WVU's Ramblin Man
October 30, 2011 09:55 PM | General
Shawne Alston proved Saturday that there is always value in having a big, powerful running back at your disposal whenever you need to move forward in difficult playing conditions.
Alston ran for a career-high 110 yards and scored two key touchdowns in West Virginia’s 41-31 come-from-behind victory at Rutgers, becoming a big factor on a slick surface by making several important runs, including a 52-yard touchdown jaunt in the first quarter – the longest run by a Mountaineer running back this season.
“The weather can’t really determine how you run,” Alston explained. “You’ve just got to come out and play good football regardless of the weather.
“It was a slick surface, but at the same time you had to make one cut and go,” he said. “As long as you made one cut and go it wasn’t too bad.”
“Shawne Alston came in there and did a great job,” added West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. “He played really well; I probably should have given him the ball a lot more.”
Alston, from Hampton, Va., said the cold weather really didn’t bother the players that much when they were out on the field.
“When you get into the game and into the flow of things those things don’t even matter,” he said. “You don’t even feel the coldness; you’re just trying to make your reads and make plays for the team.”
What Alston gives West Virginia is a 220-pound ball carrier who can run between the tackles. While freshmen Dustin Garrison, Andrew Buie and Vernard Roberts are smaller, shiftier backs who can break off long runs and provide versatility in the passing game, Alston is a guy who can carry the ball multiple times and get tough yards. He is averaging an impressive 5.7 yards per carry and has become West Virginia’s most effective red zone runner, Alston now matching Garrison for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with five.
Two of Alston’s second-half runs loomed large in West Virginia’s comeback win – his five-yard jaunt on third and one at the Rutgers 24 leading to Stedman Bailey’s 19-yard touchdown catch to pull WVU to within a field goal, and then his 11-yard carry on first and 10 at the WVU 11 that helped get the Mountaineers out of a deep hole. Eventually, West Virginia was able to score the go-ahead TD on Geno Smith’s 1-yard scramble.
Yet it was Alston’s 52-yard first-quarter rumble down the near sideline that everyone in the locker room was talking about afterward. Some of the players were wondering if he was ever going to get into the end zone.
“All of my teammates joke with me that I’m not fast enough to break off a big run,” he laughed.
Alston said the touchdown run was set up by quarterback Geno Smith’s call at the line of scrimmage.
“Geno checked into an outside zone play because he saw blitz coming from the backside and (Matt) Lindamood had a good block and Stedman Bailey also had a good block and I just ran for daylight,” Alston said.
For the most part, Alston said the Rutgers’ defense showed West Virginia exactly what the offense had prepared for all week.
“We expected them to play a lot of cover two and blitz and they did both,” said Alston. “Geno did a great job of getting into good plays when they did blitz.”
After Saturday’s performance, Alston can now be counted on as another reliable option to go to when the Mountaineers need to attack the middle of defenses. It took Alston a while to get to this point after battling neck issues all spring and the beginning of fall camp, but his 247 yards rushing are now second-most on the team behind Garrison’s 517.
Alston, who also made the key block on Tavon Austin’s 80-yard touchdown run, says it was a matter of working hard and getting healthy enough to get back out onto the field to gain the trust of the coaching staff.
“It was definitely hard not being able to play during the spring and some of fall camp,” he said. “I just kept working hard and continued going to treatment and working with the training staff and battling to get back.
“We have a lot of good backs in the backfield with Dustin and Andrew Buie; Vernard is also a good back. I think I bring a different dimension in that I’m a little bit bigger, but at the same time, all of them are good backs though.”
Alston says there was never a moment of doubt on the sidelines during Saturday’s game, even in the third quarter when the Mountaineers were trailing by 10 points and needed to get the football back.
“We always had confidence that we were going to come back and win the game,” he said. “At halftime (defensive back) Brantwon Bowser talked to us a lot. He stepped up. He’s a senior leader on the team and he talked to us and when we got back out on the field we just felt like, OK, defense get us the ball back and then the offense just had to handle business.
“The defense did a great job of stepping up and giving the offense the ball multiple times in the second half, and we were able to capitalize on the possessions that we were able to get,” he said.
More importantly, West Virginia proved that it could overcome some adversity while playing in extremely difficult conditions.
“When you face adversity and overcome it it’s always a good thing,” Alston explained. “It brings everybody together and you know if you are back in that moment again you can always know you can overcome it again because you did it in the past.”
Alston ran for a career-high 110 yards and scored two key touchdowns in West Virginia’s 41-31 come-from-behind victory at Rutgers, becoming a big factor on a slick surface by making several important runs, including a 52-yard touchdown jaunt in the first quarter – the longest run by a Mountaineer running back this season.
“The weather can’t really determine how you run,” Alston explained. “You’ve just got to come out and play good football regardless of the weather.
“It was a slick surface, but at the same time you had to make one cut and go,” he said. “As long as you made one cut and go it wasn’t too bad.”
“Shawne Alston came in there and did a great job,” added West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. “He played really well; I probably should have given him the ball a lot more.”
Alston, from Hampton, Va., said the cold weather really didn’t bother the players that much when they were out on the field.
“When you get into the game and into the flow of things those things don’t even matter,” he said. “You don’t even feel the coldness; you’re just trying to make your reads and make plays for the team.”
What Alston gives West Virginia is a 220-pound ball carrier who can run between the tackles. While freshmen Dustin Garrison, Andrew Buie and Vernard Roberts are smaller, shiftier backs who can break off long runs and provide versatility in the passing game, Alston is a guy who can carry the ball multiple times and get tough yards. He is averaging an impressive 5.7 yards per carry and has become West Virginia’s most effective red zone runner, Alston now matching Garrison for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with five.
Two of Alston’s second-half runs loomed large in West Virginia’s comeback win – his five-yard jaunt on third and one at the Rutgers 24 leading to Stedman Bailey’s 19-yard touchdown catch to pull WVU to within a field goal, and then his 11-yard carry on first and 10 at the WVU 11 that helped get the Mountaineers out of a deep hole. Eventually, West Virginia was able to score the go-ahead TD on Geno Smith’s 1-yard scramble.
Yet it was Alston’s 52-yard first-quarter rumble down the near sideline that everyone in the locker room was talking about afterward. Some of the players were wondering if he was ever going to get into the end zone.
“All of my teammates joke with me that I’m not fast enough to break off a big run,” he laughed.
Alston said the touchdown run was set up by quarterback Geno Smith’s call at the line of scrimmage.
“Geno checked into an outside zone play because he saw blitz coming from the backside and (Matt) Lindamood had a good block and Stedman Bailey also had a good block and I just ran for daylight,” Alston said.
For the most part, Alston said the Rutgers’ defense showed West Virginia exactly what the offense had prepared for all week.
“We expected them to play a lot of cover two and blitz and they did both,” said Alston. “Geno did a great job of getting into good plays when they did blitz.”
After Saturday’s performance, Alston can now be counted on as another reliable option to go to when the Mountaineers need to attack the middle of defenses. It took Alston a while to get to this point after battling neck issues all spring and the beginning of fall camp, but his 247 yards rushing are now second-most on the team behind Garrison’s 517.
Alston, who also made the key block on Tavon Austin’s 80-yard touchdown run, says it was a matter of working hard and getting healthy enough to get back out onto the field to gain the trust of the coaching staff.
“It was definitely hard not being able to play during the spring and some of fall camp,” he said. “I just kept working hard and continued going to treatment and working with the training staff and battling to get back.
“We have a lot of good backs in the backfield with Dustin and Andrew Buie; Vernard is also a good back. I think I bring a different dimension in that I’m a little bit bigger, but at the same time, all of them are good backs though.”
Alston says there was never a moment of doubt on the sidelines during Saturday’s game, even in the third quarter when the Mountaineers were trailing by 10 points and needed to get the football back.
“We always had confidence that we were going to come back and win the game,” he said. “At halftime (defensive back) Brantwon Bowser talked to us a lot. He stepped up. He’s a senior leader on the team and he talked to us and when we got back out on the field we just felt like, OK, defense get us the ball back and then the offense just had to handle business.
“The defense did a great job of stepping up and giving the offense the ball multiple times in the second half, and we were able to capitalize on the possessions that we were able to get,” he said.
More importantly, West Virginia proved that it could overcome some adversity while playing in extremely difficult conditions.
“When you face adversity and overcome it it’s always a good thing,” Alston explained. “It brings everybody together and you know if you are back in that moment again you can always know you can overcome it again because you did it in the past.”
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