Last season’s WVU football team was powered by three high flyers in the Air Raid offense. All three of those players are now gone and head coach Dana Holgorsen is tasked with replacing the biggest chunk of his offense from a year ago. He’ll most likely turn to transfer quarterback Clint Trickett and newcomer JUCO receiver Kevin White for some offensive fire power, but Holgorsen should take a longer look at a position other than quarterback and receiver. There are four guys that could carry this team to glory in 2013, and those are the running backs.
WVU has two returning backs in Andrew Buie and Dustin Garrison. To that, Holgorsen has added two more solid backs, JUCO transfer Dreamius Smith and freshman Wendell Smallwood.
After a slow start to his career, Buie bounced back and ran for over 850 yards last season. During his freshman year, Buie seemed hesitant when hitting the hole. He seemed to take the hand-off and dance around a bit before actually hitting the hole. This ultimately led to the defense reading the play a lot quicker and therefore stopping most plays short. Last season, Buie ran hard. He used his quick feet to solidify his cuts and then lowered his shoulder and took on contact at the end of runs. With the one two punch of Buie and Alston, WVU had a solid underrated rushing attack. Buie averaged 4.8 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns last season.
Garrison, on the other hand, essentially took last season off with injuries. He was limited until the end of the season, but finished with just under 250 yards and two touchdowns on the year. His freshman year, Garrison showed signs of promise, including a breakout performance in the the freezing rain against Bowling Green. Garrison ran for 291 yards, average 4.9 yards per carry on the day, while scoring twice. If Garrison can return to his freshman season, and improve on his injuries, he could add a great dynamic to this attack.
And then there’s the new guys.
Dreamius Smith is projected to be a spectacle, and possibly the starting running back in the fall. Smith, the #2 rated JUCO back, provides a mixture of speed and power. He’s 5″11′, 220 pounds and he’s solid. He looked right up to speed at the spring game, as he racked up 39 yards on seven carries. Look out for this guy.
Smallwood is a true freshman that Holgorsen didn’t have extremely high hopes for right off the bat, but that quickly changed after the spring game. After the game, Holgorsen said that Smallwood “exceeded all expectations”. He’ll likely be a change of pace back who can come in at any time and mix things up.
With these four in the backfield, the Mountaineers should get back to their old ground and pound days. If the team can find the right balance between pass and run, this offense will be deadly. Mark my words.
