers are in pads and the media is invited to attend is the Oklahoma drill.

And yes, Holgorsen has given thought to editing that name in the past.

That’s been brought up every year. I almost said something different a few minutes ago. It’s just what it is – nothing against the great state of Oklahoma.

After some robust stretching, WVU put the cones out and jumped into the drill. Watching this in practice is like watching football on television. You surf through until you find a matchup you really like. Kevin White v. Karl Joseph got my attention, and then White held onto it for quite some time after.

Been over this before, and I’m not sure if he lived in the weight room or just decided to wear smaller practice gear, but White looks a different man than he did before. And now he’s doing that? Not handling Joseph, which is no light task, but barking and bragging and alpha dogging it out there.

I thought he was a little laid back and quiet and, if we’re being honest, less-than-aggressive last season. Maybe that’s all part and parcel for a junior college transfer, but this is a guy who just couldn’t win those 1 v. 1 jump balls down the field despite visible gifts and advantages.

And that was somewhat symbolic for the struggles of the receivers in 2013.

Were they talented? Sure. I mean, look at them and you can answer that. But were they experienced enough or familiar with the quarterback enough to be comfortable enough to be the difference out there? No, and I don’t think you’d see White emoting like this at this point last season and probably not at points later in the season.

Now it’s a different story. He knows the drill, literally in this case, and he knows the offense and his quarterback and his strengths and his weaknesses. This is merely a glance at a player and an even smaller sample of an entire group of players at one position, but if it’s at all emblematic of something new and different, the Mountaineers should look and act much different in the fall.