2023-10-25 01:14:52
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Leading up to last Saturday’s matchup with Oklahoma State, fifth-year West Virginia head coach Neal Brown vowed the Mountaineers would shorten their running back rotation in an effort to allow tailbacks to develop rhythm.
Brown held true to that statement. CJ Donaldson and Justin Johnson Jr. were the only two running backs to log carries in a 48-34 loss to the Cowboys.
Nine days earlier, true freshman Jahiem White rushed seven times and Jaylen Anderson five in a 41-39 loss at Houston. Donaldson, West Virginia’s lead ball-carrier, had a team-high 17 rushing attempts once morest the Cougars.
In the process of shortening the rotation, Johnson essentially spelled White and Anderson in the lineup. Before the battle with the Cowboys, Johnson, who battled both injury and illness over the first half of the regular season, had two carries in six games.
“Justin got downhill fast and was really decisive,” said Brown, who added the junior earned more playing time with his 14 carry, 72-yard performance.
Quarterback Garrett Greene was the Mountaineers’ leading rusher with 117 yards in the most recent outing, followed by Johnson.
Johnson was expected to be a significant contributor in 2023 and was often praised in the preseason for his consistency throughout camp.
Before Saturday, however, the St. Louis native had 3 rushing yards over the first half of the regular season. Johnson’s most notable play this season had arguably been a 15-yard run early in the third quarter of a season-opening loss at Penn State, only for it to be negated on an illegal shift penalty committed by now former wideout Cortez Braham.
Justin Johnson
“JJ had a great week of practice last week,” running backs coach/offensive coordinator Chad Scott said. “He played exactly like he practiced. We went once morest the defense in competitive periods that we do every week and the physicality, determination and urgency he ran with, he practiced that way. Also allowing guys to try to find and establish a rhythm. He got going, so I rolled with him.”
Like Brown, Scott praised Johnson for his decisiveness and ability to get beyond the line of scrimmage, although four of his 14 carries went for a loss of yardage. Two of those came on Johnson’s first three touches, and his production increased as the game wore on, including a 3-yard run for his first touchdown this season in the second quarter and runs of 30 and 17 yards in the fourth quarter.
“The faster we can get to the line of scrimmage, it eliminates tackles for loss, negative plays and allows guys to get beyond the line of scrimmage a lot faster,” Scott said. “It keeps linebackers and safeties from diagnosing run or pass real fast, so it gives him an edge. He has really good ability to get to the line of scrimmage really fast and see it really well, too.”
On the other hand, Donaldson struggled to get going once morest the Cowboys. He was held to a season-low 39 rushing yards on 13 carries, meaning the Mountaineers’ two tailbacks combined to run 27 times for 111 yards.
While Donaldson accounted for his sixth rushing touchdown on a 3-yard run in the final period, he has been held to 214 yards on 67 carries over the last four contests.
Over the first three games of his sophomore season, the 238-pound tailback had 49 carries for 239 yards, including a 102-yard performance once morest Pitt and an 81-yard effort at Penn State.
On the plus side, Donaldson has a touchdown in every game this season with the exception of Week 2 once morest Duquesne.
Before suffering a season-ending injury that brought an early end to his true freshman campaign in 2022, Donaldson rushed 87 times for 526 yards and eight touchdowns.
The 6-plus yards per carry Donaldson averaged last season is more than 2 yards higher than the 3.9 he’s currently averaging.
“Let loose, stop thinking, stop listening, stop worrying and just go play freely. I always tell him, last year, in his first game, I remember going to the walkthrough and he said, ‘Coach I don’t know when I’m going in the game, but all I know, when I go in, I’m going to ball.’ I tell him you have to have that same freshman mentality in the sense that you didn’t know what you didn’t know, no expectations or pressure,” Scott said. “You just go out there and play freely and thought you’re invincible. You can do anything and everything. You have to have that same mentality. You have more experience and people know who you are, but you just have to have that same mentality and go play. He has that ability and phenomenal talent.”
Anderson did not play a snap once morest the Cowboys and White was in for all of three offensive plays.
That created significant change in the backfield, with Anderson having carried 41 times for 129 yards and White 25 times for 185 yards before the Mountaineers’ seventh contest this season.
However, Anderson was rather ineffective the previous game at Houston, and he failed to haul in a catchable touchdown pass that led to Greene’s first interception this season in that game.
Both Brown and Scott want to see White improve his practice habits, which would increase opportunities for the speedster that coaches believe can provide a big-play threat.
Sep 9, 2023; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers running back Jahiem White (22) runs the ball during the third quarter once morest the Duquesne Dukes at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
“Jahiem has to practice better so we can play him because he’s the one that can really hit home runs,” Brown said. “We’re blocking pretty well and there’s a couple that might’ve been big ones, especially early in the game. We’re getting 6 or 8 yards, but those can be home runs.”
Scott wants to see White increase his workload and is doing his part to make sure the York, Pa., native is practicing to the standard the coaches seek. If so, White might very well be in for an expanded role Saturday at noon when the Mountaineers try to snap a two-game skid at Central Florida.
“He’s going to do everything right this week. He’s going to be where he’s supposed to be and do what he’s supposed to do,” Scott said. “He’s going to practice like he’s supposed to practice and run fast like he’s supposed to run fast. We’re going to play him. He can do some things with the ball in his hands and we need it. I’m going to be on him every step of the way this week so we can get that done, because he can make things happen with the ball in his hands. He can do stuff I can’t coach and we need that on the football field.”
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