Last season, WVU failed to have a single player rush for over 100 yards in a game – they have had three such performances in two games in 2020.
In the season opening win over Eastern Kentucky, Leddie Brown and Alec Sinkfield each ran for 123 yards and two scores. Yesterday against Oklahoma State, Sinkfield would be held in check, but Brown would once again be dominant in the running game.
After finishing with his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game – 26 carries for 104 yards – it is clear who the leader of the Mountaineer offense is. In just a year’s time after fielding what was the worst rushing offense in school history, WVU has life from the running back position.
If the Mountaineers want to find any life at all in Big 12 play, the offense has to run through Leddie Brown. He runs hard, he runs angry, and he appears to have finally arrived. Brown has proven to be a hard man to bring down, and consistently breaks runs to the second level. The key to offensive success is to feed him on early downs.
Neal Brown came to the Mountaineers with an air raid background, but moving forward he may have to take the air out of the ball. When you have a player like Leddie in the backfield who has the potential that he does, you have to change your mindset altogether.
Mimicking the 2015 Mountaineer team may be WVU’s best bet in 2020. The found success through their own “number four” in the backfield in Wendell Smallwood, and rode him all the way to an 8-5 record and a bowl win. Leddie Brown has the same ability that Smallwood had to take over a ball game, and wear down a defense. Allowing him to carry the team from here on out is the Mountaineers’ best shot at bowl eligibility this season.
JUST FEED LEDDIE
