MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In all likelihood, Iowa State’s Breece Hall and West Virginia’s Leddie Brown will finish this season as the top two running backs in the Big 12 Conference. Hall has toted the ball 200 times for 1,260 yards and 16 scores, leading the conference in all of those categories.
“What we have seen up until this point is a young man that has played with tremendous passion,” said Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. “He has played really close to what his full potential is. As good as he has played, there is still a lot of growth to occur in there.”
Brown has surpassed the rushing output of the entire Mountaineer roster last season, racking up 897 yards and 9 scores.
“Leddie has done a great job of learning to run the ball with purpose. He knows how to manipulate defenses now,” said WVU offensive coordinator Gerad Parker.
“Then there is the next challenge in it of Leddie becoming a vocal leader and continuing to grow his practice habits to where he takes the next step.”
As a sophomore, Hall has admirably stepped into the starting running back spot held by David Montgomery, who was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 2019 draft. Hall checks in at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds while Brown is 5-foot-11 and 214 pounds. Similarities in stature aren’t their only comparisons.
“Both of them have unique ability to break tackles. Breece Hall is going on year number two of this type of production. That’s our hope for Leddie. He is definitely on his way there in year number one,” said WVU head coach Neal Brown.
“They both are north-south runners. They both catch the ball well out of the backfield, in the screen game or with called routes or on check downs. Both of them, it you look at PFF (Pro Football Focus) or anything like that, they are among the top in the country as far as breaking tackles.”
“We are both physical backs,” said Leddie Brown. “We both run with a purpose. Those are some of the similarities I see in us.”
West Virginia’s offensive renaissance in Neal Brown’s second season has come, in large measure, due to the improvements Leddie Brown has made. Brown averaged 3.4 yards per carry in 2019 and found the end zone only once behind an offensive line that struggled throughout the year.
“I wanted to speak it into existence. So I kept telling myself I am going to have a big year over and over again in my head,” Leddie Brown said.
Brown is also West Virginia’s third-leading receiver with 27 catches out of the backfield.
“Knowing where the defenders are for when you turn around. You have to make a play, just knowing where those guys are,” Leddie Brown said.
“It has a lot to do with my off hand swiping the defenders off me. But it also has to do with leg drive and knee drive. I have pretty strong legs and a pretty strong knee drive. So that plays a factor in it too.”
While Neal Brown acknowledged that a double-bye necessitated by the postponement of the Oklahoma game was less than ideal, the extra rest could benefit Leddie. He has averaged 24 touches a game in West Virginia’s 8 games, by far the highest workload on the Mountaineer roster.
“The break is probably better for Leddie than anybody just because he is going to be at full tilt heading into this contest on Saturday,” said WVU head coach Neal Brown.
“I am feeling back to myself. I think I am a hundred percent. I know I am a hundred percent,” said Leddie Brown.
“Some games more than others but most of the time there is a little soreness. It is not really like a painful soreness, it is aching and bruises and stuff.”