For the last two years, the West Virginia Mountaineers saw surprise performances from freshman running backs. In 2022, converted tight end CJ Donaldson managed 526 yards in just seven games. Last season, Jahiem White averaged nearly eight yards per carry and finished with nearly 850 yards on the ground. Despite those performances, WVU’s running back room draws little attention in season previews. History, West Virginia thrives off of perceived slights, so we the Mountaineers backfield ready to erupt heading into the 2024 season.
Mountaineers Backfield Ready to Erupt
Unfortunately, Donaldson dealt with injuries through both of the last two seasons. Last year, those injuries kept him out of only one game, but they limited his explosiveness. In his freshman season, Donaldson averaged six yards a carry. Last season, the number took a dive, and he finished with under five a carry. Make no mistake, Donaldson still managed a productive season. Totaling just shy of 800 yards and 11 touchdowns in his true sophomore campaign while pushing through wear and tear is no small feat. That said, the feeling in Morgantown is that Donaldson has yet to reach his peak. Donaldson looks healthy early in Fall camp, and that should scare opposing defenses.
Donaldson’s impressive four-game stretch to begin his career still looms large. Before leaving the Texas game early due to injury, Donaldson had 56 carries, 389 yards, and six touchdowns. That freshman breakout looms large enough that backfield mate White remains an overlooked contributor despite earning various Freshman All-American nods last season. Perhaps the Mountaineers’ three-headed monster out of the backfield offers the reason. After all, Garrett Greene dialed his own number 120 times last season. The question remains then: does West Virginia have enough carries to go around?
Splitting the Load
In the 2023 season, the Mountaineers rushed the ball 552 times. They threw just 331 passes. That means West Virginia ran the ball nearly 63% of the time. Many of those runs come out of called read-pass option plays, and both Head Coach Neal Brown and Greene admit that Greene pulled the ball and ran more than he should have. Greene’s legs keep opposing defenses guessing, but the punishment has consequences. In theory, this should leave more room for Donaldson and White to carry the ball and erupt with their lightning and thunder approach. We expect at least one of the two backs to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards, which would be the first such performance since Leddie Brown in 2021. The pair could even form the first 1,000-yard duo in Morgantown since Pat White and Steve Slaton in 2007.
Beyond White and Donaldson, the Mountaineers still have plenty of talent in the running back room, too. Behind the pair sits junior Jaylen Anderson. Indeed, Anderson came to Morgantown in the 2021 class with Justin Johnson as a pair of vaunted four-star recruits. Johnson has since transferred, and Anderson has not strung together enough success to take the lead. Early camp returns, however, show Anderson taking a more mature approach to training and development. The effort shows up in team drills early in camp. Like the depth in the quarterback room, improvement by Anderson may do little more than offer the Mountaineers another luxury. If one of their top two goes down, Anderson can step in and shoulder part of the load. That does not mean, of course, that Anderson won’t try to carve out a bigger role.
Freshman Duo
Finally, given the surprises that Donaldson and White offered each of the past two seasons, we have learned that we cannot simply overlook the true freshman backs on the roster. West Virginia added two such players in their 2024 recruiting class. Diore Hubbard and Trayvon Dunbar both joined the class, and they give Head Coach Neal Brown an abundance of riches. Hubbard and Dunbar both proved plenty elusive in their respective high school careers. Both show skill in catching balls from the backfield. Both showed enough awareness in pass protection when asked to block. Dunbar put up a 3,000-yard season in high school last season (just the second such season in South Carolina history). Could one or both of these backs emerge as a third or fourth option? The health of the veterans may dictate that answer, but recent history tells us not to overlook this pair when considering a Mountaineers backfield ready to erupt in 2024.
