West Virginia is always going to play with 11 under Rich Rodriguez.
And that simply means that the quarterback is going to be a factor in the run game. That doesn’t mean that the position is going to have to run the football 30 times per game, but having the ability to do so if it’s needed to win opens up a lot of possibilities on offense.
“Whatever our quarterback does well we’re going to feature but we’re always going to play with 11,” Rodriguez told the 3 Guys Before the Game podcast.
And there’s a lot of different ways to fit that mold.
At Jacksonville State, Rodriguez brought in Furman transfer Tyler Huff who rushed for 1,344 yards and 15 touchdowns but didn’t possess blazing speed. Still, there was a willingness to do so and had just enough wiggle to turn a five-yard run into an eight-yard gain.
“Was about 6-foot-0, 215-pounds, ran a 4.8 40 downhill with the wind but he was tough and he was competitive and he was a willing runner,” Rodriguez said.
The point is that while some people associate speedy options like Pat White or Rasheed Marshall as the only type of options that can have success in this offense, there are plenty of options.
“We’ll feature your other things but the fact that you’re willing and they know he still has the ability to keep it, we’ll do that,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez has also developed more variety in the run game and at the quarterback position, as defenses have adjusted over the years.
In the current West Virginia quarterback room, Rodriguez inherited redshirt junior Nicco Marchiol and redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins, while freshman Scotty Fox joined the team in January. The Mountaineers also added a pair of transfer quarterbacks in Jayden Henderson from Texas A&M and Max Brown from Charlotte, both of whom have experience at the FBS level.
And the program might not be done there either yet.
“Might add a couple more too. I have to find two or three that can play,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said that he likes the competition at the position and the way that they rep the position in practice is that the Mountaineers will give their first and second teams the same amount of reps and the threes will get around half of that.
Rodriguez believes that all of the quarterbacks currently on the roster have the ability to run the football and all of them are at least as fast as some of the options that have run offense in the past.
The goal is to try to come out of spring with two, potentially three quarterbacks that Rodriguez feels comfortable with, given the position's importance.
“Just the little bit I’ve seen we have enough talent to find three that we can win with,” he said.
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