3:06pm: Hotline with Dave Weekley

Season finished, White eager to ‘really put on a show’ in 2017

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia junior receiver Ka’Raun White sustained a broken right leg against Iowa State and will miss the final two games of the season.

“He broke a lower leg — I think it’s his tibia or fibia, I don’t know,” coach Dana Holgorsen said Tuesday. “It’s one that breaks and you have surgery and you cast it, and he’s out for six to eight weeks. So he’s done for the year.”

White’s 48 catches and five touchdowns ranked second on the Mountaineers this season, while his 583 yards were third.

After struggling through a series of midseason drops, White caught a touchdown during each of his final three games, including a 34-yarder against the Cyclones. On the second-quarter post route that ended his season, White drew a pass interference flag against cornerback Evrett Edwards while being tripped up.

“He got clipped up, and in the process of trying to catch himself, he kind of stepped on that foot and all that weight came down on it,” said receivers coach Tyron Carrier.

“It’s football. It happens. All he was talking about after the injury was ‘I’ve got another year to get better.’ He’s eager to come back and really put on a show.”

White’s older brother Kevin posted similar junior numbers (35 receptions, 507 yards, five TDs) before exploding as a senior for 1,447 yards and 10 scores on 109 catches.

 

Donahue’s hustle

At the end of the 46-yard dash by Iowa State’s David Montgomery, coaches were talking about more than Rasul Douglas’ forced fumble. Freshman defensive end Reese Donahue also was running stride for stride with the ballcarrier, earning hustle points from position coach Bruce Tall.

“That’s going the extra mile right there,” Tall said. “When you have a big D-lineman running downfield like that, going to hunt the guy down, that’s pretty special. If you have that, you’re going to be pretty good.”

Pettaway shows promise

Along with grinding out 181 yards on 30 carries in his college debut, freshman running back Martell Pettaway generally handled his assignments on non-touch plays, garnering a strong film grade from his position coach.

“It was high — right at like 90 percent,” said West Virginia assistant Ja’Juan Seider. “He didn’t have a lot of mistakes. Just a couple things here and there, but it was a pretty clean game for the kid. He was locked in. He knew exactly what he needed to be doing.”

Pettaway took a deduction for not pressing the gap behind Eli Wellman’s block on a second-quarter run, but he received a “playmaking plus” for gaining 12 yards on the reverse bounce-out (see video below).

“He did well,” Seider said. “He exceeded my expectations for the first game.”

 

‘Don’t know’ about Grier

Holgorsen sidestepped questions of whether Florida transfer quarterback Will Grier will be eligible for the duration of 2017.

“Don’t know, but don’t worry about it. That’s what I’ve been told to say,” Holgorsen said.

West Virginia hopes the year-long PED suspension dealt Grier during October 2015 won’t affect him next season. Had he remained at Florida, the penalty would have expired last month. Still unclear is whether Grier’s suspension was served concurrently while sitting out this season as a transfer.

Holgorsen wouldn’t discuss any facet of West Virginia’s involvement with the process to restore Grier’s NCAA eligibility.

“I don’t know. It’s not my job,” he said. “We have administrators that deal with this, so you’re asking the wrong guy.”





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