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West Virginia’s Spavital sees grown-up version of Kenny Hill

COMMENTARY

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Jake Spavital arrived with reassurance when Kenny Hill was still a high school treasure at Southlake Carroll. Kliff Kingsbury had left for Texas Tech, and Spavital was fresh on the scene at Texas A&M, making sure Hill remained committed to the Aggies.

The next fall Spavital was there preaching patience when Hill spent a season apprenticing behind Heisman winner Johnny Manziel.

Then in 2014, Spavital was in the quarterback’s ear after a spring arrest for public intoxication and in his cheering section during a breakthrough start against South Carolina when Hill threw for 511 yards.

The completions and the points came so easily that night, and they kept pouring in throughout Texas A&M’s 5-0 start.
Then the SEC West caught up to Hill and chewed him up. After three straight losses, low-lighted by a 59-0 beatdown at Alabama, Hill was benched and subsequently suspended. By year’s end he was looking for a new program.

The hype unraveled as fast as it accumulated.

“After the South Carolina game he was a Heisman hopeful, and at the end he was off the map,” Spavital said.

Even as Hill sought a second chance at TCU, Spavital remained an advocate and a friend of the family. While sitting out a transfer year and wading through an inconsistent 2016 season, Hill and his old coach exchanged texts. Now comes a face-to-face, with No. 8 TCU hosting No. 23 West Virginia on Saturday.

“When you evaluate him right now, he seems like he has learned and grown as a man,” Spavital said.

Some of that positivity radiates from the Frogs (4-0, 1-0) emerging as the Big 12’s early-season surprise. It’s not unlike the meteoric climb Texas A&M experienced three seasons ago, though Hill is better equipped as a 22-year-old to handle the success — and to shun the partying — that derailed him when he was 19.

“In the SEC they have all the big stadiums, the nice weight rooms, Coach Sumlin in the Swag Copter. It was everything,” Hill said. “They had all the bells and whistles that anybody would want. When you see that as a young kid, it’s like, ‘Man, that’s just everything I was looking for going to college.’

“But when I made the move to TCU, I’m 30 minutes from house. I get to go watch my little brother play. I get to be around my family. I get to go to my church. When I was in his school I was trying to get away from home. Now I realize that’s more what I needed around me.”

As the play-caller for West Virginia (3-1, 1-0), Spavital has spent more time scrutinizing TCU’s defense. Still, there’s always a curiosity to see how Hill is developing.

“It’s been fun watching Kenny grow up,” Spavital said. “He’s not taking those ill-advised throws — now he’s operating and hitting the check-downs. Before he was always trying to force those tight windows, and even if he was about to get hit, he was still trying to make that throw. Now you see him managing it and knowing he just needs to throw the ball away.”

A few more throw-aways haven’t dented Hill’s completion percentage of 72.6, which ranks sixth nationally. He also stands 18th in passing efficiency, though his yardage total is near the bottom of the Big 12 starting quarterbacks. Hill may someday need another 60 pass attempts like that long-ago game at South Carolina, but for now he’s exploiting short passes and leaning on the league’s most productive running game.

“I don’t think I ever lost that swagger I had back then, but it’s really just all about being consistent,” he said.

Seeking to curb mistakes, Hill pulled receivers into extra throwing sessions all summer. He became such a mainstay on the practice field that head coach Gary Patterson cautioned him to take a break to watch film.

“I told Coach I was going to make time for that, too,” Hill said. “I just wanted to get better.

“We have goals: Conference championship, playoff, national championship. If I’m not out there getting that extra work, we don’t have a chance of getting there.”

TCU’s offense didn’t stand much a chance during last year’s 34-10 loss at West Virginia. Two special-teams turnovers and a Hill interception limited the Frogs to a season-low 60 plays.

“I know they’ll come in motivated,” said West Virginia linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton.”I know they haven’t forgotten.”

And Spavital hasn’t forgotten Hill’s cell number. When ESPN announced plans to situate “College GameDay” onsite for TCU-West Virginia, he texted the quarterback a surprised-face emoji.

Hill’s response? “I’ll see you next Saturday.”





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