MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Linebackers Brendan Ferns and Quondarius Qualls are both medically cleared to rejoin the team in practice this week, West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen confirmed Tuesday. But that does not necessarily mean either player will be on the field against Texas.
“The two long-term guys that have been hurt for six months are ready to play,” Holgorsen said. “I’m not saying that they’re playing or starting or anything like that. They’ve got to practice. If they help us, we play them. If they’re not ready to go and they can’t help us, we don’t play them.”
Both linebackers tore their ACLs in separate spring practice injuries. JoVanni Stewart moved from safety to replace Qualls at outside linebacker, while Dylan Tonkery took over for Ferns at middle linebacker. Tonkery himself has been banged up the last two games, replaced in the lineup by Shea Campbell.
“Tonkery’s in the same boat and (defensive back Derrek) Pitts is in the same boat,” Holgorsen said. “We’ve got guys coming back. Whenever they’re ready to roll, we’ll put them out there.”
One personnel change that won’t happen – Stewart moving back to safety even if Qualls is 100 percent.
“Maybe we can rest (Stewart) on third down, but I’m not going to mess up what we’ve built and where we’re at right now,” defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. “We have pretty good momentum, and our kids are playing well together. We’re not going to screw that up right now.”
