West Virginia Football: 10 Things to Expect for the 2012 Gold-Blue Spring Game

The West Virginia Mountaineers will host their spring game this weekend.

The spring game will take place on April 21 and is a chance for every player to prove himself and what he's capable of in a game-like atmosphere.

The Mountaineers return a total of 15 starters and are looking to build on the BCS bowl success they had last season.  

Here are 10 things to expect for the West Virginia Mountaineers spring game.

Lots of People

Last season, there were an estimated 22,000 people at the spring game. This season, head coach Dana Holgorsen would like 30,000 people to show up.

According to The Daily Athenaeum, there are only 3,000 tickets sold, which leaves a lot of tickets out there that need to be bought if this goal is going to be reached.

There's only a week left before this spring game kicks off.

Tavon Austin Will Be Experimented With

Tavon Austin has quickly become one of the more exciting players in all of college football.

He had a ridiculous junior season, catching over 100 passes, but looks even better in the spring. Head coach Dana Holgorsen has said that Austin usually used his speed only after he caught the football, and now he looks completely different.

"Now he's playing fast all the time. He looks like a totally different guy, which is obviously exciting.” Holgorsen said via CBS Sports.

I don't expect Austin to be on the field much in the spring game, but when he is, expect to see him lined up all over the field.

After the monster season he had last year, I expect Austin to be used in different ways to try to keep the defense on its toes.

Expect to see him play the inside and outside receiver and even spend some time in the backfield.

Geno Smith Won't Play Much

You could possibly say this about a lot of the West Virginia starters, but don't expect to see No. 12 out on the field much.

Lately in practice, he's really taking a cautious approach, as sometimes he won't participate in certain drills or show up late to practice entirely. This is completely understandable considering that he is the best player on the squad, and everyone knows what he's capable of doing.

Smith has shown no signs of injuries, but don't expect him to play much in the spring game to avoid one.

Paul Millard Will Get a Lot of Reps

With Geno Smith likely not seeing much playing time in the spring game, sophomore quarterback Paul Millard will get a majority of the reps.

He's a quarterback who throws the ball with great accuracy, but didn't quite show that last season in the 15 pass attempts he threw. Quarterback coach Jake Spavital has said that Millard is getting better as he picks up more experience.

"Paul is doing a great job," Spavital said via West Virginia Illustrated. "That is part of being in year two in the system because our plays have not changed from the first year. It's just him getting better and keep repping it over and over and over. Paul is having a lot more success than he did the first year."

This will be a very important spring game for the sophomore, considering that Smith is on his last year.

Somebody has to prove capable of leading this team next year at the quarterback position, and Millard will have first dibs in the conversation.

J.D. Woods to Make a Name for Himself

We know all about Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin as the main wide receivers, but defenses will focus more on them this season, so somebody else will have to step up.

That's where J.D. Woods comes in, who's had a solid spring and is ready to improve as he enters his senior year.

Woods is a playmaker at 6'1" and will continue to be given every opportunity to improve on his seven-reception season last year. He's been practicing hard, runs solid routes, and he's even getting his hands dirty on the blocking side of things.

Expect him to make an impact as he slides up that depth chart.

Tyler Anderson Will Transition Nicely to His New Position

Tyler Anderson has spent the last two seasons playing backup linebacker and finished last year with 17 tackles and four tackles for loss.

Once he saw his name on the depth chart as a starter, it was listed next to the defensive end position. Anderson has bulked up to 244, which may still be a little small for the position, but he has a lot of speed to his game and looks to use that to his advantage.

"Everything comes with speed," Anderson said via West Virginia Illustrated.  "You have to have speed for everything and to move linemen, you have to use your speed. With my weight and speed, I feel like I have a good chance."

Anderson has had great spring practices, which has helped earn this spot. I expect him to keep it and make an impact in the spring game.

Karl Joseph to Make an Impact

West Virginia returns a good portion of its secondary, but that isn't stopping a true freshman from making an impact already.

Former 3-star safety Karl Joseph has already turned heads and has already been guaranteed playing time his first year in college. 

"You can pencil him in to play a good bit," Coach Dana Holgorsen said via the Charleston Daily Mail. "He is mature, he is physical and he is not scared. Sometimes it takes guys a couple of years before they are physically ready to play or mentally ready to play. Whatever it is, it was an easy adjustment for him."

Joseph can be used all over the field at the safety position, or with his good size at 6'0", 200 pounds, he can also play linebacker.

He was used to making plays back in high school and should get a lot of reps in the spring game.

A Complete Team

We know this is one of the more talented teams in the country, and it doesn't have that many things to work on as it returns several starters on both sides of the ball.

But even in practice, the coaches are very pleased from what they've seen and are eager for September to arrive.

"We are where we want to be, but obviously we still have a lot of things to cover," Co-Defensive Coordinator Joe DeForest said according to West Virginia Illustrated. "As far as the effort and the attitude and their enjoyment of the game, it has been great to watch them. About halfway through they are right where we want them to be. We just have to fine-tune some stuff to make us better."

Look around other spring practices, and that's not something you hear very often. Most other teams are saying there's a lot to work on, or they're nowhere near where they want to be.

West Virginia appears to be one of the few teams ahead of the ballgame, and that's a victory in itself.

Battle at Cornerback

Senior cornerback Pat Miller should be back by the time fall comes around, but he won't participate in the spring game due to injury.

This is actually a good thing for the Mountaineers, as it's going to provide a heated battle between inexperienced players at the position. There are only a total of four scholarship players at the cornerback position, and Miller is one of them. 

That means players like Avery Williams, Terrell Chestnut, Lawrence Smith and Cecil Level will be going at it throughout the spring game trying to earn a spot on this depth chart.

Out of all of those players, Chestnut needs to have the biggest impact, considering that he was a top recruit in the 2011 class and ended his true freshman season with a shoulder surgery.

It's time to show and prove.

Solid Spring Practice

As you can see by now, there are quite a few competitive battles and players who are expected to take that next step this season.

We already knew this was a talented team, and that alone should make for an interesting spring game, but there is depth to this team as well.

Expect to see an entertaining spring game that will help answer a few of the questions this team has going into the fall.