West Virginia coaches not panicking over run game’s poor week

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After entering the Texas Tech game averaging 214 yards rushing, West Virginia netted only 44. Coaches hope it’s a one-game malaise.

“We’ve run the ball against good football teams already, so we’re not concerned,” said offensive line coach Joe Wickline.

In a 46-35 victory, the Mountaineers averaged 1.5 yards per carry overall. Even accounting for lost yardage on four sacks, the average improved to only 3.5.

Texas Tech’s defense had held only one previous opponent below 100 yards rushing — that was FCS member Eastern Washington’s 82 in the season opener.

“At the end of the day we won this game,” said West Virginia running backs coach Tony Dews. “So I really don’t care if we throw for 500 yards or we run for 500 yards, at the end of the day we won.”

After snapping his string of five 100-yard games, Justin Crawford slipped to second in Big 12 rushing at 101.5 yards per game, behind Oklahoma State’s Justice Hill (105.5). Crawford finished with 47 yards on 14 carries, though he delivered a 5-yard touchdown in the first half and added a 19-yard run in the fourth quarter to open a scoring drive.

“We need to run the ball better,” head coach Dana Holgorsen said. “You’ve got to have the mentality that we’re going to run the ball, which I didn’t see last week.

“We do have the Big 12’s leading rusher or close to it, and we’ve done some good things. I’m just talking about a mentality that needs to exist.”

No. 23 West Virginia (4-2, 2-1) faces Baylor (0-6, 0-3) at 8 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.

Shuler finally gets sack

Defensive end Adam Shuler had waited five games, and much of a sixth, before recording his first sack of the season Saturday. He finally took down Texas Tech’s Nic Shimonek on a third-and-7 midway through the fourth quarter.

“I was chasing him a lot the whole game,” Shuler said. “I figured I needed to get one after chasing him so many times.”

Expected to be West Virginia’s top pass rusher as a sophomore, Shuler finally cracked the sack column on a three-man rush. That became a trend in the second half against Texas Tech as defensive coordinator Tony Gibson ceased blitzing and settle for eight-man drops.

“I think we just wanted to win,” Shuler said. “We didn’t quit playing, so it was one of the first games where we actually continued to fight all the way through.”

Safeties shuffling

Corey Winfield has shifted from cornerback and is working as the backup Bandit safety behind Toyous Avery. A graduate transfer from Syracuse where he played in a zone-heavy scheme, Winfield’s struggles in man coverage

“Corey’s done some really good things in practice the past three weeks,” safeties coach Matt Caponi said.

JoVanni Stewart, who filled in for injured Spur safety Kyzir White during the second half at Kansas on Sept. 23, has moved back to free safety, where he’s the second-teamer behind Dravon Askew-Henry.

Marvin Gross, playing through shoulder pain, is the backup at Spur.

“Obviously we’d like to play them, but game situations the past few weeks haven’t allowed it,” Caponi said.

Smith 1-7 as starting QB

Baylor quarterback Zach Smith’s only win in eight starts came against Boise State during last season’s Cactus Bowl. He earned some respect, however, during last December’s 24-21 loss at WVU.

“The No. 1 thing that stands out about him is he’s tough,” Gibson said. “That kid gets hit a lot — he got hit a lot in our game a year ago — and he’ll stand in the pocket. He’s not a guy who’s moving and trying to throw off his back foot. He’ll step into his throws and take a hit.”

His highlight game this season came against then-No. 3 Oklahoma on Sept. 23. Smith scorched the Sooners for four touchdowns and 463 yards, rallying Baylor from an 18-point deficit in what became a 49-41 loss.

“That kid single-handedly, I thought, brought them back by movie the ball against Oklahoma,” Gibson said. “He made some big, big throws.”





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