West Virginia went live on four kickoff returns in Saturday's scrimmage and Noel Devine and Jock Sanders each broke one and needed only to beat kicker Pat McAfee to score a touchdown.
The confrontation between the swift-shoed sophomores and the senior kicker with a knack for tackling never happened. Devine and Sanders were both in gold non-contact jerseys.
Coach Bill Stewart said he made the call to limit Devine and Sanders in the 18th and final preseason camp practice.
"I didn't want anyone to fall on them,"
Stewart said. "We have two weeks to go. I guess maybe I'm paranoid. Maybe I'm getting older and hopefully that means I'm wiser, but I feel so bad for all the athletes throughout America right now with a knee here, a shoulder there, another knee here. It's sickening to see young men out there trying to do as best as they can do and lo and behold they get hurt."
Devine, the starting running back, and Sanders, the starting slot receiver and de facto backup running back, resisted Stewart's decision.
"They both could have played, they're both good and they're both frustrated with me,"
he said. "That's OK. Those two little munchkins are not going to come after me. They better be a tag team to take this old boy out. It'd be like midget wrestling anyhow. I'd knock those guys out."
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DEVINE AND Sanders are the first-team kick returners with cornerbacks Ellis Lankster and Eddie Davis handling second-team duties. Stewart said WVU is going back to the kick return plan it had several years ago when Shawn Terry was among the best in the country.
Terry played from 1998-2001 and scored four touchdowns and averaged 27.4 yards per return his final two years, which were Stewart's first two seasons on WVU's staff.
"We got away from it and started to double-team (opponents),"
Stewart said. "Not that it was bad. We still did OK. This return is based on hand signals. The return guys see the flight of the ball when it's kicked and they don't have to worry where the ball goes."
"They turn their eyes, one guy -- Noel Devine -- makes the call and they know who to go hit. They flip their hips a certain way and let them run to daylight. It's an outstanding return. We've got such slashers. When you have slashers, it's the return to use."
Lankster is the top punt returner with Sanders, cornerback Brandon Hogan and safety Quinton Andrews likely to get chances throughout the year.
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THE SCRIMMAGE was again officiated by a Big East Conference crew and in nearly 80 total plays only a few flags flew -- two for pass interference, one for a chop block, one for holding and one for an illegal formation.
The Mountaineers feature shifts and motion on many offensive plays and have paid close attention to doing so properly throughout practice.
"The officials came up to me early in the scrimmage and said a little bit of our motion and movement might have been susceptible to a call,"
Stewart said. "We said, 'If there's a call, make it.' They didn't because I guess we straightened it up. The players got it right."
The only glitch was when freshman slot receiver Marquel Ali lost his place on the field and drew a penalty when he didn't get it fixed before the snap.
"It's a lack of concentration and that's coaching. That's on Bill Stewart,"
Stewart said. "That cost us a big third down."
Ali, the freshman from Beckley, caught a touchdown pass from Brad Starks earlier in the scrimmage.
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WVU WAS ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press preseason poll. South Florida, which had never been ranked in the preseason, is No. 19. Pitt is No. 25 and had not been ranked in the preseason since 2005 ... Redshirt freshman Don Barclay, who played first-team left tackle when All-American Ryan Stanchek sat out the first week, is still battling for a starting spot at right tackle with Selvish Capers and Steve Maw. ... Offensive line coach Dave Johnson still hasn't decided if he will redshirt true freshman Josh Jenkins. The Parkersburg native spent part of the scrimmage at second-team guard ... Linebacker J.T. Thomas (foot sprain) talked Stewart into letting him scrimmage. Receiver Wes Lyons (knee), fullback Ryan Clarke (hamstring), H-back Will Johnson (foot) and receiver Dorrell Jalloh (foot infection) did not participate.
