MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia and Cincinnati aspire to run the ball often.
If one team can prevent the other from having consistent success on the ground, it will provide a major advantage when the Mountaineers and Bearcats battle at noon Saturday inside Milan Puskar Stadium in a matchup airing on TNT/TruTV/HBO MAX.
WVU (3-3, 0-3) has yet to win in Big 12 play despite averaging north of 309 yards per game on the ground.
The Mountaineers are surrendering an average of 46 points and 556 yards in league play — marks that are last in the conference by 10 points and 67 yards, respectively.
“There’s a thought on why a lot of stuff hasn’t happened defensively,” WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “Why’d we fit wrong here? Why’d we not guard this guy here? I don’t want to say it’s been shocking, but it’s been shocking. Like I told the guys, let’s learn from it so it’s not lingering every week.”
Rodriguez has, in essence, offered a similar sentiment following each of the last three games, but there’s been no sign of progress from a defense that’s struggled to disrupt opposing quarterbacks and too often hasn’t been able limit the opposition on the ground.
For the season, WVU ranks 136th among 138 FBS teams allowing 297 passing yards per game, and the run defense hasn’t fared much better, yielding an average of almost 164 yards on the ground on better than 4.5 yards per carry.
“It’s as frustrated as I’ve probably ever been trying to get a unit I know can play a whole lot better and needs to play a whole lot better,” Rodriguez said. “Get those guys going. That’s our challenge this week.”
On the flip side, only Air Force is rushing more often than West Virginia’s 57.5 attempts per contest. The Falcons, Army, Texas State and Navy are the only FBS teams running for more yards on average than the Mountaineers’ 295.5.
Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. is the nation’s leading rusher at his position with 672 yards on 117 carries. Hawkins is tied for the FBS lead with 12 rushing touchdowns. Tailback Cam Cook leads the country with 153 rushing attempts and 25.5 per game and is fourth in yardage with 793 to go with seven scores.
“They’re going to run the football a lot,” UC head coach Scott Satterfield said. “Cam Cook is a great running back. He led the nation last year in rushing at Jacksonville State and he’s one of the top backs in the country this year. They keep coming after you. This quarterback, we saw him when he was at Oklahoma. He can really run. He’s very athletic and fits their offense perfectly.
“They don’t throw the ball a lot. When they do, they’re going to try to connect on some things down the field, which they’ve been able to hit some big plays on a lot of teams. But it’s what I think coach [Rodriguez] wants for that offense.”
The threat Hawkins provides and the speed and elusiveness he possesses have helped elevate West Virginia’s rushing attack.
“This guy [Hawkins] can make you miss and also has the speed,” Satterfield said. “They’re not scared to run him. He’ll get 20 carries and the same thing with Cook. You have to get a lot of hats near the ball and tackle well playing a team like this, which is hard to do, because these guys are good. We have to be very physical and very aggressive on defense.”
For the most part, the Bearcats (4-1, 1-1) had been successful defending the run until they were trounced in their most recent matchup two weeks ago at Arizona, 34-7. In that game, the Wildcats rushed for 238 yards on 5.8 per carry.
But Cincinnati has had time to clean up what wrong and should be well-rested after being off last week.
The Bearcats are trying to avoid struggles as the season progresses, a trend that has been problematic throughout Satterfield’s tenure. In 2023, UC was 2-1 and finished 3-9. The next year, a 5-2 start was spoiled by five consecutive losses to end the year, while the 2025 team also lost its last five games to finish 7-6.
Offensively, Cincinnati isn’t quite as run-dominant as the Mountaineers, but has gone to the ground 194 times and passed 131.
Much of how the Bearcats choose to operate is based on their offensive line, a unit that’s as much of a strength as any position group on the team. Left tackle Evan Tengesdahl, left guard Joe Cotton and center Taran Tyo are returning starters, while right guard Xavier Lozowicki and right tackle Judea Milon help anchor the unit.
Tailback Gi’Bran Payne, a Notre Dame transfer, has team-high totals of 62 carries and 392 yards, while running back Cole Tabb has 330 rushing yards on 9.7 yards per carry and a team-best six touchdowns.
Quarterback JC French IV is in his first season with the Bearcats after transferring from Georgia Southern and is also a threat to run. French has 193 yards and five rushing TDs on 50 carries. French has been efficient through the air, completing 86-of-123 passes for 949 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. UC is one of six FBS teams and the only one in the Big 12 that has not thrown an interception this season.
French was held to 153 passing yards at Arizona and the Bearcats were scoreless until late in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.
“He underperformed, and as an offense, we underperformed,” Satterfield said. “It’s not just JC, but he has a lot of pride. He wants to perform at a high level and hopefully this will be a great week for him to do that.”
West Virginia has had the upper hand in this series and is 18-3-1 all-time, including four consecutive wins against the Bearcats.
A loss, however, leaves the Mountaineers one more away from their second straight season of starting 0-5 within the Big 12.
“They have good running backs, they’re big up front, and the quarterback is athletic,” Rodriguez said. “We have to be able to stop the run first. He’ll throw it around. He [French] has some experience, too. Been impressed with them and they’re off an open date, so I’m sure they’re going to have a few things, some tricky stuff or whatever for our defense, so we have to get ready.”