Running back depth lacking as Buie, Garrison depart

Surrounded by Baylor defenders, Andrew Buie leveraged the pile for a first down in West Virginia’s upset win last season.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After injuries and situational packages necessitated West Virginia utilizing five running backs throughout 2014, such depth won’t be available next season.

Coach Dana Holgorsen announced Monday that Andrew Buie has left the team, a move that deprives WVU of another senior running back in the wake of Dustin Garrison opting to transfer.

West Virginia returns last season’s leading rushers—juniors Rushel Shell and Wendell Smallwood—but the team’s No. 3 rusher, Dreamius Smith (451 yards five touchdowns last season), exhausted his eligibility and is expected to land in an NFL camp this summer.

The Mountaineers, after failing to sign a running back in February, will count on the emergence of former four-star recruit Donte Thomas-Williams, who redshirted during 2014. Coaches will use spring practice to convert fullback Eli Wellman into the ballcarrier mix.

“As long as you stay healthy you’re in great shape, but that’s a very physical position,” Holgorsen said.

“We’ll make it work,” added running backs JaJuan Seider. “You’ve got four guys there, so you just knock on wood that everybody stays healthy.”

Garrison was WVU’s top rusher in 2011 before knee injuries set back his career. He carried only 20 times for 92 yards last season, though his two third-down conversions were pivotal to the game-winning drive at Maryland.

Buie, the leading rusher in 2012, went home to Jacksonville for the fall semester of 2013. He returned last year and ran 55 times for 232 yards and two scores. In the 41-27 upset of then-No. 4 Baylor, Buie ran for a touchdown and caught four passes for 63 yards.

Unlike Garrison, who was upfront about seeking a school where he can find more playing time, Buie hasn’t made his intentions clear.

“I thought Dustin, for the most part, handled it well,” Seider said. “I understand that if you want to go play, you’ve got to do what’s best for you. If you do it the right way, we’ll help. That kid hasn’t done anything wrong for us not to reach out and help.

“With Buie, we don’t know what Buie’s doing. The only thing he’s told us is he’s finishing school. I think he probably made up his own mind about what he’s going to do, which we don’t know.”

Seider reiterated Holgorsen’s assertion that both running backs would have been welcomed back next season, even though the Mountaineers are counting on attrition to meet the 85-scholarship limit.

“We wanted both of those guys back—we didn’t try to run those guys out the program,” Seider said. “We didn’t try to get rid of those guys at all.”

West Virginia addressed positional needs by adding graduate transfers the past two summers. This time, however, Holgorsen doesn’t foresee an impact running back who’s willing to fall in line behind Shell and Smallwood.

“We’re not going to be able to manufacture a Charles Sims,” Holgorsen said. “We had a need for that (two years ago), but now we’ve got returning starters. We’re losing a couple of guys with eligibility and I think there’s a reason for that.”

Other departures: Cornerback Keishawn Richardson, who signed with WVU out of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M junior college in 2014, has left the program, Holgorsen said.

The coach also said fullback Garrett Hope will concentrate solely on baseball. After Hope hit a grand slam in Saturday’s win at East Tennessee State, Holgorsen said, “I think his future in that sport is pretty cool.”

Injuries: Cornerback Daryl Worley and backup safety Jarrod Harper will miss spring practice while rehabbing from shoulder surgeries.

Bradley sendoff: While wishing Tom Bradley success as the defensive coordinator at UCLA, Holgorsen revealed the veteran assistant would have been asked to take on a larger special-teams role had he stayed in Morgantown.

Bradley’s replacement as defensive line coach, newly hired assistant Bruce Tall, inherits a unit that was the weakest link on an improved defense.

“It was probably the biggest area we felt we needed to address,” Holgorsen said. “The D-line, they’ve got to get it together a little bit better than they did a year ago.”





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