West Virginia led all power four football teams in rushing in 2023.
The Mountaineers were at 228.9 yards per contest, pacing ahead of all but three teams total nationally.
The offense relied on a pair of talented running backs in Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson to go along with the dual-threat abilities of quarterback Garrett Greene to create opportunities on the ground.
The presence of Greene helped to keep defenses honest with his ability to run the football.
It’s a shift that West Virginia purposefully made in the past few seasons as the coaching staff realized the need for a dual-threat quarterback and how to take advantage of the speed on the roster. It took an investment across the board to tailor the offense to the personnel, but the results were there in 2023.
The focus is spreading the field and getting playmakers in one-on-one situations in order to allow them the opportunity to impact the game and have success.
“I think the other thing people are doing now is what I refer to as splitting the defense. You’ll have some kind of pass, screen option or a wrong way run going on direction and your base concept run going the other,” head coach Neal Brown said. “Those are some things people are doing.”
The Big 12 is a league that is won at the line of scrimmage and the Mountaineers have invested in that idea on the offensive side of the ball. The program returns the bulk of production on the offensive line and all but 150 yards from the rushing attack a season ago.
White led the team with 842 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns, while Donaldson wasn’t far behind with 798 rushing yards and a team high 11-scores. The two worked as a pair at times although White didn’t see his role truly increase until late October while Donaldson missed the bowl game due to getting surgery.
Brown believes there are plenty of room for both as he compares the number of carries to the tread on a tire and the focus is not to wear them out.
Not to mention, West Virginia will have a third running back involved and will use wide receivers such as Rodney Gallagher in the run game.
The West Virginia offense continues to evolve, but Brown is comfortable with its direction.
“Offensive football is about getting your playmakers the ball so what’s the best way to get them the ball?” Brown said.
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