Mountaineers Conclude Spring Work on Saturday
April 18, 2026 03:39 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia concluded spring football drills on Saturday with its annual Gold-Blue Spring Game, dubbed the Gold-Blue Spring Festival this year with a free concert afterward by country music recording artist Jake Owen.
A crowd of 18,475 was announced for today's event, conducted under partly cloudy skies and warm temperatures in Morgantown.
"It was pretty competitive; not sure we executed really well at times, but I thought they played pretty hard," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said afterward. "We had a couple of silly penalties that we'll have to get corrected, but all in all, I thought it was a pretty good spring, and I think we found out some things that we wanted to find out and there are still some questions we need to get finalized before our first game."
The coach indicated USC transfer Prince Strachan sustained a shoulder injury during the scrimmage, although he didn't think it was a "long-term thing."
Approximately one-fifth of the field was partitioned off for the concert stage, meaning approximately 60 yards was available for teams to use going in the direction of the hospital.
Ball placement was on the 40-yard line and team scrimmaging last roughly an hour, with a brief intermission taking place after 45 minutes of play.
Once the team period concluded, Rodriguez went into the stands and asked fans to make two-point conversion calls from a list of plays; just one of the four picked was successful, that coming from a female fan from Ohio.
The scrimmage began with Jack Cassidy and Nate Flower attempting field goals. No statistics were kept for the scrimmage, so yardages are unofficial.
Returning quarterback Scotty Fox opened the scrimmage by leading the Blue squad to a touchdown on his only drive of the afternoon, the sophomore completing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Troy transfer DJ Epps. The remainder of Fox's afternoon was spent pedaling an exercise bike.
Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins quarterbacked the Gold squad and completed several nice passes while he was out there, including a 10-yard scoring strike to freshman Robert Oliver.
Fox and Hawkins were wearing black no-contact jerseys for this afternoon's scrimmage.
The rest of the quarterbacks were full-go and each of them displayed speed and athleticism running the football. True freshman Jyron Hughley, the nephew of former Mountaineer quarterback and current Notre Dame running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider, made the play of the scrimmage when he out-ran the entire defense down the near sideline for a 60-yard touchdown run.
Senior Max Brown and freshman John Johnson III also demonstrated their running skills leading their respective units.
"They all can run, can't they," Rodriguez beamed. "They're competitive guys, but I also see some nervousness in their throwing. I think sometimes you aim it instead of throwing it when you see it. We've got (Santa Monica, California freshman) Wyatt Brown coming in, too, so I think the quarterback room is in a good spot."
Two nifty Johnson runs set up his short touchdown pass to Sam Hamilton, and later in the scrimmage, he hooked up with Connecticut transfer John Neider for a short touchdown pass.
Brown's 52-yard hookup to junior college speedster Keon Hutchins was the longest pass play of the scrimmage.
The defense was at a disadvantage with the ball being placed at the 40-yard-line and Rodriguez's desire of them limiting their calls, but the Gold and Blue units did make sever fourth-down stops and Maliek Hawkins scooped up a fumbled snap and returned it the length of the field before the play was whistled dead when he approached the concert stage.
Freshman Chris Talley ripped off a 30-plus-yard gainer, the longest run by the running backs.
Jacksonville State transfer Cam Cook took just a handful of carries before his work concluded for the day.
A brief tribute memorializing WVU running back, assistant coach and long-time athletic administrator Garrett Ford was shown on the video board prior to today's scrimmage. Ford passed away in Charlotte, North Carolina, last December and his family was in town for a public memorial service held inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility yesterday evening.
Also, Parkersburg junior wide receiver Cyrus Traugh was named this year's recipient of the Tommy Nickolich Memorial Award, presented by the Blue & Gold News to the team's top walk-on performer.
The strength and conditioning staff recognized Nick Krahe, Ryan Ward and Wisconsin transfer Geimere Latimer II for their work in the weight room this winter.
Overall, Rodriguez said he was pleased with the atmosphere and environment for the second spring game here since returning to his alma mater in December 2024.
"It was a nice atmosphere, we had a good crowd, and I think our players really enjoyed it," he said.
Among the positives Rodriguez took away from this year's spring work was the experience gained by the team's three veteran quarterbacks, the competition he witnessed at most of the positions and improved team culture despite acclimating 37 transfer portal, 36 high school and 11 junior college additions this year.
"I like where the culture is at and I think it will continue to go exactly where I want it to be," he said.
"I think (the fans) are really going to love our team. I think it's going to be a really, really fun team to watch, and it's going to be a fun team to coach," Rodriguez concluded.
The 2026 season opens on Saturday, Sept. 5, against Coastal Carolina at Milan Puskar Stadium. Log on to WVUGAME.com for season ticket information.
A crowd of 18,475 was announced for today's event, conducted under partly cloudy skies and warm temperatures in Morgantown.
"It was pretty competitive; not sure we executed really well at times, but I thought they played pretty hard," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said afterward. "We had a couple of silly penalties that we'll have to get corrected, but all in all, I thought it was a pretty good spring, and I think we found out some things that we wanted to find out and there are still some questions we need to get finalized before our first game."
The coach indicated USC transfer Prince Strachan sustained a shoulder injury during the scrimmage, although he didn't think it was a "long-term thing."
Approximately one-fifth of the field was partitioned off for the concert stage, meaning approximately 60 yards was available for teams to use going in the direction of the hospital.
Ball placement was on the 40-yard line and team scrimmaging last roughly an hour, with a brief intermission taking place after 45 minutes of play.
Once the team period concluded, Rodriguez went into the stands and asked fans to make two-point conversion calls from a list of plays; just one of the four picked was successful, that coming from a female fan from Ohio.
The scrimmage began with Jack Cassidy and Nate Flower attempting field goals. No statistics were kept for the scrimmage, so yardages are unofficial.
Returning quarterback Scotty Fox opened the scrimmage by leading the Blue squad to a touchdown on his only drive of the afternoon, the sophomore completing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Troy transfer DJ Epps. The remainder of Fox's afternoon was spent pedaling an exercise bike.
Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins quarterbacked the Gold squad and completed several nice passes while he was out there, including a 10-yard scoring strike to freshman Robert Oliver.
Fox and Hawkins were wearing black no-contact jerseys for this afternoon's scrimmage.
The rest of the quarterbacks were full-go and each of them displayed speed and athleticism running the football. True freshman Jyron Hughley, the nephew of former Mountaineer quarterback and current Notre Dame running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider, made the play of the scrimmage when he out-ran the entire defense down the near sideline for a 60-yard touchdown run.
Senior Max Brown and freshman John Johnson III also demonstrated their running skills leading their respective units.
"They all can run, can't they," Rodriguez beamed. "They're competitive guys, but I also see some nervousness in their throwing. I think sometimes you aim it instead of throwing it when you see it. We've got (Santa Monica, California freshman) Wyatt Brown coming in, too, so I think the quarterback room is in a good spot."
Two nifty Johnson runs set up his short touchdown pass to Sam Hamilton, and later in the scrimmage, he hooked up with Connecticut transfer John Neider for a short touchdown pass.
Brown's 52-yard hookup to junior college speedster Keon Hutchins was the longest pass play of the scrimmage.
The defense was at a disadvantage with the ball being placed at the 40-yard-line and Rodriguez's desire of them limiting their calls, but the Gold and Blue units did make sever fourth-down stops and Maliek Hawkins scooped up a fumbled snap and returned it the length of the field before the play was whistled dead when he approached the concert stage.
Freshman Chris Talley ripped off a 30-plus-yard gainer, the longest run by the running backs.
Jacksonville State transfer Cam Cook took just a handful of carries before his work concluded for the day.
A brief tribute memorializing WVU running back, assistant coach and long-time athletic administrator Garrett Ford was shown on the video board prior to today's scrimmage. Ford passed away in Charlotte, North Carolina, last December and his family was in town for a public memorial service held inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility yesterday evening.
Also, Parkersburg junior wide receiver Cyrus Traugh was named this year's recipient of the Tommy Nickolich Memorial Award, presented by the Blue & Gold News to the team's top walk-on performer.
The strength and conditioning staff recognized Nick Krahe, Ryan Ward and Wisconsin transfer Geimere Latimer II for their work in the weight room this winter.
Overall, Rodriguez said he was pleased with the atmosphere and environment for the second spring game here since returning to his alma mater in December 2024.
"It was a nice atmosphere, we had a good crowd, and I think our players really enjoyed it," he said.
Among the positives Rodriguez took away from this year's spring work was the experience gained by the team's three veteran quarterbacks, the competition he witnessed at most of the positions and improved team culture despite acclimating 37 transfer portal, 36 high school and 11 junior college additions this year.
"I like where the culture is at and I think it will continue to go exactly where I want it to be," he said.
"I think (the fans) are really going to love our team. I think it's going to be a really, really fun team to watch, and it's going to be a fun team to coach," Rodriguez concluded.
The 2026 season opens on Saturday, Sept. 5, against Coastal Carolina at Milan Puskar Stadium. Log on to WVUGAME.com for season ticket information.
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John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
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Coach Pat Kirkland | April 15
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