MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Looking through the rushing statistics for Iowa State, most would wince at seeing a 6-foot-3, 215-pound quarterback as the team’s leading rusher.
This is coming off the heels of running back David Montgomery combining for 2,362 yards and 24 touchdowns combined the last two seasons. Montgomery of the epitome of a workhorse in the backfield for the Cyclones, but through five games this year, they don’t even have a running back with 200 yards.
But don’t be fooled — ISU’s Brock Purdy’s ability to run the ball is what coach Matt Campbell wants to continue to see from his offense, even if it’s at the expense of production from his running backs.
“When they overload in the running game, [Purdy]’s got the ability to take some heat off the running game because he can run the ball,” Campbell said. “The more ways you force defenses to defend the entire field and defend multiple things, the more you’re going to be successful. Being able to do that still with a base foundation of what you do well is the key to success. Having the ability to have some mobility at quarterback allows you to force defenses to be sound, to be disciplined and to have gap integrity. Brock has given us that at times.”
Purdy is coming off a 100-yard rushing performance last week against TCU and he did it on just 11 carries. Chunk plays happen when opposing defenses bite, and Purdy’s ability to fake on the zone-read is what makes him such a weapon.
He’s averaging 6.4 yards per carry with 251 total yards and five touchdowns.
“He’s got the ability to hand it off or he’s got the ability to pull it and run with the football,” Campbell said. “It gives you a totally different dynamic. I think we saw that last year at Oklahoma State when Brock went in. He changed the identity of the offense a little bit.”
Along with Purdy’s ability to run, defenses also have to worry about him dropping back to pass — he’s completing 70% of his passes and has a 10-2 touchdown to interception ratio.
Recently, defenses keying in on Purdy helped the backfield find wiggle room in the running game. Johnnie Lang, the leading rusher at running back for the Cyclones, had 72 yards against TCU, the most by any Iowa State running back this season.
“They’re looking for him to run, probably looking for a pass and not worried about other guys,” Lang said. “He takes a lot of pressure off every one of us by doing what he does best.”
West Virginia is in the middle of a stretch where it will face arguably the best three quarterbacks in the Big 12 in Texas’ Sam Ehlinger, Purdy and Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts. All are big and physical, and WVU coach Neal Brown is well aware of what Purdy can not only do with his arm, but also his legs.
“They do a good job when they decide to use the quarterback in the run game, they put you in situations where you have to tackle one-on-one and a lot of those situations are safeties, maybe even a corner in some instances,” Brown said. “We have to be able to tackle and get him down in one-on-one situations. He’s got a really strong lower-body and he’s fast. He’s broken a lot of tackles this year, so that’s a credit to him and it’s something our guys have to be aware of.”
