The game of football isn’t a complicated one. Much more often than not the team that wins the line of scrimmage and can run the football will win the game.

Coming into the meeting with Missouri it was billed as a battle of strength on strength with the Tigers deep defensive front against the Mountaineers veteran offensive line. In reality, it was more of a one-sided affair with the West Virginia front controlling the game from start to finish.

West Virginia rushed for a total of 241 yards, an average of five yards per carry, as the Tigers opted to present a high-safety look to avoid plays down the field in the air.

The approach was a feeling of our front is better than yours, but the Mountaineers didn’t get the memo.

Never was that more apparent than on the opening drive of the first half when the West Virginia offensive front blew the Missouri front off the ball creating a hole for a one-yard touchdown plunge on third and goal to put the Mountaineers ahead 20-3.

“I thought we did a good job of running the football at them,” head coach Dana Holgorsen said.

That started up front with the offensive line, but the running backs also played a critical role breaking tackles and playing within the offensive scheme. Running backs coach JaJuan Seider used the off-season as motivation because the unit wasn’t being looked at as it was last season after losing Wendell Smallwood and the tactic paid off in the season opener.

“I thought we imposed our will as far as running the ball and setting the tone,” he said.

Redshirt senior Rushel Shell took the initial carries with the offense and ran hard with purpose and precision even almost pushing his offensive lineman Tony Matteo out of the way on his 23-yard touchdown scamper on a delayed draw. He finished the game with 90 yards and a score.

It was a throwback to the Shell that set the tone for the West Virginia run game two years ago against Alabama with a physical brand of football before an injury against Baylor derailed his season.

“He’s back to being Rus. When he’s focused and not worrying about trying to please this person and just take care of Rus he’s as good as anybody out there,” Seider said.

Now the goal of Seider is making sure he maintains that over the course of the season.

Junior Justin Crawford made his debut for the Mountaineers and ran hard finishing with 101 yards and a touchdown. The talk of fall camp, Crawford lived up to the hype showcasing his ability between the tackles as well as in the open field when given the opportunity.

“He didn’t get out of the framework. I thought he did a good job running behind his pads,” Seider said.

It’s a competitive relationship that fuels both players as each look to out-perform the other. A healthy relationship that only makes the duo better when they see the field.

The duo played so well that Kennedy McKoy did not record a carry, something that was not in the game plan coming into the matchup as the Mountaineers wanted to take advantage of a two-back look with the versatile true freshman.

However, due to the physical demand that the Mountaineers put on the position the North Carolina native must remain prepared.

“He understands where he’s at and his number is going to come,” he said.

Now one game doesn’t make a season, but Seider will sleep well after the performance of his unit much like he did throughout the course of fall camp when discussing the group.

“Our guys thrive on that chip and before the season ends they’re going to talk about this running back room again,” Seider said.

Well coach, they already are.