West Virginia running back CJ Donaldson, who scored 11 touchdowns this season, will not play in the Mayo Bowl against North Carolina due to injury, causing the Mountaineers to rely on other backs.
WVU head coach Neal Brown decided that Donaldson wouldn’t play so he could have extra time to achieve a full recovery.
“CJ (Donaldson) will miss the game and that’s really my decision,” Brown said.
Ever since his freshman year last season, Donaldson has played a huge role in West Virginia’s ground game after originally being recruited as a tight end. He rushed for 526 yards on 87 attempts, averaging six yards a carry with eight touchdowns in 2022 before suffering a season-ending leg injury against TCU in late October.
RB Justin Johnson Jr. who had 38 rushing attempts for West Virginia this year, announced he would be entering the transfer portal on Dec. 10. Last year, he rushed for 430 yards and three touchdowns.
Leaving WVU to rely on the probable RB duo of Jaylen Anderson and freshman All-American Jahiem White with quarterback Garrett Greene also being a threat.
This season, White rushed for 792 yards on just 97 carries, averaging 8.2 yards per carry. He had five all-purpose touchdowns
Anderson rushed for 129 yards on 41 carries with one touchdown. He rushed for 275 yards and two touchdowns on 35 carries in 2022.
In the Mountaineers’ last game against Baylor on Nov. 25, White rushed for 133 yards on 17 attempts while Donaldson took just five carries for 23 yards.
Greene would rush for 103 yards that game on 14 attempts, scoring two rushing touchdowns.
With Donaldson out, Greene may be called upon to take it himself when WVU is in the red zone.
North Carolina is ranked No. 95 in the nation in total defense among FBS teams, allowing an average of 405.4 yards a game.
With West Virginia rushing for over 2,800 yards and 31 touchdowns this season, they shouldn’t shy away from running the ball against the Tar Heels, but will need to find a balance early.
Expect White to take most of the snaps as he has shown to be a threat in both the passing and rushing game, while Anderson gets into the mix and possibly utilized as a third-down back.
