The sight of Jermaine Kelly at quarterback this season for the University of Charleston football team has gone from novelty to weapon.
Over the Golden Eagles' last three games, and especially in Saturday's win over Alderson Broaddus, the team has found an offensive spark in the 6-foot-3 sophomore that should serve it well as it faces its final regular season opponent on Thursday, the University of Virginia College at Wise.
"It is a weapon," UC coach Pat Kirkland said. "It's something we've got in our arsenal and we're going to continue to add on it. I think it's just going to help us move forward."
Kelly was one of three quarterbacks the No. 20 Golden Eagles (9-1, 8-1 Mountain East) used last season, John Knox and Jordan Paul being the others. He threw for 549 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. Kirkland moved to another pair of quarterbacks, Jeremy Johnson and Mason Olszewski, for the 2015 campaign.
For much of this season, Kelly's appearance in the UC backfield has been sporadic, a carry here and a carry there, while he split time as a receiver. Yet over Charleston's last three wins, he's taken on a much larger role. Kirkland said that Olszewski being banged up has had a little to do with it, and it has helped fill a depth issue.
Kelly said his increase in snaps in spelling starter Johnson has come from need, not novelty.
"It's been utilized the last couple of games, really, based on the situations we were in," Kelly said. "It wasn't really, 'This is what we're going to do this week for fun.' It was, 'We have to do this.' The team we happened to play happened to put us in this position."
It started out a little slow against Urbana, where he rushed for 20 yards on nine carries. It got better in UC's win over West Virginia Wesleyan, when he gained a season-high 96 yards and scored a touchdown on eight carries.
Against the Battlers, he found the end zone twice, first on a 2-yard run and then on a 57-yarder. He finished the game with 80 yards and two scores on just four carries. He also got involved in the passing game, recording his first completion of the season on three tries. He zipped a pass to receiver Johnny Delahoussaey that went 23 yards to the A-B 2, and led to Kelly's first touchdown run.
With just three attempts this season, Kelly said the opportunity to throw was a pleasant surprise he wanted to take advantage of.
"They called the play and I was like, oh, OK," he said. "I loved the play call. I loved the situation we were in. So I said, 'OK, sounds good, let's do it. I'm ready.' "
Kelly has been involved in the offense in other ways, catching three passes for 33 yards against Wesleyan. But Kirkland said the sophomore's time under center will be a part of the plan moving forward.
"He's a quarterback," Kirkland said. "He's just a big, athletic quarterback. We want to do some things to put him in position. He's got the body and the brain for it, so that's what we're asking him to do."
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West Virginia State's 52-7 loss at Concord on Saturday included what was, for this season, an uncharacteristic offensive performance from the Yellow Jackets. It marked the first time in 2015 that State (5-5, 5-4 MEC) did not score double digits for a game. The team's previous season low was 13 points in a 34-13 loss to UC. State's 265 yards of total offense was its second-lowest output of the year. The Yellow Jackets gained just 257 yards in a loss to Shepherd.
"Concord's a very good football team," State coach Jon Anderson said, "and they got the pieces back from the team they were a year ago, which was a [national] semifinal team. They still have those guys, and it felt like we played a semifinal team [Saturday], to be honest with you. We needed to play better, because, you're right, that is uncharacteristic of us."
Anderson mentioned the need for an improved running game. State rushed for just 59 yards versus the Mountain Lions.
Even with that season-low score, the Yellow Jackets' offense has performed far better than it has the previous two seasons. In 2013, State ranked last in the MEC scoring 9.6 points per game. It ranked next to last in 2014 at 13.1 points per game. This season, WVSU ranks sixth in the MEC at 30.0 points per game.
State also enters its final week of the regular season, and its home finale versus West Liberty, with another milestone in sight.
If the Yellow Jackets can topple the Hilltoppers, it guarantees them a winning record for the first time since Earl Monroe led State to a 7-3 record in 2008.