MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With this college football season being as unprecedented as they come due to COVID-19, the NCAA decided eligibility will not be counted against any fall athlete, including football.
While scholarships and other logistical issues will be sorted out down the line, for WVU coach Neal Brown, as well as other football coaches across the country, they can pull the cover off redshirt concerns.
In last Saturday’s season-opening 56-10 win against Eastern Kentucky, the Mountaineers played 24 redshirt and true freshmen, a significantly high number early in the season. The rule introduced in 2018 that allows players to play in four games and still redshirt clearly allowed more leeway, but for 2020, WVU could use most of its roster for the entire season.
Brown mentioned defensive end Akheem Mesidor, cornerback Daryl Porter Jr., center Zach Frazier, wide receiver Sam Brown, tight end Charles Finley, offensive lineman Jordan White, quarterback Garrett Greene, linebacker Lanell Carr, linebacker Taurus Simmons and wide receiver Reese Smith were true freshman who played significant snaps.
With so many players getting reps, there is plenty of film to evaluate, and for Brown, effort is what he wants to see more than production.
“How we evaluated our guys for this game is how we’ll evaluate them for Oklahoma State,” he said. “Did they play with effort — perfect effort? Were they physical? Did they do what they were coached to do when it was well-defined? They’re each graded independently, regardless of what happens the previous play.
“Does production play a role in playing time? Absolutely it does. The most productive people at every position play.”
Brown announces two active COVID-19 cases
Near the end of his Tuesday news conference, Brown mentioned two true freshman walk-on players tested positive for COVID-19 and are active cases.
While neither player played Saturday, they had an effect on the game because of contact tracing, as true freshman defensive end Sean Martin was unable to play.
“They are the only positive COVID cases that we have in our program,” Brown said.
Brown said Martin had a good week of practice leading into the EKU game, but was forced to sit out.
“He’s well, he’s fine, but he missed the game,” Brown said.
Award winners
The team sends out awards for team wins, and Brown announced last week’s winners:
Alonzo Addae was named the special teams award winner following a big hit on the EKU kick returner right after a return for a touchdown was called back for offsetting penalties.
The offensive lineman of the week was senior Michael Brown, who Neal Brown said played his best game in a Mountaineers uniform. Michael Brown was dinged up in the third quarter but was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice.
The defensive player of the game was Arizona transfer Tony Fields II, who finished with a team-high 10 tackles in his WVU debut.
The offensive player of the week was running back Leddie Brown, who finished with 123 yards on just 10 carries, including two rushing touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 15 yards and a score.
A new award, the Blue Collar Award, was given to fullback Jackson Knipper, who played significant snaps with both scholarship tight ends, Mike O’Laughlin and T.J. Banks, serving one-game suspensions.
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