--West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said that they held a student appreciation day today and there are a lot of undergrads that are here and help this thing run.
--In the stadium today, they want between 40-50 snaps with the ones and twos and 20 with the threes. They did some special teams competition. They split them up into four special teams groups during the spring and they do competitions. They did that today in the stadium and had a full Big 12 official crew here. Oliver Straw is continuing to build off a strong freshman season. Austin Brinkman, has a chance to be as good as anybody in the country at long snapping. Michael Hayes and Danny King are battling for kicker.
--Mike Lockhart and Hammond Russell they need those guys and they are as integral as anybody when it comes to needing to make a jump and they have. Both have gotten better and did some nice things. Jared Bartlett had some sacks on third downs and James Heard is a natural pass rusher and will be a factor. Lee Kpogba from where he was last spring to now he's made the most improvement and has a chance to be an all-league type player. Tray Lathan played well today and Jairo Faverus has grown into one of those core special teams players. Marcis Floyd had some nice open field tackles and Andrew Wilson-Lamp had some nice plays on the ball. Keyshawn Cobb played as many snaps as they could get him and he's pushing for a starting job. Lance Dixon has quietly had a good spring playing in space.
--Offensively Garrett Greene alternated with Nicco Marchiol. Greene had three explosive runs, one 60+ yards and threw the deep ball very well today. Made a couple mistakes on third down and has to have some situational awareness. But some explosive plays and scrambled around on some broken plays. Nicco Marchiol had two nice drives where he converted multiple third downs. He is young but today he made good decisions and didn't take sacks. Did a nice job showing some maturation. At wide receiver Ja'Shaun Poke has had a nice week. He has a chance to be a factor in the return game and be explosive. Devin Carter has been really consistent, while at tight end Kole Taylor and Will Dixon had some nice catches. CJ Donaldson went full today and Tony Mathis might have had his best day of the spring while Jaylen Anderson and Justin Johnson have done well. Tuesday and Thursday they will go hard and then have fun Saturday.
--Brown is trying to keep expectations within reason with Jimmy Bell. Brown has had former basketball players. There is some cross over with keeping a smaller guy in front of you like in pass protection. But the biggest difference is you can use your hands in this game. He has to get used to punching and ball get off. He is extremely coach-able and works hard. He's had an open mind with this. He's played football so it's not like they're rolling him out for the first time. Played as a junior in high school and got recruited some. Went two weeks and just did fundamentals and cardio things. Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday he will practice and then get some time to regroup and see if it's something he wants to keep going and they do as well. Brown said he went 25 plays during 11-on-11 and pass protection and inside drill and he's seen considerable growth.
--Kpogba is a box linebacker that isn't running himself out of plays and reading his keys better and playing with more confidence. Behind him Tray Lathan, Caden Biser can play there. Ben Cutter can play there too and they're trying to cross train all of those guys.
--The easy thing is CJ Donaldson has ball skills and played receiver, while Jaylen Anderson has played a lot of empty. Justin Johnson and Tony Mathis weren't asked to do that in high school but they've been in the program long enough now that they're comfortable doing it.
--Lockhart and Russell they both have ability and have worked hard on conditioning.
--Brown feels better about the offensive line throughout spring practice. Sully Weidman had a good day and feel good about him going in. Dillon Ray has had a nice spring and Nick Malone has been a factor. He feels better about the depth and linebacker is another where Brown feels more comfortable than he did coming into the start of spring drills. As for the remaining needs it's still the same spots that he's said, one more wide out, at least a defensive lineman and cornerback.
--Brown said they better be better on defense. It's hard to look at it from the whole perspective until the end. They are faster on defense and are better. They tackled in the stadium and improved over where they tackled live.
--Montre Miller has had some ups and downs. He can run and the more comfortable he gets in the system he will be a solid Big 12 player. Works hard. Lamp and Spells are both growing and those are the two guys they need to make a move and there are some ups and downs. Malachi Ruffin played good football down the stretch for them. And they've added a player and may add another one.
--Jared Bartlett is playing the run better and has less wasted movement. He's put on some good weight. He is using his hands betters and is more patient. He is pleased with where he's at.
--Brown isn't sure about the format for the spring game. Brown said if he was coming to watch a spring game what would he want to see. Some type of competition and some things that are interactive and some real football. They won't play four quarters of real football. It's a good chance to come and get good seats and interact with the players. Brown wants it to be fun.
--Cortez Braham made two nice plays today and was the leading receiver in the scrimmage. Trying to put receivers in pressure situations this spring.
--In the stadium today, they want between 40-50 snaps with the ones and twos and 20 with the threes. They did some special teams competition. They split them up into four special teams groups during the spring and they do competitions. They did that today in the stadium and had a full Big 12 official crew here. Oliver Straw is continuing to build off a strong freshman season. Austin Brinkman, has a chance to be as good as anybody in the country at long snapping. Michael Hayes and Danny King are battling for kicker.
--Mike Lockhart and Hammond Russell they need those guys and they are as integral as anybody when it comes to needing to make a jump and they have. Both have gotten better and did some nice things. Jared Bartlett had some sacks on third downs and James Heard is a natural pass rusher and will be a factor. Lee Kpogba from where he was last spring to now he's made the most improvement and has a chance to be an all-league type player. Tray Lathan played well today and Jairo Faverus has grown into one of those core special teams players. Marcis Floyd had some nice open field tackles and Andrew Wilson-Lamp had some nice plays on the ball. Keyshawn Cobb played as many snaps as they could get him and he's pushing for a starting job. Lance Dixon has quietly had a good spring playing in space.
--Offensively Garrett Greene alternated with Nicco Marchiol. Greene had three explosive runs, one 60+ yards and threw the deep ball very well today. Made a couple mistakes on third down and has to have some situational awareness. But some explosive plays and scrambled around on some broken plays. Nicco Marchiol had two nice drives where he converted multiple third downs. He is young but today he made good decisions and didn't take sacks. Did a nice job showing some maturation. At wide receiver Ja'Shaun Poke has had a nice week. He has a chance to be a factor in the return game and be explosive. Devin Carter has been really consistent, while at tight end Kole Taylor and Will Dixon had some nice catches. CJ Donaldson went full today and Tony Mathis might have had his best day of the spring while Jaylen Anderson and Justin Johnson have done well. Tuesday and Thursday they will go hard and then have fun Saturday.
--Brown is trying to keep expectations within reason with Jimmy Bell. Brown has had former basketball players. There is some cross over with keeping a smaller guy in front of you like in pass protection. But the biggest difference is you can use your hands in this game. He has to get used to punching and ball get off. He is extremely coach-able and works hard. He's had an open mind with this. He's played football so it's not like they're rolling him out for the first time. Played as a junior in high school and got recruited some. Went two weeks and just did fundamentals and cardio things. Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday he will practice and then get some time to regroup and see if it's something he wants to keep going and they do as well. Brown said he went 25 plays during 11-on-11 and pass protection and inside drill and he's seen considerable growth.
--Kpogba is a box linebacker that isn't running himself out of plays and reading his keys better and playing with more confidence. Behind him Tray Lathan, Caden Biser can play there. Ben Cutter can play there too and they're trying to cross train all of those guys.
--The easy thing is CJ Donaldson has ball skills and played receiver, while Jaylen Anderson has played a lot of empty. Justin Johnson and Tony Mathis weren't asked to do that in high school but they've been in the program long enough now that they're comfortable doing it.
--Lockhart and Russell they both have ability and have worked hard on conditioning.
--Brown feels better about the offensive line throughout spring practice. Sully Weidman had a good day and feel good about him going in. Dillon Ray has had a nice spring and Nick Malone has been a factor. He feels better about the depth and linebacker is another where Brown feels more comfortable than he did coming into the start of spring drills. As for the remaining needs it's still the same spots that he's said, one more wide out, at least a defensive lineman and cornerback.
--Brown said they better be better on defense. It's hard to look at it from the whole perspective until the end. They are faster on defense and are better. They tackled in the stadium and improved over where they tackled live.
--Montre Miller has had some ups and downs. He can run and the more comfortable he gets in the system he will be a solid Big 12 player. Works hard. Lamp and Spells are both growing and those are the two guys they need to make a move and there are some ups and downs. Malachi Ruffin played good football down the stretch for them. And they've added a player and may add another one.
--Jared Bartlett is playing the run better and has less wasted movement. He's put on some good weight. He is using his hands betters and is more patient. He is pleased with where he's at.
--Brown isn't sure about the format for the spring game. Brown said if he was coming to watch a spring game what would he want to see. Some type of competition and some things that are interactive and some real football. They won't play four quarters of real football. It's a good chance to come and get good seats and interact with the players. Brown wants it to be fun.
--Cortez Braham made two nice plays today and was the leading receiver in the scrimmage. Trying to put receivers in pressure situations this spring.
