MORGANTOWN - When the team huddle was broken on the far end of Mountaineer Field Saturday, preseason camp ended.

There's a buzz, however, around this West Virginia team that is still increasing in volume.

When the Associated Press Top 25 poll was announced, the Mountaineers found themselves at No. 8. Not a bad jumping point, right? (If you check my poll vote, however, you'll see I believe them underrated at No. 8. Methinks they're deserving of a tad more respect.)

The Mountaineers also drew a nice smattering of fans for Saturday's scrimmage on a "Donor Day.'' The press also was out in full force.

The preseason is winding down. The season countdown is on.

"Can't wait to play,'' said WVU coach Bill Stewart after Saturday's session. "Cannot wait to play.''

We didn't see much on Saturday. If you made a trek to Milan Puskar Stadium, sorry. You saw what amounted to a half practice. Too many eyes, especially considering these days of cell phone cameras and the Internet.

Paranoid coaches? Yes. Absolutely. But it's their livelihood. Guess we must try to understand.

Too, WVU's players were tired. The legs were just about shot. So you saw a lot of second- and third-string performers. No use pushing the Stewart luck in regard to injuries.

"It's been a very good camp,'' said John Spiker, coordinator of athletic medical services - right before knocking himself on the head in lieu of wood.

But what was the best part of the Mountaineer camp?

Well, choose for yourself if you'd like.

There was the lack of serious injuries. ("I feel sorry for all the men across America with a knee here or an injury there,'' said Stewart, the ol' softie that he is.)

There was the improvement of Pat White's passing.

The kicking game that is, in Stewart's words, "pretty darn well.''

The view from here? The best news for Mountaineer fans to come out of WVU's camp was the solid play of the defense. The defensive line looks stronger than it did in the spring.

Shoot, line coach Bill Kirelawich is now talking about different looks. Normally, he'll show Zac Cooper, Chris Neild and Scooter Berry. On Saturday, he spoke of a "big'' lineup for opponents that "want to get snot-nosed and run right at us.''

He said in that case he'd go with Pat Liebig, Nield and Berry. Want to throw? He's back with Cooper and, on the other end, Larry Ford or Julian Miller.

Both Stewart and Kirelawich, by the way, complimented Ford after Saturday's practice.

"He's coming on,'' said Kirelawich, who isn't prone to dollop compliments.

"With Scooter Berry, Zac Cooper, Chris Neild and Pat Liebig, Larry Ford is huge for us,'' Stewart said.

So take your pick. Maybe you like the misdirection introduced by offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen.

But I asked Stewart what most jumped out at him. He's the man in charge. While each of the assistants have their assigned duties, Stewart gets to roam.

His answers?

"Alric Arnett and Tyler Urban on offense,'' said the head coach.

Urban was catching passes all over Mountaineer Field Saturday. Apparently, it's a reward for choosing to cast his lot with WVU after a recent history of tight ends catching more colds than passes here.

"He just jumped out,'' Stewart said of the 6-foot-4, 240-pound true freshman from North Huntingdon, Pa.

And, yes, you read correctly - Arnett.

In a camp that had Devon Lyons hanging up his cleats and his brother, Wes, injured. With Brandon Hogan moving to defense. There still was a spark in the receiving corps.

"Alric Arnett is what we needed,'' Stewart said. "We needed him big. We've not had that at wideout since Chris Henry was here.

"Our slots are good. Jock [Sanders]. [Mark] Rodgers. We can come up with slots. But someone special at wideout is what we've been needing. Alric is that, along with Bradley Starks, who has been dinged the last week.''

Starks, of course, has also been working as the No. 3 quarterback.

Anyway, Stewart wasn't finished.

"Defensively, Brandon Hogan at corner [was the most pleasant camp aspect],'' said the coach. "He's going to make us special. Brandon Hogan at corner. Him, and I also thought Chris Neild at nose guard is going to make us a better defense.

"You know what you have with Scooter [Berry]. You know what you have with Zac Cooper. Neild really stepped up.''

And Stewart, the always enthusiastic one, wasn't quite finished.

"J.T. Thomas at linebacker,'' said the coach. "He's probably had the best camp of all. Son of a buck, he's doing good. He's way better than his dad. Tell his dad I said that.''

And with that, Stewart was off.

His team, though, is just getting started.

Reach Mitch Vingle at 348-4827 or mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.