Published: October 29, 2009 12:17 am      

Interchangeable

WVU’s Madsen, Jobe share positions

MORGANTOWN — It was a Tuesday or a Wednesday, early in this football season, before anything much had taken shape, least of all the West Virginia offense. For the most part it was a normal practice day as Jarrett Brown looked over toward the coaches to get the formation and play he would be running.

They flashed him a play out of the I-formation and he went up behind center, put his hands there and was ready to bark signals when this awful realization hit him.

“I lined up behind Joey Madsen and put my hands right under his butt,” Brown recalled, “but he was playing guard.”

You must excuse the quarterback for his mistake, for it really is difficult to know where Madsen or Eric Jobe is playing center or guard, considering that in a very rare move the Mountaineers have made them interchangeable parts of the offensive line.

A year ago in mid-season center Mike Dent suffered a neck injury that elevated Jobe to the starting job at center, a job that seemed secure enough as camp began. Madsen would be the right guard.

However, they began giving Madsen some rotations at center, and the more they did, the more they liked it. He had certain assets as a center that could be used against a nose-guard while Jobe worked better without the nose guard on his head.

An idea was born and now the coaching staff looks at what West Virginia is going to go against in an opponent’s defense, whether it will be a three- or four-man front, which comes down to whether or not a nose guard will be on the center.

From there they decide which of the two — Madsen or Jobe — is better suited for the challenge.

It’s a game-to-game thing normally, Jobe starting four games at center, Madsen three, the other at the right guard spot in the games when he doesn’t play center.

But it doesn’t always work like that.

“Sometimes we switch from play to play,” Madsen said.

It isn’t an everyday thing, not even something that goes by the coaches.

In one of the games, after a play, Jobe came to Madsen. He was obviously in pain.

“I’ve got a stinger,” Jobe said, using the term for a shooting pain from injuring a nerve, much like when you hit the funny bone. “I can’t hold the ball.”

Jobe didn’t want to come out of the game, so he just switched positions for a few plays.

It has become second nature with both players now.

“I don’t even remember anymore if I played guard two weeks ago or center,” Jobe said. “I’m just rolling with it and trying to get as many reps as I can practice.”

“I think it’s fun,” Madsen said. “We’re having a blast at it.”

Jobe is a 6-2, 289 pound junior out of La Plata (Md.) High while Madsen is a hulking 6-4, 291 pounds who has risen rapidly. He opened camp as the backup center and played himself into a starting job.

On the road, Jobe and Madsen room together, and their talk is usually about their rotation and the opponents, which this Friday is a South Florida team that offers a tremendous challenge with its front four.

“They will be tough, but we’re ready for it,” Madsen said. “Their outside guys (defensive ends George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul) are the most trouble. I’m comfortable with what we have on the inside.”

“It’s a good challenge,” Jobe said. “The tackles get the most of it, but all four of the D-linemen have experience and are good. We have to go low and match their intensity.”

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.