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THURSDAY APRIL 5, 2018
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What to look for at WVU’s spring game BY CHRIS JACKSON MANAGING EDITOR
How does Allison look? Coaches have raved about West Virginia backup quarterback Jack Allison all spring, and it’s finally time for him to perform in front of the Mountaineer crowd. Allison — a redshirt sophomore quarterback transfer from Miami — is now eligible to play for WVU after sitting out a year due to NCAA rules. He was still able to practice as a member of the scout team, performing well enough to be the Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year. “He spins it around pretty good,” said WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen. “He is still young, hadn’t played a lot. He did a good job on scout team for us all year. Gives us another option at quarterback.” While he was a high-profile transfer — rated as the No. 68 player in the class of 2016’s ESPN 300 — he was not discussed as much as the No. 1 quarterback on WVU’s roster, Will Grier. But few have been as well-known as Grier on the transfer market, going 5-0 as a starter at Florida and dazzling the college football scene as a redshirt freshman before he was suspended and opted to transfer to West Virginia. Allison is still as good as a transfer as a program can get, and if a similar situation arises as last year, he will need to be ready. Once Grier went down in a Nov. 18 home game against Texas, which forced Chris Chugunov, who has now left the program and is seeking options elsewhere, to step in. While Chugunov did impress at times, he also struggled on some occasions, with his 9-of-28 performance in the Heart of Dallas Bowl loss to Utah capping his WVU career.
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If Allison can step in and deliver in the case another circumstance arises that he needs to, then a WVU’s quarterback situation will be in excellent shape. Will WVU have another 1,000-yard rusher? For the past three seasons, the West Virginia offense has featured a 1,000-yard rusher. In 2015, it was Wendell Smallwood running for 1,519 yards as a junior before leaving a year early for the NFL. In 2016, it was Justin Crawford running for 1, 184 yards. In 2017, it was Crawford again surpassing the 1,000-yard plateau, finishing with 1,061 yards on the ground. Holgorsen said at an earlier spring football press conference that he was unsure the offense would have a 1,000-yard rusher for a fourth straight season. It is still early, of course, but if WVU can have another player reach four digits on his rushing total, that would be huge for an offense that already features stars in the passing game in Grier and receivers Gary Jennings and David Sills. The most likely to reach 1,000 yards is junior Kennedy McKoy. He was the No. 2 rusher on the team last year behind Crawford, tallying 596 yards and seven touchdowns on 125 carries. One thing that could help McKoy get to that mark is consistency. He did rush for 100 yards on three occasions last season, but he also failed to run for 20 yards in three games and had just 31 on 14 carries in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Behind McKoy is fellow junior Martell Pettaway, a bruising running back that likely will not have 1,000 yards, but is another body in the backfield that can help the offense move the chains. There is also redshirt freshman Alec Sink-
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Media needs to stop attacking Florida high school shooting victims Adult members of media attacking leaders of #neveragain movement
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PHOTO BY RYAN ALEXANDER
West Virginia Quarterback Will Grier throws the ball to an open receiver down the field during the spring football Blue and Gold Game. field, whose coaches have said a number of positive things about. “I don’t know if we are going to have a feature 1,000-yard guy,” Holgorsen said. “That’ll work itself out. The three we have there right now with (junior running back) Kennedy (McKoy), (junior
running back) Martell (Pettaway) and (redshirt freshman running back) (Alec) Sink (Sinkfield), those guys look pretty good to me. It’s going to be fun to watch those guys compete.”
Spring game continued on pg. 10
Bobby Bowden to speak at FCA Dinner Former WVU coach to make an appearance at Night of Champons dinner
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