MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU offensive coordinator Gerad Parker was poignant this week about doing whatever he can to help wide receiver Sam James. The sophomore has dealt with drops throughout his career, even to the point where he needed to see a sports psychiatrist to help overcome the mental and confidence issues.
It came to a head Saturday in the Mountaineers’ 34-27 loss to Texas Tech. With the score tied 27-27 midway through the fourth quarter, it wasn’t a drop for James, but he fumbled after making a catch in the flat, returned for a touchdown that was the deciding blow.
James has shown flashes of greatness the last two years and there is clear potential to be the next great receiver at WVU. Look no further than the 2019 game against Texas Tech at Milan Puskar Stadium, where he caught 14 passes for 223 yards, but four drops prevented him from having one of the best performances in school history.
So far in 2020, he’s been everything but a No. 1 receiver, and the sophomore slump appears to be more than a cliche through five games.
James is far from the only problem in the wide receiver room, though. Total, WVU had seven dropped passes, most of which were in critical situations or could have gone for chunk yards. Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Winston Wright, Sean Ryan and Reese Smith were all bitten by the bug.
On the season, the Mountaineers have 17 dropped passes.
“If I had an answer for it, it would have already been corrected,” head coach Neal Brown said. “I’m not being a smart ass, I just … I don’t know. We’ve had an issue with it. It is what it is. We catch more balls here than we’ve ever caught at any point in my career. I’ve never had this issue before, so we’re going to have to continue to evaluate it.
“I thought we caught the ball better at practice. Our catch percentage was the highest it’s been at any game week than it’s been in two years, so we’re going to have to go and continue to evaluate it. But it’s an issue.”
While many pile on the quarterback after a poor offensive performance, the drops are having an effect on his overall numbers, and stats aside, they’re momentum-killing mistakes. Even after Saturday’s loss, Doege took the high road.
“I don’t really have anything to say about the drops,” he said. “I have to tell them I’m coming right back to them. I go love them up. I had my fair share of missed reads, though. That’s like a drop for me, so I’ve got to clean up some things before I can talk about anything.”
The high road will eventually turn into a dead end as WVU’s offense continues to be hurt by dropped passes. Expect the jug machines to get a strong workout heading into next week’s Halloween matchup with Kansas State.
If the drops continue another week, there has to be deep soul-searching from not only the receivers but those at the top.
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