Charles LeClaire – USA TODAY Sports
Dana Holgorsen brought his high powered offense to Morgantown when he took over as head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. Last season, WVU was one of the more prolific offenses in the country led by quarterback Geno Smith and receivers Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey. While Holgorsen searches for his next quarterback, he will also need some fresh faces to step up in the receiving corps, which means Jordan Thompson has to translate his strong spring play into meaningful minutes in the fall.
Thompson looked like he had arrived last spring when he was the star of the Mountaineers’ spring game, catching eight passes for 66 yards with a touchdown. His play got many people excited about his potential in West Virginia’s wide open passing attack, but he failed to make an impact as Austin and Bailey rose to stardom. He finished 2012 with just 13 catches for 75 yards in 13 games and factored little into the offense.
So you can anticipate that Holgorsen is taking Thompson’s latest breakout spring performance with a grain of salt. The sophomore broke off big play after big play, racking up 123 yards receiving and three touchdowns in the spring game. His head coach isn’t impressed, however, and joked with reporters following the spring game when asked about Thompson:
“He will go down in history books as the greatest spring game player of all-time…I haven’t seen him do that in a game yet. Until he does that in a game, we’re gonna not talk about him.”
But Holgorsen and West Virginia are really counting on Thompson in 2013, even if they aren’t talking about it. There aren’t many proven commodities in the Mountaineers’ offense right now, and Thompson has a skill set that is absolutely vital for the success of the team next season.
It will be crucial for Thompson to figure things out on how to take his spring workout prowess and turn it into consistent production on the football field in the fall. Without him, the Mountaineers’ offense will lack serious punch and the high-powered WVU Holgorsen attack will be grounded before it ever gets started.
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