WVU football featuring talented running back room in more 2-back sets
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia football had one preseason practice open to the media. On a rainy day, the practice was moved indoors, so it was hard to grasp the full scope of the team, confined to the small facility.
Like most media viewings, Rich Rodriguez doesn't show much. It's usually special teams, ball security and individual drills. But he showed a couple of offensive plays, and one of them featured a two-back set.
Two months since that viewing, the two-back set finally appeared and was utilized quite a bit against Arizona. Running back Cam Cook was at quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr.'s one side, and true freshman back Amari Latimer was on the other.
Hawkins snapped the ball and handed it off to Cook, and Latimer went off as a lead blocker. Latimer is a true freshman, but one of the bigger running backs in the room at 230 pounds, according to his bio.
"We played more two-running-back sets than we played all year," Rodriguez said. "That’s simply just from a standpoint that is one of our most talented rooms."
Unlike last season, the Mountaineers are pretty deep at running back. Cook is the featured back, as last season's leading rusher. He is third in the country in rushing and leads the nation in rush attempts. Then, there's Latimer, who was a former 4-star and has a lot of potential. Behind those two, WVU has freshman Lawrence Autry and Chris Talley, and JUCO transfer Martavious Boswell. The Mountaineers also added transfer Darius Morant and recently picked up Utah transfer NaQuari Rogers.
The room was banged up a little to start the season, but now they are healthy, allowing for more backs to play.
"We’re healthy this year at the running back position, and we’ve got four or five that we think can help us win," Rodriguez said. "Last game, played a lot more two-back sets. We'll do that going forward because that’s a pretty good room right there."
The two-back set allows for an extra blocker on the field, along with creating confusion because there are three options where the ball can be run. Hawkins can hand it off to Cook, to the other back, or Hawkins can keep it and run it himself.
One of the backs has to be on the bigger side to take on the defender in the gap. They can't be afraid to get dirty and lay down a big block.
"Like Amari and Lawrence Autry, NaQuari, those guys are all 220-225 pounds," Rodriguez said. "They’re almost as big as tight ends are... They’re all willing blockers. It’s like sometimes you get a running back and like he won’t stick his face in the fan, so to speak; I mean all of our guys are. Coach Jay (Boulware) does a good job with them, but they are pretty good blockers, and they’re pretty good blockers in space."
Latimer has mostly been the bigger back in the two-back sets. Over the course of the season, Latimer's seen his usage increase. He had a season-high 13 carries against Arizona, and gained 55 yards on those attempts. Latimer even scored his second touchdown of the season.
Latimer's a little different than Cook. He's bigger and more of a downhill runner, but still has the speed as a bigger back. Rodriguez really likes his ability to block at such a young age.
"Amari’s a big physical guy," Rodriguez said. "One of the things that you normally don’t see in a true freshman is how aggressive they are blocking in the open field. He’s fantastic at it. He’s really good. He’s just a really good football player. For a true freshman, to do what he’s doing is pretty neat. He’s going to he’s going to do a lot of neat stuff for us going forward."
Now that the room is healthy and getting more comfortable in the offense, the two-back set could be a regular formation for the rest of the season.
It could be the staple for the next couple of years, too. Most of the running back room, barring a transfer, will be back for the 2026 season. The deepest room should only get better next year.
"Other than NaQuari, he’s just got one year, and we’re getting him trying to get him ready to play; we’ve got that whole room coming back," Rodriguez said. "It’s pretty exciting.”