COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It looks so obvious, so impending, that TV analysts can circle David Sills on the monitor and warn defenders, “THEY’RE THROWING IT TO HIM!”
Knowing it and stopping it are different tasks.
Three times against Kansas State last week, Sills split wide on the goal line, and three times he collected 1-yard touchdown catches. A different K-State cornerback played the victim on each, the kind of equal-opportunity cruelty Sills can impose — especially with a passer like Will Grier making the throws.
All three of those scores highlighted the nuances that make a situationally complex moment look so pitch-and-catch simple.
2:31 before half:
Sills was lined up wide right, and I do mean wide right, as in on the numbers. He was head-up against the Wildcats’ best defensive back, Duke Shelley.
A 5-foot-9 corner playing man coverage against the 6-4 Sills screamed mismatch, so Shelley needed to take away the slant. With Sills lined up so near to the sideline, there was scarcely room to execute the fade route, so it was imperative that Shelley maintain inside leverage.
He tried, but Sills got into him, using those long, lanky arms to bench press Shelley into separation. By the time Sills made his move inside on the slant, the cornerback was knocked off-balance and stumbling in trail position.
Touchdown, West Virginia.
Don’t underestimate the physicality of the skinny Sills.
“It’s something the me and Coach (Tyron) Carrier talk about — the releases at the line,” he said. “Playing a little physical down there helps you a lot.”
“If they see both players kind of extending with each other, then they usually won’t call it,” Sills said.
0:02 before half:
Same formation, only this time Sills was lined up wide left, just a few steps from the K-State sideline. A.J. Parker, in man coverage, was not yielding the slant route, which looked even more inviting considering WVU snapped the ball from the opposite hash.
But Sills deked inside with quick choppy feet, creating a sliver of room to execute the fade route to the boundary. As Grier lofted a perfect pass, Sills hand-jockeyed with Parker (who’s only 5-11) before rising for a high-point catch.
“We run the wide split and we’ve gotten so good that even when I’m wide we can still run the fade,” Sills said. The wide split essentially forces an outside linebacker or nickel back to declare pre-snap whether he’s playing the run or moving outside to help bracket Sills.
7:39 in third quarter:
Time for the hat trick.
Sills was lined up wide left, with juco transfer Darreyl Patterson defending. Again the tight, choppy feet keep Sills in a neutral position coming off the line, but when he plants and drives inside, Patterson is toast.
With Grier throwing from the near hash, there’s a chance for linebacker Da’Quan Patton to bounce out into the throwing lane, but Grier is too precise.
That became Sills’ fifth touchdown catch of the season, matching the number he had after three games in 2017.
“You’ve got to put more people out there, and when they put more people out there, we run the ball,” said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. “David Sills, he’s really hard to cover in the red zone.
“Fade routes on the goal line are low-percentage in general. But when you have those guys, it’s pretty high-percentage. So we’ll keep rolling with it.”
This week it’s Texas Tech’s problem, and they remember Sills with stunning clarity. Last year he caught three scores against them.