MORGANTOWN - He was best known as a runaway beer truck.

Now, though, West Virginia University coach Bill Stewart has to replace Owen Schmitt as the former Mountaineer trucks toward the NFL.

Good luck, huh? Schmitt was a fullback. He was a tight end. He was the Mountaineers' most devastating blocker. And now he's the biggest offensive void.

WVU can replace Darius Reynaud. The team (last year?) replaced Steve Slaton with Noel Devine. But Stewart admits he hasn't replaced Schmitt. It's his biggest offensive challenge of the ongoing spring drills.

"Big time,'' said the new Mountaineer coach. "How do you replace a throwback? [Pittsburgh Steelers head coach] Mike Tomlin and [director of football operations] Kevin Colbert were here and I told them - and 31 other teams - if you don't want No. 35 and 53 [linebacker Marc Magro] in your locker room, then I don't know who you want.''

Defensively, one can argue about WVU's toughest personnel loss. Keilen Dykes? Johnny Dingle? Magro? Most within the WVU circle would say Ryan Mundy.

On offense?

"The toughest to replace is Owen Schmitt,'' Stewart said. "No doubt.''

It's difficult because no one (certainly not the opposition) ever got a handle on Schmitt. Was he a fullback? A tight end? An H-back?

"He was a fullback/tight end, like an old H-back,'' Stewart said.

Early under Rich Rodriguez, there really was no room for such a position - until Schmitt's talent made the coach clear room.

"We never had a tight end here,'' Stewart said. "When Rich first came here, we called it the T position. Like the old car, the T-bird. The T-back.''

At one time, Stewart recollected, WVU was heavily recruiting R.J. Coleman of Robert C. Byrd High, who went to Ohio State.

"We had to change the board,'' Stewart said. "We never had a tight end. [Incoming freshman] Tyler Urban is the first tight end/fullback we've recruited big-time since I've got here. And Owen Schmitt paved the way.''

Note that Urban is not a fullback/tight end, like Schmitt. He's a tight end/fullback.

Whatever it is, the position won't disappear.

"We'll have it,'' Stewart said. "Thor Merrow has done a nice job this spring. Tyler Rader has done a nice job. They're just not Owen Schmitt carrying the ball.''

Merrow, a former defensive lineman, is listed at fullback. Rader is listed as a tight end. So Stewart and company are going with a hodgepodge in the quest to replace Schmitt.

"We've got two nice young men in Merrow and Rader,'' Stewart said. "Sammy Morrone has been really solid in the past. Same with Max Anderson. But those [last] two are coming off knee surgeries. They haven't been able to do much this spring.''

Eventually, though, Urban, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound incoming freshman, could be the man.

"I think Tyler Urban is a real neat guy,'' Stewart said. "He's got Schmitt size. He's a big boy. Plus, I once saw him dunk a basketball. He's going to get thrown in there quick.

"Also, this [incoming freshman] Ryan Clark from DeMatha is a man-child. He can flat play football. He played in a pretty good [high school] league.''

Stewart paused.

MORGANTOWN - He was best known as a runaway beer truck.

Now, though, West Virginia University coach Bill Stewart has to replace Owen Schmitt as the former Mountaineer trucks toward the NFL.

Good luck, huh? Schmitt was a fullback. He was a tight end. He was the Mountaineers' most devastating blocker. And now he's the biggest offensive void.

WVU can replace Darius Reynaud. The team (last year?) replaced Steve Slaton with Noel Devine. But Stewart admits he hasn't replaced Schmitt. It's his biggest offensive challenge of the ongoing spring drills.

"Big time,'' said the new Mountaineer coach. "How do you replace a throwback? [Pittsburgh Steelers head coach] Mike Tomlin and [director of football operations] Kevin Colbert were here and I told them - and 31 other teams - if you don't want No. 35 and 53 [linebacker Marc Magro] in your locker room, then I don't know who you want.''

Defensively, one can argue about WVU's toughest personnel loss. Keilen Dykes? Johnny Dingle? Magro? Most within the WVU circle would say Ryan Mundy.

On offense?

"The toughest to replace is Owen Schmitt,'' Stewart said. "No doubt.''

It's difficult because no one (certainly not the opposition) ever got a handle on Schmitt. Was he a fullback? A tight end? An H-back?

"He was a fullback/tight end, like an old H-back,'' Stewart said.

Early under Rich Rodriguez, there really was no room for such a position - until Schmitt's talent made the coach clear room.

"We never had a tight end here,'' Stewart said. "When Rich first came here, we called it the T position. Like the old car, the T-bird. The T-back.''

At one time, Stewart recollected, WVU was heavily recruiting R.J. Coleman of Robert C. Byrd High, who went to Ohio State.

"We had to change the board,'' Stewart said. "We never had a tight end. [Incoming freshman] Tyler Urban is the first tight end/fullback we've recruited big-time since I've got here. And Owen Schmitt paved the way.''

Note that Urban is not a fullback/tight end, like Schmitt. He's a tight end/fullback.

Whatever it is, the position won't disappear.

"We'll have it,'' Stewart said. "Thor Merrow has done a nice job this spring. Tyler Rader has done a nice job. They're just not Owen Schmitt carrying the ball.''

Merrow, a former defensive lineman, is listed at fullback. Rader is listed as a tight end. So Stewart and company are going with a hodgepodge in the quest to replace Schmitt.

"We've got two nice young men in Merrow and Rader,'' Stewart said. "Sammy Morrone has been really solid in the past. Same with Max Anderson. But those [last] two are coming off knee surgeries. They haven't been able to do much this spring.''

Eventually, though, Urban, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound incoming freshman, could be the man.

"I think Tyler Urban is a real neat guy,'' Stewart said. "He's got Schmitt size. He's a big boy. Plus, I once saw him dunk a basketball. He's going to get thrown in there quick.

"Also, this [incoming freshman] Ryan Clark from DeMatha is a man-child. He can flat play football. He played in a pretty good [high school] league.''

Stewart paused.

"Are any of them ready to be Owen Schmitt?'' he said. "No. Somebody needs to step up. But if you mix in a bunch of them and keep people off-balance ...''

Then maybe WVU won't have a truck, but, hey, at least an SUV.

A whisper within the WVU football family is that a transfer might be forthcoming. One that could bolster the receiving corps.

Devon Lyons, the older brother of sophomore Mountaineer Wes, apparently has a year of eligibility left after heretofore playing for Ohio State. The older Lyons could receive a hardship waiver and join WVU this season.

Devon Lyons is listed at 6-4, 214 pounds and played in all 12 Buckeye games as a freshman. He sat out 10 games in 2005 with an ankle injury.

WVU's staff is expecting to know whether Devon Lyons can transfer and play within a week to 10 days.

If he can, don't be surprised if he's a starter at the Z position.

While on the topic of possible additions, those around the WVU facilities building are absolutely giddy about the 2009 commitments from Virginia recruits Logan Heastie, rated by some as the nation's No. 1 wide receiver, and Tajh Boyd, a three-star quarterback.

Heastie is a 6-2, 192-pound five-star product of Chesapeake, Va., who, if signed, gives immediate recruiting credence to the Stewart/Doc Holliday/etc. experiment. Assistant Chris Beatty has the Tidewater recruiting area.

Those spoken to think Boyd, 6-2, from Hampton, is certainly worthy of more than three stars.

And finally . . .

A couple gems from Stewart.

Think West Virginia will stand Pat at quarterback? Guess again. Barring injury, Pat White will definitely be the starter there. But ...

"Don't be surprised if you see Pat White out in the slot and Jarrett Brown at quarterback,'' said the Mountaineer coach. "Why not? If we think we can get a mismatch, we'll send [White] down the field. A score is a score.''

And there's this to go on in regard to standout Mountaineer tailback Noel Devine:

"He's had a tremendous spring,'' Stewart said. "He's so fast. He's 175 pounds and he bench-pressed - bench-pressed! - 405 pounds. He didn't do sets of five that you equate. He took 405 down, off his chest, paused and blew it up.

"I saw him at 350 and I was going to stop him. Then, when he got to 365, I was distracted by pro scouts. Then this little cat went 405.

"I said, 'Holy sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph.' ''

To contact sports editor Mitch Vingle, send e-mail to mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or call 348-4827.