ESPN College Football

Reviewing West Virginia's Gold-Blue spring game from Friday night, won by the offense 83-17:

Offensive MVP: Quarterback Geno Smith completed 26 of 37 passes for 388 yards and four touchdowns as Dana Holgorsen's offense was fully unleashed against the Mountaineers' second-string defense. Smith's night included 44- and 67-yard touchdown passes to Stedman Bailey and a 38-yard scoring strike to Tavon Austin. Backup quarterback Paul Millard added 253 yards and two touchdowns on 18-of-30 passing. Overall, the offense racked up 838 total yards and 683 in the air on 104 plays.

Defensive MVP: Julian Miller had two sacks and four total tackles, though this was clearly a night set up for the offense.

Costly injury? Starting offensive guard Josh Jenkins suffered an MCL sprain and a strain of another ligament around his kneecap. Jenkins will be put in a brace and go through physical therapy for six to eight weeks to let the MCL sprain heal. The West Virginia medical staff will decide after that time whether Jenkins needs surgery on his knee cap. Not having Jenkins would be a big loss for the Mountaineers.

Running back battle: One of the more intriguing subplots of the spring for the Mountaineers was who would claim the No. 1 tailback spot. It's a battle that probably will continue into the fall. True freshman Vernard Roberts led all rushers with 64 yards on 10 carries Friday. Trey Johnson had 57 yards on nine attempts and the only rushing touchdown. Johnson also had a 65-yard reception for a score.

Other notes: The estimated crowd of 22,000 was the largest for a Big East spring game this year. ... Ryan Nehlen was given the Nickolich Award as the top walk-on of the spring, and he caught five passes for 79 yards in the spring game. ... Defensive lineman Will Clarke, linebacker Najee Goode and cornerback Keith Tandy received the Iron Mountaineer Award, presented to the most outstanding performers in the team's offseason strength and conditioning program.

West Virginia opens practice on Wednesday, and I had a chance to catch up with head coach Bill Stewart on the eve of spring drills. Here's Part I of our conversation. (Note: Stewart offered a thorough, lengthy overview at the start of my interview, so I'm going to divide that up by topic rather than make you wade through several unbroken paragraphs).

You obviously had some great leaders on last year's team. How do you see this year's team replacing that?

Bill Stewart: We've lost seven guys on our defensive side of the ball to graduation and four of those guys went to the NFL combine. That tells you not only the kind of players we had, that tells you about the leadership we had on the 2010 football squad.

This year's team, I see a guy now like Keith Tandy; we're counting on big, big things from Keith. We've got some other young corners in Patrick Miller and Brodrick Jenkins, who have played, so that's kind of exciting. We've got some underclassmen to jump in the mix as well. I'm anxious to see Ishmael Banks, and Brantwon Bowser is ready to go and he has a chance to step up and make plays. We lost some players at safety, and certainly who I feel was the best corner in the league in Brandon Hogan. But I really feel good about our corners. With the inside guys, the spur, free safety and the bandit, we have Terence Garvin back, who gave us great play last year, and I'm looking for a big year out of him. Eain Smith is back, and he had a really good last couple of years. Then it's time for guys like Travis Bell and Mike Dorsey and Darwin Cook, Wes Tonkery, see these guys step up and make plays. That's going to be a fun thing to watch.

[On linebackers]: We lost three great linebackers; everybody knows that. We have Najee Goode back, and he's given us great leadership, as Casey Vance has done. A newcomer coming into the fold is Josh Francis. Man, he's real fast, he's explosive. He's going to be a real force, I think, in there at linebacker. We have Branko Busic, and Doug Rigg is a rising superstar, I really believe that.

[On the defensive line]: We lost Scooter Berry and what I think was the best nose guard in the league in Chris Neild. But we still have Julian Miller and Bruce Irvin, the great sack master. And now we have some young guys like Will Clarke, Jorge Wright, Josh Taylor and J.B. Lageman in there at nose guard. So there are some guys in ready to step up and make plays. Now it's their turn.

[On wide receivers/running backs]: Brad Starks can be as good as there is in this league. Stedman Bailey, what a player he was, and then Tavon Austin, J.D. Woods and Ivan McCartney. So we've got five or six top quality receivers. I'm really anxious to see how they do in this new offense. And then you take our new tight/end fullback type in Tyler Urban, who I think is going to be as good a big back as there is. And then you take Ryan Clarke, Matt Lindamood, Shawne Alston ... these guys have all played and they've done well.

[On the offensive line]: I'm worried about our offensive line, simply because Don Barclay and Jeff Braun, our two starting tackles, are out with shoulder injuries. They're healing up fine. That just makes way for the young guys. Now we'll see what Quinton Spain, the big redshirt freshman, can do with a chance to come into his own. Some other tackles like Nick Kindler and Pat Eger will get a lot of snaps this spring. And I'm really excited about our inside guys. Our center, Joey Madsen, is a great leader, he's the heart of the offensive line. Josh Jenkins has started a bunch of games at left guard. And then we have Cole Bowers, who's probably the most talented lineman we have, he just hasn't played that much. I'm really excited to see those inside guys.

I'm really looking forward to this offensive scheme. We have a lot of speed and we're very very blessed to have tremendous speed at our skill positions. And our offensive line, once Braun and Barclay get back, could be very very formidable

[On special teams]: I worry about our special teams a little bit. We're now on our fourth punter in four years in Corey Smith. Our punting game is still a question mark. Our kicker, Tyler Bitancurt, he's won big games for us, but he missed two there in the [Champs Sports] Bowl, so he's got some work to do. ... What we really need to step up to the plate, to be very honest, is our return men. Our return men we just haven't hit the big play like Tavon did a couple years ago against UConn [in 2009], or like Shawn Terry used to do in the early 2000s. We need to get more productivity on our punt and kickoff retrun. That's one of the big things we'll work hard at this spring.

Who do you have now as your return men?


BS: Tavon Austin and Bradley Starks could be good return men. I really like Brodrick Jenkins with the punt return game; I think he has a chance to catch punts and maybe make a name for himself. Some other skill guys we'll throw back there. That's what spring practice is all about. We'll see who can catch a punt, make a couple of guys miss and give us a couple of first downs on these returns.

Sounds like you hired an interesting special teams coach this week in Daron Roberts.


BS: He's going to help out. I got a nice call from a friend of mine with the Detroit Lions who said, "Boy, he's a great guy, very much a student of the game." He's going to bring some excitement to the game. He's young, and I know our players will rally around him. ... We're going to break it up again -- Steve [Dunlap] will be doing the defensive side of the special teams like kickoff and punt return, punt block, and Daron is going to be heading up kickoff return units and things like that. So there shouldn't be that much change there.

Again, we need more productivity there. We do have the talent, we just haven't done it yet. That's something that has to come back to the arsenal. I know what we're going to do on defense, and I think I know what we're going to do on offense, because we have fast playmakers who make people miss in space, and that's what this new offense is going to be all about. That's going to be exciting, and I can't wait to see it in action. But our return game has to get better.

Can you get a sense, through meetings and workouts, how well the team is picking up the new offense so far?

BS: Oh yeah. It's like anything else. It will look worse before it gets better. That's true no matter what brand of offense or defense you run. We think we have a pretty good deal going with this 3-3 stack. We know it, the coaches know it, the players know it inside and out pretty much. Now we just have to get the new players ... to carry on the tradition. And then offensively, I'm excited about what's on the horizon. We haven't done it yet, we haven't gotten a first down yet, but I think we're going to have a few tricks in the arsenal that's going to make us more explosive, and maybe we can get some of that game-breaking type play that we need to have.

Let's finish up our spring superlatives series with West Virginia -- not because the Mountaineers are last in the Big East alphabetically but because they're the last to start spring practice, on Wednesday.

Again, we're looking at positions as they stand for this spring only.

Strongest position: Defensive end


Key returnees: Julian Miller, Bruce Irvin

Key departures: Scooter Berry

The skinny: West Virginia will have a hard time finding someone to replace Chris Neild in the middle of its defensive line, but the two outside spots are in very good hands. Miller is an underrated performer nationally and could be in line for stardom in 2011. All Irvin did was lead the Big East and finish second nationally in sacks as a third-down specialist. Technically, Miller will move to tackle this spring, but in the Mountaineers' three-man front, he'll still have opportunities to get to the quarterback. There should be decent depth with Will Clarke and J.B. Lageman, among others. Honorable mention: offensive line, which returns four starters but must improve in a new system, and receiver, which has playmakers like Tavon Austin and Brad Starks but needs more depth.

Weakest position: Linebacker

Key returnees: Najee Goode

Key departures: J.T. Thomas, Anthony Leonard, Pat Lazear

The skinny: Goode, a senior, is the only returning starter from a year ago, and injuries forced him into a larger role than many expected. He'll either stay at the strongside spot or move to the weak side. The Mountaineers hope junior-college transfer Josh Francis can step in right away and be a big contributor. They will also look to sophomores Doug Rigg and Branko Busick, senior Casey Vance and others to step up. But it's not easy to replace three seniors who were as valuable as the guys West Virginia lost. (Dis)honorable mention: The secondary, which loses three key players in Brandon Hogan, Robert Sands and Sidney Glover but still returns Keith Tandy and Terence Garvin.

West Virginia junior safety Robert Sands declared for the NFL draft over the weekend, which came as little surprise.

The 6-foot-5 Sands has been one of the top playmakers in the Big East the past two years and had 34 tackles -- 6.5 of them for loss -- in 2010. He received an evaluation from the NFL draft advisory board and obviously liked what he saw. Sands has the skill set to be highly successful as a pro.

The Mountaineers were clearly braced for the loss of Sands -- head coach Bill Stewart said last spring that his top safety could make the leap with a strong season -- but it still creates a void for 2011. Even with a below average performance in the Champs Sports Bowl, the West Virginia defense finished fourth nationally in both yards allowed and points allowed. But it will have to replace many valuable players next season, including:

• Nose tackle Chris Neild

• Defensive end Scooter Berry

• Linebackers J.T. Thomas, Anthony Leonard and Pat Lazear

• Cornerback Brandon Hogan

• Safeties Sidney Glover and Sands.

That's eight starters lost. There are still some solid returnees, including defensive end Julian Miller, linebacker Najee Goode, safety Terence Garvin and cornerback Keith Tandy. They were all starters in 2010. Bruce Irvin should move into an every-down role at defensive end opposite Miller, and junior college transfer Josh Francis could provide immediate help at linebacker. The Mountaineers will look for young players like Will Clarke, Brodrick Jenkins and Pat Miller to make major strides in the offseason.

Still, it's hard to make up for the veteran leadership that defense had, and how its knowledge helped Jeff Casteel disguise coverages so well in the 3-3-5 alignment. Casteel is sticking around, which might be the best news of all. He'll have his work cut out for him in 2011, though, and it would be unrealistic to expect the Mountaineers to repeat the same kind of defensive dominance they did this year.

Here is the official injury report for Thursday's game between South Florida and West Virginia:

South Florida

Probable:

Jerrell Young, S, ankle

West Virginia

Probable:

Will Clarke, DE, ankle
Darwin Cook, DB, ankle
Noel Devine, RB, foot
Brandon Hogan, DB, arm
Josh Jenkins, OL, knee

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- Who will start in place of suspended cornerback Brandon Hogan for West Virginia?

Most people expected it to be Brodrick Jenkins. But when the Mountaineers lined up for warm-ups, it was Pat Miller playing with the starting defense, with Jenkins running with the twos. I would expect to see both play today.

That will also put more pressure on Keith Tandy, who West Virginia fans know has had his ups and downs in coverage the past couple of years. If Maryland doesn't take a couple of deep shots early, especially to Torrey Smith, it would rank as a real surprise.

Defensive end Will Clarke is also out for West Virginia. He's a pass-rushing specialist. That should mean more snaps for heavily-hyped juco import Bruce Irvin. Will the Mountaineers record their first sack of the season today?

Go ahead and poke some fun at Scooter Berry's age. His coach does it, and Berry doesn't mind.

"I'm actually 37," Berry joked. "My birthday is next week."

He's not that old, but Berry -- who recently turned 24 -- is the elder statesman on West Virginia. He joined the Mountaineers way back in 2006.

"It's weird watching young guys coming in who are 18, 19 years old," he said. "But at the same time, I think I can show them and teach them a lot. I have a lot of knowledge and consider myself a coach on the field."

Unfortunately, Berry spent far too much time on the sideline with the coaches in 2009. And he didn't always set the best example for others to follow.

The 2008 All-Big East defensive linemen had a forgettable junior season. He missed five games because of suspension and injuries and had to sit out the Gator Bowl because of academics.

He tore up his shoulder early in the season against East Carolina, setting him down the wrong path.

"I wanted to get surgery right away, but they talked me into playing hurt," he said. "It's fine, because guys play hurt and I did it. But I wasn't used to it."

Berry hurt his knee while hitting Marshall running back Darius Marshall and says overcompensating for the shoulder injury was to blame. But there was no one else to blame for his other troubles. He was arrested Oct. 18 for public intoxication and disorderly conduct, drawing a suspension from Bill Stewart.

"I dropped the ball," he said. "You've got to be a man about something like that. It was like there was a fork in the road, and I went straight. But it's all about how you bounce back from something like that."

The way he approached it was to embrace his age and stop partying like a college student. Now, he says, he tries to focus on football and not much else. And after sitting out this spring to heal his injuries, he's in great shape and raring to go for Saturday's opener against Coastal Carolina.

He should be a stalwart on what looks like one of the best defensive lines in the Big East. Senior Chris Neild anchors the middle, with sack artist Julian Miller on the other side. The Mountaineers also have Josh Taylor, who saw time last year, and promising newcomers Will Clarke and Bruce Irvin.

"[Defensive line] Coach [Bill] Kirelawich always talks about depth on the defensive line, but since I've been here we've never really had that," Berry said. "Now, it's not just one deep or two deep. There are people behind that who can come in and play well. It's good for the defense to be able to rotate a lot of guys and keep them fresh."

An old guy like Berry might need a few breaks here and there to stay healthy. But he's also ready to make up for the disappointment of last season.

"I feel like I have a lot to prove," he said. "Not to everyone else, but to myself. I feel like if I leave everything on the field, then at the end of the day, I'll be happy with the outcome."

Rolling on with our post-spring position rankings in the Big East. We turn to the defense now and start up front with the linemen. Remember that depth matters as well as star power:

1. Pittsburgh: The Panthers had the best defensive line in the league a year ago, and that remains the case even without defensive tackle, and Big East co-defensive player of the year, Mick Williams. Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard are the best pair of defensive ends in the league, while tackles Myles Caragein and Chas Alecxih are solid at tackle. There's depth, too, with emerging young players like Tyrone Ezell and Shayne Hale.

2. West Virginia: What was a thin position at times last year has become an area of strength for the Mountaineers. Chris Neild is a beast at nose tackle, while Scooter Berry and Julian Miller (nine sacks in '09) bring experience to the defensive end spots in the 3-3-5 scheme. Will Clarke looks like a future star, while junior college import Bruce Irvin is expected to add depth this summer.

3. Rutgers: Three of the four starters return, including senior Alex Silvestro and sophomore Scott Vallone. Jonathan Freeny should be ready for a starting role after recording nine sacks as a rush specialist a year ago, while Eric LeGrand, Justin Francis and redshirt freshmen Andre Civil and Isaac Holmes are around to provide excellent depth.

4. South Florida: Yes, George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul are gone. Still, new Bulls defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said the line had SEC-caliber depth this spring. Tackles Terrell McClain and Keith McCaskill and end Craig Marshall are the veterans of the group. If Ryne Giddins, Julius Forte and junior college star Claude Davis develop as expected, this line could be among the most feared in the league.

5. Connecticut: Kendall Reyes and Twyon Martin are moving into their third year as starters at tackle (though Martin found himself in the doghouse this spring). Promising sophomores Jesse Joseph and Trevardo Williams return at end along with Marcus Campbell, who missed last year because of academics. Getting converted linebacker Greg Lloyd back from knee surgery this summer would help provide depth, and UConn lacks some size on the edge.

6. Cincinnati: Derek Wolfe is an elite run-stopper in the middle, but the Bearcats will need improved production from Dan Giordano, John Hughes and Brandon Mills. Depth is a serious concern behind the starting unit.

7. Syracuse: Replacing Arthur Jones in the middle is no easy task. His younger brother, Chandler, could be ready to break out as a star defensive end after recording 10.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore. Mikhail Marinovich could join him in opposing backfields from the other end spot. This line held its own last year but lacks proven stars.

8. Louisville: The Cardinals' defensive line looked like a mess this spring, with no standout ends and lacked size and strength on the interior. Greg Scruggs was moved from end to tackle despite weighing just 270 pounds. It's been a couple of years since the Louisville defensive line truly could pressure opposing quarterbacks with any consistency; at least head coach Charlie Strong knows how to build a good defense.

• Former Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel predicts the Big East will not survive the forthcoming expansion carousel, Pete Thamel writes in The New York Times.
• Will Syracuse get the invite to the Big Ten? Brent Axe wonders on Syracuse.com.
• Former Pitt coach Walt Harris has resurfaced at Division II California (Pa.), Ray Fittipaldo writes in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• Defensive end Will Clarke is making a big impression this spring at West Virginia, Mitch Vingle writes in the Charleston Gazette.
• Here's a great profile of former South Florida receiver Carlton Mitchell in The New York Times.

This is Part II of my conversation with West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. You can read Part I here.

How happy were you to get Noel Devine back?

Bill Stewart: Noel is 1,000 yards, 1,200 yards, 1,500 yards ... I'd love to see him have a banner year, I really would. I'd love to see him have one of the greatest years ever because he's so deserving. He came back when he could have gone out. He's such a great role model. He's matured so much and become such a leader; he's become a leader in the community. This guy has done everything right. There couldn't be a better script than for him to come out on top.

On the defensive line, you have three starters back, and it looks like you have more depth now than last year.


BS: I was very, very, very frustrated with our defensive line depth and quality of play [in 2009]. Chris Neild, he's a warrior. If there is anybody better in the league, I didn't see him. He's one of those five, six, seven or eight guys in the league where you just say, 'Wow, this guy's a player.'

Julian Miller got better, Scooter [Berry] is back. We're so young behind them, but we've got some big, tall, fast, rangy youngsters who'll bring a lot of excitement to us, and it will be a whole lot easier on to get those boys in the game. So I'm excited about what we have; it just hasn't been done yet. The three older guys -- Neild, Miller and Berry -- we've got to get them some help. We've got to have some guys who can get them off the field and make some quality plays. We didn't have that last year. If you're going to win big, you've got to have two defensive lines.

I've heard good things about Will Clarke.

BS: Will Clarke will be a dandy. I think you're going to love B.J. Irvin. Some of these guys are growing and getting bigger. We'll be young, but, hey, we're going to let them play.

You have three returning starters at linebacker. How about that position and the depth behind them?


BS: J.T. Thomas, of course, is a leader. But, again, we've got to have quality play out of our young people. We can't play three seniors all year. That's like last year on the defensive line, we played three guys and nobody else played so nobody got any experience.

We've got to get some quality depth because three guys will be graduating and they're all young behind them. So we've got to find some young linebackers to provide us some quality depth. Those are my two biggest concerns of the defense. Can we find three more guys on the defensive line and three good young linebackers to say, hey, we can play at this level. That's what were not doing right now, I don't think. I'm very concerned about that.

You return a lot in the secondary. Do you feel like that's one of your strengths right now?


BS: I hate losing Nate Sowers and Boogie Allen, but really we lost two starters on defense: Reed Williams and Boogie/Nate, so it was three guys at two positions, if that makes sense. So we should be better. We're more cagey now, wiser now. We should make more plays out of the secondary with the corners and the safeties. They've been young the last two years and now we're ready. Those guys should step up and really be our leaders.

We used to be able to move around with guys like [Eric] Wicks and [Ryan] Mundy. We haven't had that the last couple of years. We line up and people know what we're doing. We've been scared, not cagey. Now I want to challenge them to do more. I want to play more man, I want to be cagey and disguise our coverages and I want to attack more. It all starts back in that secondary.

Robert Sands really came on at the end of the year at safety. How good can he be for you?


BS: He's a big, fast, powerful man. He needs to have a year for himself, and for West Virginia of course, a breakout year like Bradley Starks needs to have. And this would really set the stage for these guys. Starks needs to become an offensive star like Noel and Robert Sands needs to become a defensive star. He's got to be like Neild in the secondary. And then you say, 'Wow, OK, now we're cooking. This is really good.'

Overall, and we've already touched on a few of them, what are your most pressing issues for this spring?

BS: First and foremost, offensively we've got to get more consistent and finish. We were 9-3 and we had one bad quarter at Auburn offensively. Jarrett [Brown] tried to force that ball to Noel when the blitz came, and if he had thrown that ball to Jock [Sanders] he still may be running. But we didn't finish the fourth quarter at Auburn. We didn't finish three quarters at Tampa. For whatever reason, we're 2-3 against those guys [South Florida].

So we've got to learn how to be consistent and finish. That's all I keep telling them as an offense -- I want to finish the deal, close the deal, finish, finish, finish. I want to spread the wealth. I told you we've got two fine tight ends. I'm going to put Tavon Austin in the starting lineup. I want to feature Noel. I told him and Jock to get their butts in the best shape possible because, lads, you're going to be touching the ball.

But it all depends on, can our young quarterback -- whoever it is, because I don't know who it's going to be -- can he take this football team over and lead?

On defense, I think we need to become even more aggressive than we've been. I want to do even more blitzing, spend more time on man coverage. I think we've got guys who can lock you down and get after the quarterback. I want that [opposing] quarterback to know that when you play the Mountaineers, you'd better get it off and get it off quick, because it's coming. So more man coverage, more pressure and if we don't get more depth, it's going to bite us.

If the 2009 Big East season taught us anything, it was that newcomers can have a big impact.

From offensive player of the year Dion Lewis to Tom Savage and Mohamed Sanu to Jason Pierre-Paul to Greg Paulus, new faces were having an impact all over the league. So which newcomers to the Big East should we be keeping an eye on this spring? Here are a few candidates:

• Vidal Hazelton, WR, Cincinnati: The USC transfer becomes eligible this season and could become an immediate star. He's got size, at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, and wowed onlookers at practice last year. Hazelton could help make sure the Bearcats don't miss a beat on offense this season without Mardy Gilyard.
• Will Clarke, DE, West Virginia: The Mountaineers need some depth up front defensively, and Clarke should be able to help out after a redshirt year. The 6-foot-6, 260-pound Pittsburgh native can use this spring to push for playing time at defensive end before highly regarded junior college transfer Bruce Irvin arrives this summer.
• Darrell Givens, CB, Rutgers: Givens was an ESPNU 150 recruit who came to Rutgers after not being admitted to Penn State last year. He spent the 2009 season redshirting as the Scarlet Knights had Devin McCourty. Now may be Givens' time to shine with both McCourty and Billy Anderson gone. Also keep an eye on Logan Ryan, a fellow redshirt freshman corner who was neck and neck with Givens in practice sessions last year.
• Claude Davis, DE, South Florida: The next Pierre-Paul? OK, that's expecting too much of anyone. But like the Bulls' one-year wonder, Davis was a junior college standout with excellent measurables (6-foot-4, 250 pounds). Unlike his predecessor, Davis enrolled in January and will get a full spring under his belt before entering major college football. And with Pierre-Paul and George Selvie both off to the NFL, there is ample playing time available.
• Devin Street, WR, Pittsburgh: Street wasn't one of Pitt's more heralded recruits from the class of 2009, but he won rave reviews last season as a member of the scout team. This spring provides an opportunity for the 6-foot-3, 180-pounder to show he's ready to become an option behind Jonathan Baldwin and Mike Shanahan in the Pitt passing game.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

West Virginia has added a late signee to its 2009 class in Pittsburgh high school defensive end Will Clarke.

Clarke, who is 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, was a four-year starter at Allderdice High School. He was also offered scholarships by Pitt, Iowa and Akron.

"Will is a big, strong and athletic defensive end who fits well into our defense," West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said. "He has good fundamental skills, outstanding foot speed and has excellent character. We're happy to have him join the Mountaineer football program."

Clarke is the 25th prospect who has signed with the Mountaineers this year. Twenty-four players were announced on the Feb. 4 signing day.