3 Things to Watch for in Week One of Fall Camp

Believe it or not, the first day of fall football practice is upon us. It has been a long, controversy-filled offseason, but at last, the first season of the Neal Brown era in Gold and Blue is just one month away.

With camp officially opening up this coming week, there a quite a few things to keep an eye out for but three glaring questions will have to be addressed early in practice. Solving these issues will be absolutely essential to WVU exceeding their expectations in the 2019 season.

1. Which quarterback(s) takes the most first-team snaps?

WVU’s quarterback room is probably the least experienced across the board in the Big 12 Conference. Austin Kendall is the most seasoned of the bunch but still has yet to take a live snap in a Gold and Blue uniform.

Jack Allison has all the tools: rocket arm, size, and confidence, to be an elite quarterback in Neal Brown’s system but showed in his handful of appearances last year that he has a ways to go in the decision making department.

Trey Lowe has, by far, the most athletic ability of the guys taking snaps for the Mountaineers but he’s only thrown two passes in a live game his entire career.

Jarrett Doege is the fourth scholarship QB and actually has the most starting experience from his time at Bowling Green but its looking more and more unlikely that he winds up eligible this season. With Doege probably heading up the scout team for the 2019 season, that leaves Kendall, Allison, and Lowe as the options to start against James Madison in Week 1.

First-team reps were split throughout spring practice with Kendall and Allison picking up most of those snaps. While it seems highly unlikely that Neal Brown will name a starter until shortly before that first game, those with a keen eye may be able to make an educated guess as to who that starter will be. As the rest of the first-team offense takes shape over the coming week, the QB who looks the best with that group and emerges with the majority of those reps will more than likely be under center against the Dukes.

The coaches will probably do their best to keep under wraps who is the leader in the race to start for the Mountaineers but eventually, somebody is going to start taking the bulk of first-team reps and that will be a telling sign for who Neal Brown names his first starting quarterback at WVU.

2. How does the secondary shake out?

To say that WVU’s secondary has taken a few hits over the summer would likely be an understatement. Two projected starters in Kenny Robinson and Derrek Pitts left the program, as well expected backup EJ Brown, making the safety position one of the Mountaineers’ thinnest positions.

Apparently, the coaches think that the depth at corner is strong enough that one of last years starters, Josh Norwood, was moved to the Cat safety position. Keith Washington and Hakeem Bailey will be counted on to hold down the boundaries with a trio of newcomers behind them in Dreshun Miller, Tae Mayo, and Nicktroy Fortune. The depth chart released in the 2019 media guide will tell you one of two things about the safety position depending on how you look at it. Basically, it can either be interpreted that WVU has a wealth of options who just need experience or that they lack players who have emerged from the pack to be unequivocal starters.

The “Cat” safety position has the potential to be strong with Norwood in play to join the first-team while competing with Sean Mahone and Jake Long, two players with experience as backups at multiple secondary positions. At free safety, Long is being pitted against walk-on and Bridgeport native Dante Bonamico. Neither has started a game in a Mountaineer uniform but Long has been considered a quality reserve throughout his career and Bonamico, despite has small stature, has turned heads with his intense style of play on special teams.

It shouldn’t take long for the secondary be set for Vic Koenning’s first defense, but it will be a key story to watch as WVU looks to slow down some of the nation’s most high-powered offenses in the Big 12.

3. Is Neal Brown planning to rebuild or retool?

This question is an interesting one as it may be answered in the next few days or it may not be resolved until well into the season. Regardless, it is extremely important in helping fans temper their expectations.

I doubt many Mountaineer supporters are expecting a Big 12 Championship this season, but it will still be intriguing to see how Neal Brown approaches the upcoming season. Will he focus more on the passing game to get his offense fully implemented or will he rely on a proven ground game that may lead to more wins?

On defense, will younger players get the benefit of the doubt to gain experience or will veterans whose abilities are a known commodity be charged with holding down the fort? This is all a matter of if Coach Brown sees WVU as a rebuilding project or a retooling project.

In the end, it will come down to how he feels about the talent that was in place when he arrived. At quarterback, Austin Kendall and Jack Allison would likely win you more games in 2019, but what will an extra year of starting experience do for Trey Lowe going forward? If it becomes clear in camp that the young players are being given the keys to the car, then it will be evident that this year is meant to hit the reset button on the program.

However, if the more experienced guys are the ones seeing the most playing time, it will show that Coach Brown believes this team can win games and exceed its preseason expectations. In the end, the philosophy of the coaching staff will shape how this first season under the new regime goes and where the Mountaineers should look going into 2020.

The excitement of football season has finally arrived and Neal Brown’s Mountaineers are set to take the practice field for the first time. There is talent to be had on this team, but there are still countless questions about how the upcoming season will be defined. Hopefully, the WVU fan base will have some of those questions answered as fall camp kicks off.