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10 April 2010
MORGANTOWN - As West Virginia's first week of spring drills wind down, Geno Smith is starting get one of those déjà vu feelings, like he's been here before.
"It's pretty much the same as when I was backing up Jarrett [Brown] last year,'' the sophomore quarterback said. "He was getting most of the work and I was just watching, trying to go through the plays and take the mental reps.''
The circumstances might be different now, but the reality is that Smith is still trying to accomplish as much as he can with limited opportunities.
Whereas last year Brown was getting the reps because the starting job unquestionably belonged to Brown, now Smith is watching Coley White most of the time. The job is unquestionably Smith's, but the broken bone in his left foot will limit him to spectator status when the Mountaineers do anything taxing.
Like run plays.
"It's not really all that frustrating, but obviously I'd rather be getting more work,'' Smith said Friday after the third of West Virginia's 15 spring practices, this one in much cooler temperatures than the first two days. "But you can only do as much as you can do.''
For the most part, what Smith is doing - and will be doing for the foreseeable future - is throwing in individual drills and running with the No. 1 skill-position groups - receivers and running backs - in skeleton drills.
But when it comes time for the entire offense to line up and actually run plays against a defense, White takes over. On Friday, he took virtually every rep with both the No. 1 and 2 offenses.
As much as coach Bill Stewart and offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen try to spin Smith's absence as being not as bad as it might seem - he can still throw and run those skeleton drills, and White is getting much-needed experience - it is still not ideal.'
