WVU’s D-line seems improved, even without a Stills
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It has become a part of the West Virginia lore, the idea that the Mountaineers will present a solid front to its defense each year and, judging off the Penn State opener, this year will be no exception.
It is a year of transition, the first year without a Stills holding down a key role up front, be it Darius or Dante, who now is doing the same thing for the Arizona Cardinals, since before Neal Brown came on the scene.
Because of that, there were some doubts but they seemed to have quieted down as the Mountaineers now are in full scale preparations for Duquesne in Saturday’s 6 p.m. home opener.
“I think our D-line is better than people give it credit for, you know, and I thought they really battled,” coach Neal Brown has said. “I thought we’d be able to hang in there.”
The offensive front for Penn State, along with a pair of running backs headed by Nicolas Singleton, figured to be the team’s strength. The two running backs managed just 121 yards on 23 carries with one touchdown while for the game the entire rushing attack had just 146 yards on 35 tries.
The starting defensive line of Sean Martin, Mike Lockhart and Eddie Vesterinen were not spectacular, as you sometimes got from the Stills brothers, but they were strong and steady, something Brown had expected to see while others doubted.
What’s maybe more important was that redshirt freshman defensive end Tomiwa Durojaie came off the bench to record the Mountaineers’ only sack on just eight snaps while Penn State transfer Fatorma Mulbah, Tennessee State transfer Davoan Haskins and carryovers Hammond Russell IV and Jalen Thornton held their own.
The group’s performance in camp gave Brown’s confidence in them a boost as they headed into the Penn State game.
“I think we’re pretty good on the offensive line and last fall camp were more dominant versus our D-line than we were this fall camp,” Brown said, indicating he saw strides being made. “I really feel like our O-line has made improvements, so I was encouraged by our D-line’s performance.
“It was ugly a little bit early in the spring but they got better as the spring went along. In fall camp, they won some of those battles. You never know until you play an opponent, but I was hopeful that was because we’d made some strides and that held true.”
Martin was supposed to be the leader of the group in the absence of Dante Stills but he had spent a good bit of preseason time fighting through minor injuries, getting himself ready to make three tackles while playing 54 snaps while going against a top NFL prospect in offensive tackle Olu Fashanu.
“He showed himself really well,” Brown said. “They’re going to click on that tape because of who he was going about and see what he did.”
The “they” Brown was referring to was NFL coaches and scouts, who won’t be able to miss what he did as they look at Fashanu’s tape.
Lockhart was unknown in his second year after transferring from Georgia Tech.
“Mike Lockhart played his best game as a Mountaineer,” Brown said. “He ran to the ball. Probably played a few too many snaps. Eddie V played well, too.”
Lockhart has been an interesting pick-up for the Mountaineers since transferring from Georgia Tech last year.
“Last year, coming into the season, I was in the portal sitting around and doing my own workouts,” he explained. “Not saying I wasn’t working out hard, but it’s harder to work out by yourself versus when coaches are helping you push through your limits.
“This offseason, I really took accountability for my conditioning and being able to play four, five and six plays in a row … being able to run to the ball, make a tackle, get up and do it again. A lot of coaches like when defensive linemen have a motor and they think they have a guy who can run to the ball and can teach him everything else.”
And that is just what WVU appears to have … and he has a big upside because he played basketball through high school and really didn’t take up football until his senior year.
“I wish I would have played earlier in high school,” he admitted. “I wish somebody would have come and told me I should have been a football player.”