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Experience on offense could give WVSU football a boost

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By Michael Carvelli

A few seasons ago, the West Virginia State football team was among the worst offenses in the Mountain East Conference.

The Yellow Jackets averaged just 13.3 points per game in 2014 and ranked among the conference's worst in terms of passing and rushing yards.

Yet, since new head coach John Pennington arrived on campus as the program's offensive coordinator in 2015, things have continued to improve. The Yellow Jackets have averaged at least 26 points in each of the last two seasons and have become one of the conference's most dangerous passing teams.

"We've come a really long way since then," Pennington said. "I don't think I knew what I was doing when we first got here back then, but now I've seen it for two years and we're able to go a lot faster with it now because the guys know what I expect of them and they know what to do more."

Now, as State goes through spring practice in preparation for the 2017 season, Pennington now is watching over that offense from a different perspective as head coach. The Yellow Jackets brought in Travis Everhart, who spent last season as the offensive coordinator at Fort Valley State, to become the coordinator on the new staff and provide valuable.

Of course, it should help that West Virginia State returns many pieces of that offense that had stretches of great success in 2016. Running backs Juawan Etheredge and Dionta Brown are back after both finishing in the top 12 in the conference in rushing. So is the MEC's leading returning receiver in Quinton Gray - who had 1,029 yards and seven touchdowns on 79 receptions last season.

Rising sophomore A.J. Barrette emerged as another big-play threat for WVSU in the passing game, as did Tyrell Henderson, who was the team's third leading receiver despite playing just eight games.

Those weapons, along with quarterbacks Matt Kinnick and Austin Hensley fighting for the starting job at quarterback, give the Yellow Jackets the experience and talent to have an even more explosive group than the one that has finished in the top two in the MEC in passing in each of the last two seasons.

"That's when you get successful, when you have people you can keep in the program that make plays and they know what they're doing," Pennington said. "They're all really comfortable in our system. We have a lot of great leaders, we have quarterbacks we trust, linemen who do a great job, a group of backs who made plays last year and four really dynamic receivers that did some great things last season, too.

"There's a lot there for us and that's when you become a better team, when you have guys like that who have been in it for a while."

And while the talent of the group is undeniable, the biggest thing about having that many players returning is that it becomes easier to teach the offense. Because the players have been in the system for some time, they don't have be taught things over again from the foundation of the scheme.

"They know it so well that we don't have to go through and spend time teaching the big things [in the offensive scheme]. We can really focus in on sharpening up the little things," Pennington said. "In football that means everything, and there are a lot of those things we can harp on to get them better. We can get into more situational, pre-snap things so they can be ready for anything and can react better."


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