West Virginia has played their way to a 7-4 record with one week left in the regular season. The seven wins are the most in any season under coach Neal Brown and they still have an opportunity to add on to it.
A big part of the success this season has been the rushing game. The Mountaineers have rushed for 232.9 yards per game this season.
That figure is the most for West Virginia under Neal Brown as well as the most in any of Neal Brown’s seasons as a head coach dating back to his time at Troy. Brown’s previous best was 173.8 in his final season at Troy in 2018 with his previous best at West Virginia being 171.5 in 2022.
The number is the second most in the Big 12 Conference behind only UCF, second in the Power Five to only UCF, and is fifth in the entire FBS.
West Virginia also has a Pro Football Focus team rushing grade of a 92.9. That number leads the Big 12 Conference, is fourth in the Power Five, and is the highest in any season under Neal Brown.
The 232.9 rushing yards per game are the most for the Mountaineers since 2007, when they rushed for 297.2 yards per game. That was when they had a dual threat at quarterback with Pat White.
The Mountaineers currently have a quarterback who is also a dual threat in Garrett Greene. He took over as the regular starter late in the 2022 season and the team has had at least 146 rushing yards in every game since then.
“It’s been kind of a 180,” Neal Brown said. “This is what’s best for this team. History has proven, too, that the most effective way to win is with a dual-threat quarterback. The game has changed, too. There are some changes in the game that have pushed us to this point, too. If you ask me ten years ago if we were going to be fourth in the country in rushing, I didn’t have the vision for that.
West Virginia offensive coordinator Chad Scott talked about how the rushing offense has been successful and how they want to continue to be able to recruit these types of players in the future.
“We’re at the point right now where we’re playing the way we anticipated coming into the season, playing with having the multiple options, being able to split the defense, utilize a quarterback in the run game and zone reads and find different ways to get the balls in the hands of players that can make plays in space,” Chad Scott said. “We’re gonna continue to recruit those kind of players that can be electric with the ball in their hand and also have a mobile quarterback that can extend plays and make things happen beyond what’s called.”
West Virginia closes out the regular season with a road trip to Baylor. Baylor ranks 116th in the FBS in run defense at 179 rushing yards allowed per game.
Per Pro Football Focus, Baylor has team grades of 65.0 and 58.4 for run defense and tackling respectively on the season, both of which rank in the bottom 10 in the Power Five.
However, Baylor is coming off their best performance of the season against the run. They received a season-best 81.9 grade in run defense in the 42-17 loss to TCU, where they allowed a season-low 100 rushing yards.
West Virginia has a 1-4 all-time record on the road against Baylor and only once have the Mountaineers topped 120 rushing yards in a game there, which came in a 62-38 loss in 2015 with 182 rushing yards.
Kickoff for Saturday’s game is set for 7 p.m. EST on FS1.
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