MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia offensive coordinator Gerad Parker gave a bit of a wink and a nod when asked Tuesday about the use of tight ends that has suddenly been a key element to the Mountaineers’ offense over the last couple weeks.
Many joke about tight ends within the WVU football program, which have been used few and far between outside of being a run blocker, similar to Trevon Wesco, now with the New York Jets.
Mike O’Laughlin, a Glen Ellyn, Ill., native, caught just six passes through 12 games in 2019. In the last two games alone against Texas Tech and Kansas State, O’Laughlin has hauled in six passes for 76 yards — good for 10 total catches for 115 yards through all six games in 2020.
Backup T.J. Banks has also caught a pass in three of the last four games, including a touchdown at Texas Tech.
As well-rounded options — blocker or pass-catcher — keeping both O’Laughlin and Banks on the field can cause matchup problems for opposing defenses.
“If we can do some of the things ‘detached’ as we can with them ‘attached’ to the formation with the same personnel calls for the defense, it changes what they have to do with us,” Parker said. “We’re using them spread out and attached, so we hope that continues to create issues because we’re able to play in space and play in a box.”
Parker was at Penn State last season and worked with star tight end Pat Freiermuth, who decided to sit out the 2020 season and could be a top tight end selected in the 2021 NFL Draft. O’Laughlin quizzed Parker on what made Freiermuth so successful, and he’s reaping the benefits so far.
After tearing his ACL in his very first practice as a true freshman in 2018, O’Laughlin was forced into action last season, despite not knowing much about playing tight end. He was 190 pounds when he signed out of high school and primarily played wide receiver.
Now that he’s more comfortable and in Year 2 at the position, O’Laughlin is getting more and more opportunities, and head coach Neal Brown expects that to continue.
“He’s at a position with his body-weight and strength that he can compete week in and week out,” Brown said. “He’s always had great ball skills and is good after the catch, so he continues to do that. Now he’s doing a really good job in the run game and pass protection aspects.”
Thoughts on Election Day
The Mountaineers were off Tuesday for Election Day because of an NCAA mandate, and Brown tried to help his team understand the importance of not only the Presidential Election, but what is happening in Morgantown and Monongalia County.
“We spent a lot of time on it, going back to the summer and some of the social justice things we were doing,” Brown said. “We’ve got an inclusion committee within our program that every Tuesday for about six or eight weeks in a row, we talked. Voting was a topic a couple of different times, not only about the importance of voting and the history of voting throughout our country’s time, but also educating them on the local ballot — other pivotal elections that were happening here in our state and in Mon County.”
Kansas State award winners
Offensive lineman of the week — Guard Zach Frazier
Special teams player of the week — Safety Dante Bonamico
Defensive player of the week — Safety Sean Mahone
Offensive player of the week — Quarterback Jarret Doege
Blue Collar Award — Tight end Mike O’Laughlin
Juice Award — Long-snapper J.P. Hadley
Scout team players of the week — Wide receiver Devell Washington, defensive lineman Sean Martin, offensive lineman Ja’Quay Hubbard
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