WVU taking advantage of what they get on offense

Sometimes moving the ball on offense is as simple as taking advantage of where the numbers are. Offensive football is a continuous balancing act using one thing to set up another and attacking where the numbers are, or aren't in the case of the defense.

West Virginia did just that for the second straight week against Youngstown State but this was in an entirely different way than the opener.

While Missouri elected to play the Mountaineers with two-high safeties daring the offense to run the ball into their front seven, Youngstown State choose to cheat their safeties up in the run game leaving holes in the back end.

That was necessary due to the fact that while redshirt senior running back Rushel Shell wasn’t consistently ripping off 20-yard runs, he was consistently getting five to six on his carries. Without that those plays down the field wouldn’t be available down the field and is a case of offense 101.

“They were playing a 4-1 box and getting those runs are as good because the safeties roll down and play in the box and that’s when you let the speedsters run,” Shell said.

Sure, it was frustrating at first for the run game but West Virginia stuck to the game plan. The Mountaineers continued to run the football and started popping off bigger plays in that department.

“Definitely my reads started getting better and I started seeing a lot more holes. That’s how the game goes sometimes you have to be patient,” Shell said.

That led to receptions of 45, 53, 54 and 57 yards down the field as the Mountaineers took advantage of Youngstown State bringing down the extra support in the box and allowing the wide receivers to get an inside release and use their speed down the field to split the two defenders.

“It was double-coverage but the safeties were down. We knew Shelton could get behind those guys. We worked hard on that and we got exactly what we thought,” head coach Dana Holgorsen said.

It didn’t start that way.

For much of the first quarter, the Mountaineers struggled to generate a push up front and that kept the Penguins safeties back. While the offense did move the football, the first two drives of the game stalled as West Virginia couldn’t sustain a drive.

“We were getting dominated up front and those safeties stayed back because they can. You have to be efficient in the run game,” senior quarterback Skyler Howard said.

But the Mountaineers kept to the game plan and kept running the football. Chunks of five, six, two and four started to take its toll and brought the Penguins closer to the line of scrimmage. Then it became a numbers game in favor of the vertical pass and Howard was on point with his accuracy down the field.

“Our play action was good and they got a clean release on the inside,” Holgorsen said.

It was only 84 yards rushing for Shell, but yards that altered the course of the game in other areas that gave the stagnant West Virginia offense the spark it needed down the field.

“That’s when we went over the top. We knew that was going to happen,” junior wide receiver Ka’Raun White said.