Pair of talented running backs in place for WVU
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MORGANTOWN -- The setup couldn't be better for West Virginia's offense this year.
There is an experienced offensive line, a proven dual threat quarterback in his final season and sitting on a breakout season, a tall, tough, talented tight end, a diverse group of receivers all seeming to peak together … and a pair of running backs as the engine that drives it all in Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson.
Donaldson emerged as a freshman two years ago before being injured, then midway through last season White became a sensation in his true freshman season.
Sports history is rife with sensational duos … Army's Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis, Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside; the New York Yankees Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, then Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris; the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale; the Lakers' Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, and, of course, West Virginia's Pat White and Steve Slaton.
But there is a depth to the relationship between White and Donaldson that is different than the others, for their roots run deeply into their childhoods.
Donaldson, a year ahead of White, calls his running back sidekick "little brother" and it is part of how their relationship has been acted out at WVU and just as much in part because they were childhood compadres.
The roster lists White as being from York, Pa., which is where he went to high school but as fate would have had it, he and Donaldson spent their primary school years in the same neighborhood in Miami, Fla.
"Me and Jahiem grew up in the same neighborhood, so when he came in here I took him under my wing," Donaldson said during a Monday interview session.
Donaldson had exploded out of nowhere on the scene as a true freshman in 2021. He had begun his career at WVU in the tight end room, being more receiver than runner, but there was something telling the coaches that in his 6-2, 220-pound frame there was a power running back more than a tight end.
His Mountaineer debut was quite similar to WVU running back great Amos Zereoue, whose 1996 debut was also against Pitt in a Backyard Brawl. Zereoue's first carry in his career went 69 yards for a touchdown. He would finish that first game against the Panthers with 135 yards on 12 carries.
Donaldson's first carry went for 44 yards against Pitt and he finished his day with 125 yards on 7 carries.
Donaldson rushed for 100 or more yards in four of his first seven games before suffering a broken leg against TCU to end his first season.
White's debut was sort of that in reverse. While Donaldson exploded on the scene, White was eased in as he became accustomed to college football, not playing against Penn State and Pitt, although he was turned loose in the rout of Duquesne and gained 112 yards rushing, giving a peek into his talent.
But it wasn't until the season's last six games that he was used extensively and what a show he put on, gaining 657 of his 842 yards for the freshman season in those games, including 204 against Oklahoma State and catching a game-winning touchdown against Baylor.
All the while, through the tough early days and after he emerged as a go-to back, Donaldson was there to guide him through the pitfalls of his freshman year so that he could emerge as the fourth-highest-graded true freshman running back PFF's grading service ever rated, being given an 89.1.
That was behind Myles Gaston of Washington in 2015 (91.2), Kansas' Pooka Williams Jr. in 2018 (90.1) and Wisconsin's Jonathon Taylor (2017) 89.2.
While they were not on the same team in those youth leagues in which they played until White and his family moved north to Pennsylvania, they built a relationship and would, occasionally over the years, make contact.
"Now he's emerged to like where we're basically co-partners in this running back room," Donaldson said. The relationship with each other, it's so special. We are always laughing, we are always playing. You always see us smiling with each other. He brings the energy when I don't have it and when he doesn't have it, I bring the energy to him."
Donaldson has a reason to be smiling as he's healthy again after breaking a leg and then spending much of last year playing through various problems, putting together a season in which he gained 798 yards on 171 tries and 11 touchdowns.
Combined the two rushed for 1,640 yards which has everyone looking forward to what comes this year as they finally put it all together, so to speak.
Donaldson is there to offer advice to White on how to handle the second season in the limelight.
"You've definitely got to grow each year and not be stuck in the freshman mindset going into that sophomore year," Donaldson said. "That sophomore year, you're basically a junior. You've got to grow. You know you're a big part of the offense. I definitely try to keep him level-headed and keep him focused on the main goal and not get so distracted by the outsiders."
And the biggest understanding they have is that they are there for each other rather than competing against each other.
"We're stronger together than divided," Donaldson said. "I tell him that people will try to separate us. 'He's the 1 and I'm the 2,' or 'I'm the 1 and he's the 2,' but we're stronger together. Speed and power."