MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The formula for success against 15^th-ranked Texas is simple – figure out some way to run the football against a stout Longhorn defense.
 
Of course, it sounds obvious, but nevertheless, it needs to be underlined, starred and put in boldface type.
 
"Defensively, (Texas is) a three-down front that can kick to a four-down front, a lot like Iowa State, a lot like Kansas and a lot like Texas Tech," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen explained. "They do the four layers of defense with that extra safety like (WVU defensive coordinator Tony Gibson) has done forever. How much they get that guy involved in the run game is what we're going to have to figure out."
 
The three teams that have had success this year moving the football against Texas – Maryland, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State – all managed to figure it out and run it to some degree.
 
Maryland toted the leather 46 times for 143 yards and was successful all four times it reached the red zone in a 34-29, season-opening victory over the Longhorns.
 
Oklahoma lost by three to Texas in a wild Red River shootout, but it wasn't because of its offense. The Sooners ran 31 times for 222 yards and were successful all five times they reached the red zone.
 
Oklahoma just couldn't slow down Texas enough to give its offense the one additional possession it needed to win the game. Consequently, the Sooners chose to change defensive coordinators soon afterward.
 
Oklahoma State jumped out to a big early lead last Saturday night by hitting some first-half runs against the Longhorns. The Cowboys finished the game rushing 51 times for 181 yards. That helped OSU quarterback Taylor Cornelius pass for 321 yards and four touchdowns. 
 
"They came out running it," offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said of the Cowboys after studying the Texas-Oklahoma State tape. "I thought that was the key in allowing them to have that much success because Texas takes great pride in not allowing you to have explosive plays in the run game. That was one of the few games when it happened."
 
Maryland, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State combined to rush for 546 yards, average 4.3 yards per carry and were successful 13 of 16 times in the red zone against the Longhorns.
 
Texas' other five opponents have run the ball for just 520 yards, an average of 3.3 yards per carry, resulting in only a 10-of-16 red zone success rate. 
 
The prior six West Virginia-Texas matchups have played out in similar fashion. The Mountaineers have won the games when they had some success running the football and lost when they weren't very successful running it.
 
In 2012, everyone remembers Geno Smith's four touchdown passes and Tavon Austin's open-field wizardry, but the game was ultimately decided between the tackles by tailback Andrew Buie, who ran 31 times for 207 yards and scored two touchdowns including the deciding score with 1:18 remaining.
 
Three years later, the Mountaineers ran 51 times for 257 yards in an impressive, 38-20 victory over the Longhorns. WVU's run-game success led to points on all four of its red-zone scoring opportunities.
 
A year later, WVU got a pair of rushing touchdowns from freshman Kennedy McKoy and just enough from its run game to keep Longhorn defenders off quarterback Skyler Howard in a 24-20 Mountaineer victory.
 
Those three victories saw West Virginia rush for 563 yards and average 4.3 yards per carry, as opposed to just 365 yards and a 3.1 yards-per-carry average in the Mountaineers' three defeats to the Longhorns.
 
This year, West Virginia's ground game remains a work in progress. The 12^th-ranked Mountaineers ran for a season-high 289 yards in a 52-17 victory over Youngstown State, had 177 in a 38-22 win over Kansas and 172 last Thursday night in a 58-14 win over Baylor.
 
However, 112 of those 172 yards against the Bears came on just two plays – a 79-yard Tevin Bush burst down the near sideline that ended at the Baylor 1-yard line and Martell Pettaway's 33-yard, second-quarter touchdown jaunt. 
 
The other 31 carries netted 60 yards.
 
West Virginia had some success running the football in the first half at Texas Tech, gaining 104 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns, which helped the Mountaineers to a 35-10 halftime lead. But in the second half they got virtually nothing on the ground, netting just 15 yards on 13 attempts, which allowed the Red Raiders to eventually to get back into the game.
 
Against Iowa State, we saw the game-long effects of not having an effective running game to supplement Will Grier's downfield passing. 
 
Despite the Cyclones giving the Mountaineers a favorable box in which to run, West Virginia managed just 52 yards on 27 attempts, and Iowa State sacked Grier a season-high seven times.
 
West Virginia produced just nine first downs and was limited to only 42 plays in its lowest offensive output in five years.
 
"That's football in general," Spavital reasoned. "If you can't run the ball, there are going to be a lot of headaches. When you run the ball efficiently it makes play calling and the flow of the offense so much easier and so much better."
 
Some of that got fixed during the ensuing 12 days leading into the Baylor game. Grier had much more time to pass the football and he responded by completing 17 of his 27 attempts for 353 yards and three touchdowns – all downfield throws to David Sills V (two) and Gary Jennings Jr. (one).
 
Sills V (139 yards) and Jennings Jr. (100 yards) had their best dual-receiving performances since the season opener against Tennessee when each topped 100 yards.
 
Spavital said those two guys are going to have to win some one-on-one battles against the Longhorns in Austin on Saturday.
 
West Virginia is also going to have to win some one-on-one battles up front to get just enough from its running game to keep Breckyn Hager, Chris Nelson, Charles Omenihu and Jeffery McCulloch from spending too much time in the Mountaineer backfield.
 
We've seen what Grier can do when he's got time to throw the football and get everyone involved in the offense. And we've also seen what can happen when he's dodging on-coming rushers and running for his life.
 
Getting something from McKoy, Pettaway, Bush, Leddie Brown, Alec Sinkfield and even Grier himself in the run game will help West Virginia's downfield passing.
 
Getting little to nothing from them will make things much tougher on Grier, for sure.
 
We know Texas is going to try and establish its run game by using its size advantage up front and running its 230-pound quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who is bigger than all but one of West Virginia's second-level defenders.
 
"They run him a lot," Holgorsen noted. "He's scored eight touchdowns with his feet, so they rely on that and they've built their offense around it."
 
For the Mountaineers to be successful on Saturday, they are going to have to come up with some sort of answer to Texas' power running game when they get the football.
 
The contest game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FOX (Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft). 
 
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins at noon with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show leading into regular game coverage a 2:30 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app TuneIn.
 
It will be West Virginia's fifth trip to Austin where the Mountaineers have won three out of four, including a pre-Big 12 meeting in 1956 when West Virginia was a member of the old Southern Conference.
 
Last year, Texas defeated West Virginia 28-14 in Morgantown when Grier was lost for the remainder of the season with a broken finger on his passing hand in the first quarter.
 
"This one is one we've been looking forward to for a while," Holgorsen admitted. "It didn't quite end the way we wanted it to last year, and we haven't forgotten about that."
 
Texas has won once against West Virginia in Austin and twice in Morgantown.
 
The winner of Saturday's game will remain in the hunt for the Big 12 Championship Game, to be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 1.
 
West Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas are locked in a three-way tie for first place in the league standings, with 3-2 Iowa State and Texas Tech one game behind in the loss column.
 
Oklahoma plays at Texas Tech while Iowa State is at Kansas this Saturday.

Wednesday Sound