After reviewing the film of each game on the schedule, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown always asks himself the same question.

“If I played this game tomorrow what would I do?”

One of the resounding answers to that question against Baylor would be to get the ball in junior running back Alec Sinkfield’s hands more often. Now it’s understandably hard not to give the ball to junior Leddie Brown given the way he’s playing at the position, but Sinkfield is impressing in his own right.

Sinkfield only carried the ball six times but finished with 53 yards rushing including the longest tote of the day for the Mountaineers of 25 yards. He also added 19 more yards on a trio of receptions but has only continued his strong play from the off-season where he consistently earned the praise of Brown.

“Sink is a guy that’s had a really productive camp and he’s been a considerably different player over the last six weeks compared to what he was last year. I think he’s playing with more confidence, he’s added some bulk, he’s been more decisive in the run game,” Brown said.

It’s part of a transformation that began in the off-season when he asked running backs coach Chad Scott for a detailed list of things where he needed to improve his game to get on the field. Namely being better in space and finishing runs, while maintaining contact balance.

Sinkfield has accounted for 187 yards rushing over three games serving as the primary backup to Leddie Brown, but 51 of that has come after contact. That’s more than he had at any point last season (27) and almost surpassing his career total of 75 yards. That aspect is key because it was his biggest issue at times earlier in his career when he struggled to generate yardage after being hit.

“That’s a really good observation because he has,” Brown said when asked about those improvements.

Brown has been pleased with his contact balance as well as winning in space, forcing four missed tackles already when he only had forced five over the first two years of his career. Sinkfield is averaging 6.7 yards per carry and 6.4 yards per reception on 32 combined touches out of the backfield this season.

It’s only a three-game sample size, but it’s where Brown and the coaches wanted to see him take his game forward.

Now, the head coach is excited to see what he can do on punt return if the unit is going to give him the opportunity to get started and make some people miss.

Still, while Brown has rightfully drawn a lot of the attention in the backfield, Sinkfield is playing his way into a very effective piece to the puzzle for what the Mountaineers have there.

“His contact balance and ability to win one-on-ones in space. Those are the biggest differences for him,” Brown said.

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