“Day one is completed, which is typically like most day ones I’d imagine for everybody across the country where everybody’s energy level is high and their attitude is good, excited about getting back to playing ball,” Dana Holgorsen said right out of the gate during his first press conference of the 2013 season. And while day one was very typical, there were some things to take away.
The quarterback situation isn’t any closer to being decided, but that’s to be expected. For the second time in as many interviews, Holgorsen mentioned Clint Trickett’s name first in the conversation.
“Clint, yeah, he’s good. He’s seasoned. He doesn’t get nervous. You can tell that he’s got some game experience. He threw the ball good.”
While watching the quarterbacks, Trickett seemed to make better throws, accurately zinging the ball through the square nets more times than not. The other quarterbacks, Paul Millard and Ford Childress both have a leg up on the competition because of knowing the offense, but Trickett has more game experience.
“I’m just watching them operate,” Holgorsen said, “There’s no consequences for any of the actions, so to speak, whether it’s a good play or bad play.”
One would think that the two signal callers with WVU experience would be getting better, but Holgorsen said that he wasn’t judging anything yet.
” I don’t know. They have the ability to throw the ball but we’re not moving the ball, we’re just running plays.”
On another note, Holgorsen loves the depth at running back, including new transfer Charles Sims. Holgorsen said all of the feedback from coaches and teammates of Sims are “all positive.”
On the running back situation, Holgorsen said, “It’s a hard position to play because you ask them to do so many things. We’ve been living on the edge here for the past two years with not very many of them, so it’s nice to look out there and see four or five guys that have the potential to all be starters.”
It’s been rumored that Sims may start in the slot, with Andrew Buie and Dreamius Smith lining up in the backfield a lot. Holgorsen hinted at the situation but never gave any specifics, saying, “Whether it’s specific packages or specific year, you’re looking at four guys that have started college football games in their careers.”
With the obvious need to replace guys like Geno Smith, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey, Holgorsen believes his team is in the right place to do that.
“It’s college football guys. Guys graduate. You can’t worry about what happened the previous year. I don’t worry about that. I’m not losing sleep over losing any seniors. You’re gonna lose guys, you’re gonna lose starters to the NFL, and you replace them with guys that you can count on to put them in a position to be successful,” Holgorsen said, “I think that’s where we’re at right now. I feel good about where we’re at right now.”
All in all, Holgorsen said it’s way too early to see leaders on offense.
For the overall first day, Holgorsen said the team was in “phenomenal shape,” that JUCO’s could become team leaders, and that day one was a success and a process.
Other Notes
– Holgorsen on Quentin Spain: “He’s just matured. One of the most frustrating things for us offensively is to rely on young offensive lineman. He’s really improved himself. His offseason was good, that’s one of the reasons why I took him to the media days. He was one of our vocal leaders and was in really good shape. His participation was pretty good.”
– List of players who didn’t practice:
– Adam Pankey (injury)
– Shelton Gibson (injury)
– Isaac McDonald (NCAA clearing house issues)
– Darrien Howard (NCAA clearing house issues)
– d’Vante Henry (personal issues)
