Coach Bill Stewart confirmed on his radio show last night that third-string freshman quarterback Jeremy Johnson is leaving WVU. Johnson has been dealing with homesickness all semester, and at one point this season updated his facebook page to say he was transferring to Baylor. While that post has since been removed, it seems a likely landing spot for Johnson, since it is much closer to his hometown of Houston, Texas.
Coach Stewart said of Johnson's departure:
↵↵↵"There comes a point in life [when] the I factor has to leave your thinking and I know it's distance, but there is an I factor there that you have to leave that thinking," said Stewart. "There are a lot of young men for hundreds of years that have been overseas and would have liked to have a little bit of I factor, but they didn't use it, they stayed and did their job and they're still doing that."
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"We're not in a war here, we're in a football game - we're just going to college," continued Stewart. "I was just hurt by the fact that he just couldn't stay until December and try it - try a semester in Morgantown - but when you get discouraged when your 12 - 15 hundred miles away from home, you're not playing, you're not going to play."
I can't say I'm surprised, and I wish Johnson the best. With the emergence of Geno Smith as the quarterback of the future for the Mountaineers, playing time will be hard to come by for the next three seasons. Johnson was beaten out for the backup quarterback job in spring ball by fellow freshman Barry Brunetti.