MORGANTOWN — Without looking, could you name Texas Tech’s starting running back?
Tahj Brooks, the Red Raiders’ senior tailback, is the fifth-leading rusher in the Big 12 and averages 7.2 yards per carry and yet seems to completely fly under the radar. WVU head coach Neal Brown, who is game-planning to try and stop Brooks this Saturday, has no idea why that is.
“He’s probably the best player in our league that nobody talks about,” Brown said Monday. “I think he’s right up there at the top of our league for running backs.”
Although Texas Tech (1-2) has gotten off to a slow start this season, Brooks has not. He ran for 71 yards on just seven carries against Oregon two weeks ago and had 158 yards on 19 totes last week, giving him 268 so far this year.
“I think he’s one of our best players right now and we’re running the football well,” TTU coach Joey McGuire said. “I definitely think you’ve got to continue that. He’s hot, he’s healthy, he feels great and he’s got a lot of confidence.”
If Brown and the Mountaineers (2-1) are to continue their promising start to the year, they’ll have to find a way to slow down Brooks, who Brown believes can do it all.
“Nobody talks about their running back, but he’s going to be an NFL player and he’s going to be in the league for a long time,” Brown said. “He can pass protect, he can run inside or outside, he’s really good.”
Brown has good reason to think so highly of Brooks as he saw it first-hand last season. Brooks ran 17 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns in Texas Tech’s 48-10 win.
The Red Raiders are still firmly a pass-first team in McGuire’s second season — they lead the Big 12 with 118 pass attempts — but getting Brooks his touches has become a focus of their offensive attack.
“We’ve got to keep getting Tahj going,” McGuire said. “Whenever he has those carries that are his 11th, 12th to 19th, 20th carries in the game, then all of a sudden you’re going to see a lot of production in the run game.
“He’s one of our best players right now. You’re going to see the run game and hopefully, you’re going to see it even more.”
Brooks’s volume of carries combined with Texas Tech’s up-tempo offense can easily start to wear down opposing defenses.
“They play really fast and we better be ready for it,” Brown said. “That’s something we didn’t handle very well last year and it’s something we spent a lot of time working on.”
The Mountaineers are sporting one of the best run defenses in the conference so far this year, allowing just 93 yards per game and 2.8 yards per carry. That’s despite facing two more-than-capable running backs in Penn State’s Nicholas Singleton and Pitt’s Rodney Hammond.
“We’ve played the who’s who of running backs over the last handful of years,” Brown said, referring to former Big 12 standouts Breece Hall (Iowa State) and Bijan Robinson (Texas). “We’ve played elite running backs and so our guys are going to be ready.”
Kickoff from Mountaineer Field is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
