COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When the season began Wendell Smallwood wasn’t the favorite to lead his own team in rushing, much less the Big 12 conference.
Yet internally, he carried designs on becoming West Virginia’s best player, designs he initiated into action last winter, designs he has incrementally shared as his premiere status became evident this season.
“I wanted to lead this offense,” he said after beating back Texas 38-20 on Saturday. “Knowing that we lost Kevin (White) and Mario (Alford), I wanted the guys to be able to depend on me.”
Such dependence was obvious during Smallwood’s 165-yard output against the Longhorns, the latest career high in a dazzling stretch of downhill running. After six 100-plus performances in the past seven games, he’s at 1,119 overall—on pace for the third-most prolific rushing season in Mountaineers history and in chasing distance of Steve Slaton’s school-record 1,744 yards in 2006.
Coincidentally Smallwood’s production has somehow ramped up since sustaining an ankle injury during Week 4 at Oklahoma, earning him praise as not only the team’s most dynamic player but also its toughest.
“He has matured into that guy,” said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen, who can only brag so long before his sarcastic side prods Smallwood for producing just two touchdowns during the past six games.
“I don’t think there’s a whole lot he can’t do—other than score,” Holgorsen cracked. “Never gets in the damn end zone. Y’all should ask him about that.”
Indeed, two more Smallwood bursts ended inside the Texas 1-yard line. Yet even when fullback Elijah Wellman ran in to poach a short-yardage touchdown, Smallwood said he “was pretty pumped” to see the blocking back get a chance to convert.
“I had got it to the 1, and Eli came in there calling me out, so I was like ‘Let’s go, let’s get in,’” Smallwood said. “I need to find the end zone more, but it’s not that frustrating to me because the team winning means most to me.”
In lieu of six points he’ll settle for six yards per carry, or 6.9 to be exact, as was the case against Texas, on a personal-high 24 carries. Some wonder why Smallwood, in the midst of such potent performances, isn’t carrying the ball more. (Yours truly still contends Smallwood should have gotten a shot in that lost overtime against Oklahoma State. But I’ll concede this to the coaches: Smallwood was in full-wheez late Saturday when he spent his last ounce of vigor lead-blocking for Skyler Howard’s clinching touchdown.)
“You can’t give it to No. 4 every snap,” Holgorsen said. “It’s a long season. If you say he’s our guy and let’s give it to him 30 times a game, he ain’t going to last.”
Averaging 124.3 yards per game, Smallwood sits second in Big 12 rushing, just 3 yards behind Baylor’s Shock Linwood. That order could flip this week when West Virginia faces a Kansas rush defense ranked 121st out of 127 FBS teams.
Most effective gashing opponents on inside zone runs, Smallwood said: “I notice defenses trying to cheat up against me. They think they know what we’re running and I’ll go the other way. I’m getting to those defensive guys. I know the defenses always want to take part of my game away, but that means they’ll also give me something, so I try to take advantage of that.”
Nationally, he’s 14th in overall rushing—and 11th at 6.7 yards per carry, ahead of runners like Ezekiel Elliott, Derrick Henry and Samaje Perine. That stacks up as elite company even if Smallwood isn’t stacking up touchdowns.
“I think he’s allergic to the end zone,” joked running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider. “But if this the best he can get, I’ll take it, because it’s pretty damn good. The kid’s running his butt off right now.”