To say the WVU running game was horrendous in 2019 would be an understatement. The Mountaineers finished ranked 128th out 130 FBS teams statistically on the ground. It was often hard to watch. What many thought was a rushing attack that would take time to fix — at least well into the 2020 season — was seemingly fixed one game in.
WVU totaled 329 rushing yards on Saturday and totaled 5 touchdowns on the ground. A solid day at the office for any college team, but a monumental achievement for the Mountaineers under Head Coach Neal Brown.
Last season, West Virginia only totaled 879 rushing yards and 7 rushing touchdowns for the entire season. To put into perspective what Leddie Brown and the running backs were able to achieve Saturday, WVU has 37% of the rushing yards they had last season and 71% of the touchdowns. All of this in only one game as compared to 12.
Yes, it may be just Eastern Kentucky. And yes, WVU’s talent may well exceed the Colonels’, but this is a great start in improving the running game nonetheless. When asked if the ground attack would be improved for WVU this season, Neal Brown responded “it better be.” This may be a knee-jerk reaction, but it appears as if it is.
WVU will have get a chance to further showcase their improvements again September 26th at Oklahoma State. A game-time and broadcast channel has yet to be revealed.
