MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After Dana Holgorsen docked Clint Trickett’s near-perfect performance against Towson by saying he didn’t like his quarterback running so much, Trickett reminded reporters of the touchdown he scored on a QB draw.
“He called it, so he can’t not like it too much,” Trickett joked.
Keeping Trickett healthy looms paramount as West Virginia heads toward a nonconference showdown at Maryland and the onslaught of Big 12 action. He’s completing 75 percent of his passes and averaging 356 yards per game without having thrown an interception. Trickett’s 35-of-40 performance against Towson seemed clinically precise at times.
“The one negative I can say about him, and this is a small one, is he needs to get the ball out of his hands,” Holgorsen said after the 54-0 victory.
“I got nervous a few times. I was a little uneasy with a few of the decisions he made extending plays. He didn’t turn into Colin Kaepernick in a week. He’s not that kind of guy and he’s never going to be.”
While Towson’s didn’t mount much of a pass rush, Holgorsen warned that upcoming defenses will boast bigger, quicker athletes capable of closing on Trickett more rapidly.
Yet there are nuances to what Trickett senses inside and out of the pocket, and through two games his dump-or-dash decisions have largely worked out for the better. He turned a busted play against Alabama into a 14-yard run before stepping out of bounds unharmed, and his 10-yard scramble against Towson ended with a dive to avoid contact. On several occasions he has floated out of the pocket before syncing with receivers who modified their routes.
“I know what (Holgorsen) means—he just wants me to stay healthy, and I’m going to,” Trickett said. “If there’s a hit I don’t need to take, then I’m going to get down.”
While offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson joins his boss in harping on quarterbacks to put the ball in play, he takes a looser stance on the improvisations of Trickett, who possesses enough athleticism to elude the rush and the smarts to see big gainers develop when secondaries are forced to cover longer.
“You can’t curb his enthusiasm to play the game, in my opinion,” Dawson said. “You’ve got to let it unfold the way it naturally does and let him play ball. The kid’s not immobile.”
So far Trickett hasn’t shown a proclivity to be reckless, suffering four sacks that appeared unavoidable. Without trying to go full-Kaepernick, Trickett sees room to satisfy Holgorsen’s quick-pitch designs without forfeiting his own drive to prolong bad-looking plays into positive ones.
Then again, just one poorly timed scramble could wreck a quarterback’s knee and, potentially, West Virginia’s season.
“(The coaches) are going to have to let me play, but I’ve got to be able to play,” he said. “I’ve also got to be coachable and stay in the pocket.”