Cam Cook hurts former team TCU in WVU football’s second Big 12 win of season
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Running back Cam Cook was brought to the podium this week for West Virginia football's weekly media. Like quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., Cook usually does media just after games, but this week, he did media because this was a special week for him. This was the first time Cook returned to TCU since transferring.
Cook was immediately asked if this game had extra motivation because he was clearly unhappy with his two years with the Horned Frogs, transferring down to Jacksonville State. But Cook shrugged it off and said it was "just another game."
Cook played like he had extra juice Saturday afternoon down in Fort Worth in the 24-20 win, breaking tackles and going for five yards per carry. He denied playing with a chip on his shoulder.
"It means a lot," Cook said after the game. "I was able to go out there and play, like I said a lot of my teammates that I played with before are playing now. Being able to play my same game, nothing changed. I went out there and just played how I normally play. That was what we needed. It felt really good."
The Horned Frogs are one of the better defensive teams in the country, and have a strong defensive line to stop the run. Cook and the WVU run game couldn't get the wheels turning early.
Cook finally had a signature run to show the rest of the team that it was possible to run against his front. Cook took a broken run play, cut back, ran full speed into a defender, shaking him off, and then broke another tackle for a 31-yard gain. The run helped lead Hawkins to a two-yard rushing touchdown. He had three carries over 10 yards.
"It's up there," Cook said on where that ranked among the best runs in his career. "I'll just say it's up there. I did like that run a lot."
Cook had 90 yards on the ground against his former team, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but it was on one of the best defensive fronts in the Big 12.
But Cook didn't just make an impact on the ground. He's slowly starting to become a dangerous receiving threat out of the backfield, after he caught his first touchdown the week before against Cincinnati.
After a couple more rushes from Cook, WVU had the ball deep into TCU territory to start the fourth quarter. Hawkins dropped back to pass, and out of the backfield, he saw Cook have a step on his man. Cook made the 13-yard touchdown grab through contact, giving the Mountaineers a 24-20 lead in the fourth. It was Cook's second career receiving touchdown, and first score of the day.
"I think we schemed it up really well," Cook said. "We had been running a play similar to that the whole game, so I went out there like I was going to block him, and I just happened to open up free. Mike gave me a great ball right there to get the touchdown."
Cook has three catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns in the past two games.
Cook's performance was quite ironic because the Horned Frogs could've really used him. TCU hasn't been able to run the ball all season and was without top running back Jeremy Payne Saturday, who was ruled out the day of the game.
Against a bad WVU defense, TCU couldn't really get anything going with sophomore running back Jon Denman. Denman led the rushing attack with 15 carries for 58 yards. The Horned Frogs had 112 yards on the ground and averaged just 3.2 yards per carry. Quarterback Jaden Craig had a bunch of those yards, having to carry the ball extra without an RB1.
The Horned Frogs haven’t had a successful rushing attack in quite some time. Usually, head coach Sonny Dykes relies on his quarterback; for the past few years, it was Josh Hoover, but with Craig, he doesn’t have the arm talent to beat teams.
Cook happened to be one of the difference-makers in WVU's second straight win and second win in the Big 12. Cook gets much-needed rest as the Mountaineers head into their bye week after eight straight games.
"Cam's a warrior," Rich Rodriguez said. "They love the guy. He's one of the best running backs in the country in my opinion."