West Virginia Football: 5 things to watch for at the 2019 Gold-Blue Spring Game
By Phil Poling
The West Virginia football program hosts their annual Gold-Blue Spring Game on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium. Here are 5 things to watch for.
Saturday’s 1 p.m. kickoff is more than just a spring scrimmage for the Mountaineers; it’s the beginning of a new era. Dana Holgorsen’s out as head coach, Neal Brown’s in. Will Grier’s a prospective first-round pick in this month’s NFL Draft, leaving a gaping hole at the quarterback position. And a host of other changes have taken place since we’ve last seen West Virginia on the gridiron.
Brown takes over after leading the Troy Trojans to three 10-win seasons, each of which ended in a bowl victory, in a four-year span. Holgorsen put together only two 10-win campaigns in his eight years at WVU and posted a 2-5 bowl record. However, Holgorsen’s first bowl win was the 70-33 shellacking West Virginia delivered to Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl. That win gave Mountaineer Nation an idea of the possibilities under Holgorsen. Brown’s first season could be just as indicative, and it all starts at the spring game.
5. Culture Change
Before worrying about regular season match-ups with the likes of Missouri and NC State. Brown is changing the culture surrounding the football program in Morgantown. It’s all about interaction. And on Tuesday, Brown hosted WVU students at Milan Puskar Stadium for football practice. It was the first annual Student Appreciation Day, an event that’s geared toward getting the students involved.
Even at the practices where it’s just football personnel, though, there’s electric in the air. Displays of enthusiasm weren’t rare under Holgorsen, but they’re already well-documented for Brown since he arrived in Morgantown.
Brown doesn’t directly influence West Virginia getting new uniforms, but it should’ve been expected a t r the coaching change. Not that every coaching change warrants new jerseys, but I digress. After six seasons sporting the pickaxe-number uniforms, the Mountaineers are gearing up for a fresh look. It’s rumored only a handful of people have seen them, but the new uniforms will be revealed at the spring game.