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Gold 35, Blue 7

By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
April 18, 2009

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Jarrett Brown completed 21 of 28 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Gold team to a 35-7 victory over the Blue Saturday afternoon in West Virginia’s Gold-Blue Spring Game at Milan Puskar Stadium.


	Jarrett Brown completed 21 of 28 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns for the Gold team during Saturday's Gold-Blue Spring Game at Milan Puskar Stadium. WVU Photography Services/Brian Persinger photo

Unlike recent spring scrimmages, today’s work was done under game conditions with the No. 1s facing the No. 2s on both sides of the ball.

“It sure looked like the players were having some fun out there,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. “I felt like this spring we got some things accomplished but we’ve got a long way to go before we’re a pretty good football team.”

At one point Brown completed 16 straight passes and led the offense to touchdowns on five consecutive drives.

“Jarrett Brown I thought played extremely well,” Stewart said. “He missed a protection that kind of got me upset before the half – he missed that but it will get better for him. He’s 21 of 28 and he threw some nice balls.

“You saw him going to his left and throwing to his right like a circus act across the field,” Stewart said.

Brown’s touchdown’s TD passes covered 14, 11, 21 and 10 yards - two to Wes Lyons and one each to Bradley Starks and Alric Arnett.

Noel Devine ripped off a 74-yard touchdown run and finished the scrimmage with 85 yards on just three carries. Lyons caught six passes for a scrimmage-best 118 yards and Arnett also caught six passes for 62 yards.

“Wes is stronger, he’s more confident and he is just playing very consistently,” Stewart said. “He’s been Mr. Steady for us. He caught a ball out there today that we would have never caught until this year. He got thumped pretty well and he made a big catch.

“Wes, Alric, Jarrett and Bradley Starks, these are all big guys and we haven’t had these sized guys lately out there,” Stewart said.

Jordan Roberts scored the only touchdown for the Blue squad, breaking free from the No. 1 defense and racing 65 yards for a touchdown. Roberts finished the scrimmage with eight carries for 75 yards.

Coley White quarterbacked the Blue team for most of the scrimmage until he switched to the Gold team late in the scrimmage. He finished the afternoon a combined 9 of 13 for 65 yards.

“I liked the way Coley White moved the offense. I liked the way he kept his pocket presence, I liked the bootleg stuff he was doing and I saw him throw some crossing routes and found the right guy,” Stewart said. “He knew where to go with the ball during the blitz. Coley White matured out there today and it was very nice to see that.”

Mark Rodgers had a scrimmage-best 12 carries for 65 yards with a long run of 19 yards.

“I thought Mark Rodgers came in and did pretty well,” said Stewart. “I was really pleased stretching for the one first down he got over by the band when he kept his second effort. I thought that was good.”

The only negative from today’s game was the unspecified lower leg injury to starting tackle Donny Barclay, who had to be carted off the field during the first quarter. Stewart said he won’t have a definitive report on Barclay until early next week.

“I’m really proud of our offensive line – they took every snap,” Stewart said. “Donny Barclay went down we had six linemen for the Gold and six linemen for the Blue. Donny is still under review and evaluation. The great thing is he had knee braces on. His ankle is in great shape as is his knee. It could have been trouble had he not had braces.”

Saturday’s scrimmage concludes spring drills for the Mountaineers.

“I liked their enthusiasm, I liked their effort and I liked the way we practiced hard against each other,” Stewart said. “Today was just a culmination of that.”

Season ticket renewals are presently being accepted online through WVUGAME.com.