MORGANTOWN - Considering that it was a last-minute decision, this Brandon Hogan-to-cornerback thing is working out pretty well for West Virginia's football team.
"I didn't know anything about it until I came back,'' Hogan said Wednesday, referring to his switch from slot receiver to cornerback when he reported to camp last Friday. "I guess they wanted to see what I could do.''
The jury is still out, of course, but after just five days the Mountaineer coaches like what they see. In fact, after Ellis Lankster - who is pretty much a lead-pipe cinch to earn one of the two cornerback spots on defense - Hogan is right there with Kent Richardson and perhaps Eddie Davis (another converted receiver) for the other spot.
"Brandon Hogan just keeps showing up,'' West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said after Wednesday's first full-contact workout of camp. "He's shown up so well that D.J. Thomas went to slot.''
Indeed, Hogan's progress has been such that when Thomas, the late-arriving freshman slot receiver/cornerback joined practice on Wednesday, he was dressed in white and worked out with the receivers. Stewart had said the evening before that Thomas would get a look at corner, but said he changed his mind later Tuesday night after talking with his defensive coaches about Hogan's progress.
Not bad for a guy who has never played cornerback, even in high school. As a quarterback in high school, Hogan's trips into games on defense were spent playing free safety. And on that level, the intricacies of coverage just weren't there.
"In high school I just did whatever I wanted,'' Hogan said.
That's the biggest adjustment for him now in trying to learn to play cornerback. In fact, he said it pretty much wipes out any advantage he might have enjoyed coming over from offense and knowing how receivers think.
"I have kind of an advantage knowing what the receivers are going to do,'' he said. "But it's not much of an advantage because I always have to think about what we're doing. You've got a lot in your head. You've got a lot of reads to make.''
nn
Stewart had high praise on Wednesday for wide receiver Alric Arnett, who he said was suffering from an upset stomach and bouts of diarrhea, yet never threw in the towel.
"That was special,'' Stewart said. "I don't know if a year ago he would have done that.''
It was a good thing, too, in that the wide receiver corps is limited right now. Wes Lyons and Bradley Starks, both of whom got reps with the first offense early in practice, have missed the past two days with injuries, although Starks is expected back today.
"It was nice to see him step up to the plate and strain a little bit,'' Stewart said.
nn
BRIEFLY: Stewart said Wednesday's first full-contact practice went smoother than some of the non-contact sessions, which was surprising and pleasing.
"We went through it faster in pads than in shells,'' he said, noting that at the end of a 20-period practice the team was only two minutes off schedule. "That tells you we're doing pretty good.''
There was still no word Wednesday from the NCAA on the eligibility of defensive lineman Pat Liebig, who continues to practice. But several others didn't practice because of injuries, including Lyons, Starks and Will Johnson. Johnson rolled his right ankle Tuesday and wore a protective boot all day, but said it was not serious.
Stewart said he might allow right tackle Ryan Stanchek, who has been sick and hasn't practiced yet, to work out today, the first two-practice day of camp.
"He has three weeks to get ready. He'll be ready,'' Stewart said. "I don't worry about him.''
Several players wound up running steps for various indiscretions. And at the end of a long, hot practice, the whole team ran.
"They think I'm the nicest guy since Mister Rogers,'' Stewart said. "I thought [running gassers after practice] was a pretty good thing to do. They didn't.''
School officials announced that single-game tickets will go on sale Monday through the school's ticket office, but only for one home game (the Villanova opener) and three on the road (Colorado, Connecticut and Louisville). No tickets are currently available for any other home games, although that could change closer to the game dates. There are no tickets available for road games at East Carolina or Pitt, either.
Ticket buyers must be previous customers of the Mountaineer Ticket Office to purchase single game tickets, both home and away, and they are not available on line.
Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.
MORGANTOWN - Considering that it was a last-minute decision, this Brandon Hogan-to-cornerback thing is working out pretty well for West Virginia's football team.
"I didn't know anything about it until I came back,'' Hogan said Wednesday, referring to his switch from slot receiver to cornerback when he reported to camp last Friday. "I guess they wanted to see what I could do.''
The jury is still out, of course, but after just five days the Mountaineer coaches like what they see. In fact, after Ellis Lankster - who is pretty much a lead-pipe cinch to earn one of the two cornerback spots on defense - Hogan is right there with Kent Richardson and perhaps Eddie Davis (another converted receiver) for the other spot.
"Brandon Hogan just keeps showing up,'' West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said after Wednesday's first full-contact workout of camp. "He's shown up so well that D.J. Thomas went to slot.''
Indeed, Hogan's progress has been such that when Thomas, the late-arriving freshman slot receiver/cornerback joined practice on Wednesday, he was dressed in white and worked out with the receivers. Stewart had said the evening before that Thomas would get a look at corner, but said he changed his mind later Tuesday night after talking with his defensive coaches about Hogan's progress.
Not bad for a guy who has never played cornerback, even in high school. As a quarterback in high school, Hogan's trips into games on defense were spent playing free safety. And on that level, the intricacies of coverage just weren't there.
"In high school I just did whatever I wanted,'' Hogan said.
That's the biggest adjustment for him now in trying to learn to play cornerback. In fact, he said it pretty much wipes out any advantage he might have enjoyed coming over from offense and knowing how receivers think.
"I have kind of an advantage knowing what the receivers are going to do,'' he said. "But it's not much of an advantage because I always have to think about what we're doing. You've got a lot in your head. You've got a lot of reads to make.''
nn
Stewart had high praise on Wednesday for wide receiver Alric Arnett, who he said was suffering from an upset stomach and bouts of diarrhea, yet never threw in the towel.
"That was special,'' Stewart said. "I don't know if a year ago he would have done that.''
It was a good thing, too, in that the wide receiver corps is limited right now. Wes Lyons and Bradley Starks, both of whom got reps with the first offense early in practice, have missed the past two days with injuries, although Starks is expected back today.
"It was nice to see him step up to the plate and strain a little bit,'' Stewart said.
nn
BRIEFLY: Stewart said Wednesday's first full-contact practice went smoother than some of the non-contact sessions, which was surprising and pleasing.
"We went through it faster in pads than in shells,'' he said, noting that at the end of a 20-period practice the team was only two minutes off schedule. "That tells you we're doing pretty good.''
There was still no word Wednesday from the NCAA on the eligibility of defensive lineman Pat Liebig, who continues to practice. But several others didn't practice because of injuries, including Lyons, Starks and Will Johnson. Johnson rolled his right ankle Tuesday and wore a protective boot all day, but said it was not serious.
Stewart said he might allow right tackle Ryan Stanchek, who has been sick and hasn't practiced yet, to work out today, the first two-practice day of camp.
"He has three weeks to get ready. He'll be ready,'' Stewart said. "I don't worry about him.''
Several players wound up running steps for various indiscretions. And at the end of a long, hot practice, the whole team ran.
"They think I'm the nicest guy since Mister Rogers,'' Stewart said. "I thought [running gassers after practice] was a pretty good thing to do. They didn't.''
School officials announced that single-game tickets will go on sale Monday through the school's ticket office, but only for one home game (the Villanova opener) and three on the road (Colorado, Connecticut and Louisville). No tickets are currently available for any other home games, although that could change closer to the game dates. There are no tickets available for road games at East Carolina or Pitt, either.
Ticket buyers must be previous customers of the Mountaineer Ticket Office to purchase single game tickets, both home and away, and they are not available on line.
Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.
