MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Tailback Leddie Brown has played his final game in a West Virginia uniform.
The sixth leading rusher in West Virginia history announced on his Instagram page Thursday he is opting out of the Mountaineers’ matchup with Minnesota in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on December 28 to focus on preparing for a lifelong dream of playing professional football.
Following West Virginia’s 34-28 victory at Kansas in the regular season finale, Brown seemed to indicate he may have played his last game as a Mountaineer and said he hadn’t given much thought about suiting up in a bowl game at that time.
Brown played in each of WVU’s 12 regular season games and rushed for 1,065 yards and 13 touchdowns on 223 carries.
The Philadelphia native eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in each of his last two college seasons and finishes his career with 2,888 rushing yards, good for sixth on WVU’s all-time list between Steve Slaton and Artie Owens.
Owens and each of the Mountaineers’ five all-time leading rushers are members of the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.
Brown also caught 36 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown this season, giving him 86 receptions for 604 yards and five TDs in his career.
A focal point of the WVU offense, Brown had four games with multiple touchdowns, five with more than 100 rushing yards and seven with more than 100 scrimmage yards as a senior.
It is expected Tony Mathis Jr. will assume the role of the Mountaineers No. 1 tailback in their matchup with Minnesota. Mathis rushed for a career-high 118 yards against the Jayhawks.
The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Mathis has 256 rushing yards on 59 attempts this season.
His role expanded over the last half of the regular season, starting with WVU’s 29-17 win at TCU following an open week. Over the Mountaineers’ last six games, Mathis, who was hampered by an injury early in the season, amassed 231 rushing yards on 50 carries.