MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Neal Brown will learn more about his team over the coming days in what the West Virginia head coach described as the “hardest week of the season” for Mountaineer players.
“This week is a big prove it week,” Brown said.
But Brown also revealed plenty of notable developments Monday following his team’s 10th practice of preseason camp.
West Virginia scrimmaged Saturday and Brown described the offensive performance as inconsistent, while noting the defense got off to a quick start but wasn’t able to maintain that energy.
Following an off day Sunday, the Mountaineers were back at it Monday.
“Our guys responded pretty well minus a few of them,” Brown said. “We went 110, 115 plays [Saturday]. Now the test is tomorrow putting pads back on and going in the stadium to play a bunch of game-like situations.”
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As Rodney Gallagher III continues to rep at both receiver and defensive back in practice, Brown had heavy praise for his coverage ability.
“He may be our best man defender right now,” Brown said. “He’s going to play.”
A sophomore from Uniontown, Pa., Gallagher was utilized exclusively at receiver and caught 10 passes for 74 yards in 2023.
“He had two nice catch and runs on Saturday. He’s looking more fluent as a receiver, too,” Brown said. “I’m proud of him, because we’re putting a lot on him mentally and he’s spending extra time here to make going both ways work.”
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Kekoura Tarnue primarily played cornerback at Jacksonville State last season before transferring to West Virginia, where he is now “making a move” at cat safety, according to Brown.
Tarnue or Josiah Jackson were listed as the top cat safeties on the Mountaineers’ first depth chart a month ago — ahead of Israel Boyce.
“That’s one of our open competitions. We’ll have to have position flex where other people can play back there,” Brown said. “[Aubrey] Burks will have to give us snaps. Jaheem Joseph can flip and play, but KK [Tarnue] is the guy getting the most snaps there right now.”
After playing two seasons at Rochester Community and Technical College, Tarnue started eight games at cornerback in his lone campaign with the Gamecocks. He recorded a team-high three interceptions and was fourth on the team in solo tackles with 42.
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Defensive lineman Asani Redwood practiced Monday without limitations for the first time. Redwood has battled injury throughout his career and was out of spring football earlier this year.
He recorded 1.5 sacks over 137 defensive snaps last season as a redshirt freshman. Redwood also appeared in four games during a redshirt season in 2022.
“Today was the first day he was full go,” Brown said. “We need him, we need Elijah Kinsler, we need Nate Gabriel — we need some of those guys to go through. Asani needs to play a big role and we need some of those first-year players to play supporting roles.”
Brown offered a more thorough assessment of several defensive linemen expected to play important roles for the Mountaineers.
“Two guys have played above everybody else to this point,” Brown said. “TJ Jackson has been a great addition and plays with a motor and you saw that on his film at Troy. He’s fun to watch. And Eddie Vesterinen — he’s played that way for his whole career. Now he’s stronger and gained a little weight. Those two guys have been active. Sean [Martin] had a better end of the week and there’s another step for him to take, too. Hammond Russell is really making a move. He played the best football of his career Saturday. We need some other guys to come on.”
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Linebacker Trey Lathan has returned to practice and was a scrimmage participant Saturday after missing last Wednesday’s session. Brown anticipates safety Anthony Wilson will return this week after he was sidelined last week.
Cornerback Jacoby Spells remains limited.
“He’s ahead of schedule overall. It’s really kind of when he feels like he’s at full strength,” Brown said of Spells. “He had an upper body injury that he’s done a great job recovering from. He can cover fine, but it’s more about tackling and tearing off a block.”
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The Mountaineers are in the process of identifying kickoff returners, though it appears a pair of receivers are leading the race.
“We’re working Hudson [Clement] a lot back there. He breaks tackles and has good straight line speed,” Brown said. “Jaden Bray is working back there as well. Those are the two guys. Working some off returners also, that if people want to kick to them, we feel better about it. We feel better about the back end at this point than we have in several years.”
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Kicker Michael Hayes handled 73 of West Virginia’s 77 kickoffs a season ago and is back for his final year of college football, but he’s being challenged by Fairmont Senior High School graduate Nate Flower, a redshirt freshman, to remain in the lead in that role.
“Nate Flower has done really well,” Brown said, “and is putting some pressure on Mike there.”