MORGANTOWN — According to head coach Neal Brown, this is the most important week of WVU’s fall camp. Students are back on campus, classes start Wednesday and Brown is making the Mountaineers’ practices harder than ever.
“This is the toughest week in terms of physicality, mental toughness, all of those types of things,” Brown said Monday. “It’s really about finding where we’re at. We tested them (Monday) and we had some good responses and we found some things that we’ve got to get better at. It’s going to be a tough week, but it’s also going to tell us where we’re at and I’m excited to see that.”
This will be the first week where the players get into a new routine, with classes starting on Wednesday. While it adds a new distraction to their lives, Brown thinks it’ll be good to break up the monotony.
“I’m pissed, the kids are pissed, the coaches are pissed, just because you’re doing the same thing over and over again,” Brown said. “It’s kind of the dog days of camp.”
The Mountaineers completed their 11th practice of fall camp on Tuesday and the players have seen the uptick in intensity.
“It’s started, trust me it’s started,” receiver Cortez Braham said, still wearing his pads and practice uniform. “I’m tired but we’ve got to keep going, keep making plays.”
“We do a lot more team periods, we focus on playing ball,” defensive lineman Edward Vesterinen explained. “We do goal line, fourth-down heavy packages and tackling a lot.”
This is the sixth fall camp for transfer cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr., who said these are the weeks that make or break players for the upcoming season.
“Mentally, physically, it’s wearing on people but you’ve got to stay focused,” Bishop said. “Everyone’s sore and banged up and it shows how tough are you going to be. In week four, week five (of the season), you’ve got a few nicks and bruises, what are you going to do, how are you going to practice, how are you going to prepare? And then when Saturday comes, how are you going to play? It just shows who we can depend on.”
“This is where the separation happens,” Brown said. “It’ll get a little hard, a little hairy and you see what people are about.”
The reason for the added intensity is to help get the team ready for their very-challenging season opener at No. 7 Penn State on Sept. 2 (7:30 p.m., NBC).
“The reason I’m intense (Monday), the reason I’m going to be intense this week, is we’re not easing into this thing,” Brown said. “I had some downtime (Sunday), which probably isn’t good, so I was watching a little Penn State, watching them on offense, and we’re not easing into this.”
Bishop played at PSU’s Beaver Stadium last season as a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He’s been conveying to his new teammates what the Big 10 style of football is going to be like.
“I tell them it’s going to be a lot of 12 personnel, under the center play-action shots, heavy run game,” Bishop said. “This is going to be a game where we’re going to have to tackle, we’re going to have to be physical because the Big 10 is a physical conference. We have to be ready for that and stay on our P’s and Q’s for the play-action shots.”
Trying to prepare for Penn State while also going through tough practices to get better and classes now starting can be a lot to juggle for the players.
“You have to take it day by day,” Vesterinen said. “You’re never going to be perfect, but that’s what you strive for every day. Not trying to think too far (ahead) but focus on what you’re doing right now.”
WVU’s fall camp will conclude following the team’s second scrimmage this Saturday.
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