COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For pure hustle-till-the-whistle moxie, Terrell Chestnut’s come-from-behind tackle couldn’t be topped.
For staying in character during a sports movie cliché, Shelton Gibson was equally committed, arriving for interviews carrying a pet football. Named “Vickie.”
These two figures—OK three, if you must count Vickie—proved pivotal once more Saturday, when West Virginia once more belittled a nonconference foe. That makes three blowouts by an aggregate tally of 130-23. We presume a Top 25 ranking looms on the horizon.
Before West Virginia took to owning September’s undercards, Chestnut and Gibson emerged as counterparts during summer drills and preseason camp: The senior cornerback imparting loads of fifth-year wisdom on the explosive, inconsistent young receiver.
Whatever Chestnut conveyed during those practice battles, opposing DBs certainly look the worse for it now. Gibson caught six passes—two for touchdowns—on the path to 118 yards against Maryland, which apparently hasn’t played a lick of defense since that rainy day in Baltimore in 2013.
The Terps never threatened to slow down WVU in the latest 45-6 laugher. Watching Gibson stutterstep through three defenders on a 15-yard touchdown screen looked more suited for a high school highlight reel, not the kind of intensity we were promised in a border rivalry.
Gibson’s next score featured a higher degree of difficulty.
On a third-and-2 near midfield, West Virginia chucked it deep, Skyler Howard lofting a 41-yard bomb as Gibson outran Maryland’s fastest cornerback, Will Likely. Turns out there was more to the pattern than raw speed. Gibson credited film work for helping him get off the line untouched by Likely.
“That’s what I was telling Skyler (Friday) night: I said I’m seeing the game so much different now,” Gibson said. “In high school we watched film but we didn’t t watch every single move. Now I watch everything a corner does on first down, third downs, on runs, everything.”
Throughout a Q&A session peppered with tones of maturity and development, Gibson kept a firm clutch on “Vickie.” The ball was a preseason gift from Howard with instructions to keep “her” around at all times. It took Gibson a few days to realize his quarterback wasn’t joking.
“Skyler would ask ‘Where’s Vickie?’ and I’d go, ‘Uh, I think she’s in the car,’ and he’d tell me to go get it. We’d be in meetings and he’d tell me to go get the ball.”
Silly as Vickie sounds, Gibson hasn’t seen a ball he couldn’t go get during the first three games. He owns a 27-yards-per-catch average that should be a warning to any opponent planning man coverage.
Likewise, Chestnut’s defensive play of the day served as a warning to any teammate thinking about loafing.
It came in the second quarter as Terps tailback Brandon Ross broke loose along the Mountaineers sideline. This had the markings of a sure-fire touchdown, at least until Chestnut tracked him down (from the opposite hash mark, mind you) and dove at the runner’s ankles. The ball spilled free as Ross fell, trickling across the goal line and out the rear of the end zone. A 55-yard run transformed into a touchback because Chestnut didn’t give up pursuit.
“The play’s not over until the whistle blows, and until the play’s over I’m going to bust my butt to make the stop,” he said. “I was just lucky the ball popped out but I wasn’t going to let the runner score.”
That warmed the heart of defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, who kept lauding Chestnut for “a great effort play.” Equally impressed was safety Karl Joseph, who said Chestnut will probably claim Sunday’s defensive player of the game award. “And I can’t even challenge that,” Joseph admitted, “because it’s one of those great plays where he never gave up. That’s the type of player he is.”
Don’t overlook Chestnut making the first of WVU’s five interceptions, yet the chase-down clearly became his shining moment—an exertion blur to be exemplified in film rooms throughout the Milan Puskar center.
“It sums him up on who he is, just how much it means to him to be here,” coach Dana Holgorsen said. “He’s what being a Mountaineer is all about. That kid tries hard, plays hard, never gives up.”
Now it’s back to practice, where Chestnut will spend a few days prodding Gibson to find an edge against Oklahoma. The competition is about to ramp up rapidly, yet West Virginia’s opening month sure seems to indicate a team that stands ready.