MORGANTOWN — Rich Rodriguez was standing on West Virginia’s sideline with his offense nearing the end zone. Rodriguez usually has his face in his play sheet, and the only time he comes up is when a play is about to be run.
WVU was on Colorado’s 7-yard line. Rodriguez called in the play and looked up, but he felt someone breathing on his neck. He looked behind him, and there was pass rusher Curtis Jones Jr.
“We’ll get you in there at some point,” Rodriguez said to Jones.
After Houston, Rodriguez talked on his radio show about the potential of using Jones at running back in short-yardage situations. Jones was a successful running back in high school and is a lot bigger than Diore Hubbard and Cyncir Bowers. Hubbard is 190 pounds, and Bowers is 191. Jones is 226 pounds and 6-foot-4.
Ever since Tye Edwards went down, WVU missed that power back.
“All the guys are little guys,” Rodriguez said. “The only bigger guy we had left, Tyler Jacklich, got hurt in Wednesday’s practice. We had no backs that weighed more than 180 pounds.”
After WVU was stopped three times, on fourth-and-2, Rodriguez looked to Jones and put him in. Scotty Fox Jr. handed the ball off to Jones, who went off right tackle and muscled his way for the touchdown. It went to a review, but he was in, and WVU was up 9-0.
“I felt my elbow touch the ground before my knee did,” Jones said. “I was pretty confident I was in to be honest. I was excited about that.”
Later in the fourth quarter, WVU was just outside the 10-yard line again. After two rushes, WVU didn’t pick up much and was at the 7-yard line. It was third-and-3, and there was Jones, standing behind Rodriguez. Rodriguez turned and subbed the big man in.
On Jones’ first rush, he was stopped, but on his second, he went for five yards for his second touchdown of the game. It was the go-ahead score for the Mountaineers to be up 29-19.
“It was a surreal moment,” Jones said. “I was speechless. It was just a great feeling, especially having all my teammates, especially the O-line. They blocked their butts off and just to hear the crowd in the background. It was a surreal feeling.”
Jones spent most of the season with coach Jeff Casteel and the bandits, so he didn’t spend much time with the running backs. He’d just been working the short yardage situations with the offense for the last few weeks.
Jones had played running back since he was five, which is when he started football. But it had been a while since he took a handoff.
“It’s not a foreign concept to me, running back, but it is different,” Jones said. “I had to shake the dust off a little bit in practice, but I wouldn’t say it was difficult to get back adjusted to it.”
Jones said all the running backs, even Jahiem White, who’s not playing, have given him pointers during practice. Running backs coach Larry Porter also helped a lot.
Hubbard was happy Jones found the end zone.
“Curtis is my dog,” Hubbard said. “That was great.”
Jones enjoyed getting into the end zone on two of his three carries on the day, and if he’s needed, Jones isn’t opposed to continuing to take handoffs.
With all the injuries at running back, and Jones’ success, Rodriguez will definitely keep using Jones when he needs a yard or two.
“He can be a weapon,” Rodriguez said. “He was obviously a really good high school running back, but our running back health situation is kind of crazy, too.”
