MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Neal Brown didn’t even have an explanation as to why his redshirt freshman center Briason Mays snapped the ball when he did on the two that sailed over Kennedy McKoy’s and Austin Kendall’s heads, respectively, last Thursday at Baylor.
“Neither of them were supposed to be snapped yet,” Brown said after WVU’s 17-14 loss. “I can’t explain them, honestly.”
The first may have been a little more understandable — the Mountaineers were using a little trickeration with McKoy playing quarterback and Kendall lined up outside. Sam James went into motion to fake the handoff, and the play worked a few times before with McKoy finally getting positive yards in a struggling WVU running game.
On the third try, though, Mays’ snap sailed over McKoy’s head when he wasn’t ready for it, and McKoy sprinted backward to recover the ball for a 21-yard loss. WVU was putting together its best drive of the game in the second quarter, but the play wiped out any possibility for points.
Mays’ second bad snap may have been more costly. The Mountaineers’ defense forced a fumble on Baylor’s first play of the second half, and again, was having their best offensive series. On 1st and goal from the Bears’ 10-yard line, Mays snapped it right past an unexpecting Kendall, and the ball bounced all the way to Baylor’s 37-yard line and it was recovered by the Bears.
Total, West Virginia lost 48 yards on both plays. Mays has struggled with 3-man defensive fronts since taking over the starting center job Sept. 14 against N.C. State. Baylor’s Bravvion Roy, at 6-foot-1 and 333 pounds, may be the best nose guard of the bunch, and for Mays, who isn’t small himself at 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, still faced a physical matchup problem.
The problem WVU faces is a complete lack of depth at center, and even if it wanted to replace Mays or give someone else a chance, there isn’t much else in terms of depth.
Redshirt sophomore and Martinsburg native Adam Stilley, a walk-on, is the only other center available, and the attrition at the position started in the offseason. Matt Jones, who started 25-straight games for the Mountaineers from 2017-18, transferred to Youngstown State. His backup, Jacob Buccigrossi, battled injuries his entire career and decided to retire from football.
Heading into fall camp, Chase Behrndt was the favorite to win the center job, but struggled enough that the coaching staff decided to move all-Big 12 guard Josh Sills to center, although he had never played the position.
After starting against JMU and Missouri to begin the season, it was announced Sills would miss the remainder of the year following surgery. To fill Sills loss, Behrndt had to remain at guard, and that left Mays as the lone option.
Mays has performed admirably at times, but depth concerns are forcing him to play every snap. Without any experience at this level prior, he’s shown severe growing pains.
“It does (cause issues with depth concerns),” Brown said. “But here’s the deal. We had a chance to win the game. It is what it is.”
