If you think of a quarterback on a Rich Rodriguez-led West Virginia team from the early 2000s, most would think of quarterback Pat White. White was Rodriguez’s most successful quarterback, leading the Mountaineers to a 33-5 record as a starter under Rodriguez, and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2007.

White was a decent passer, but he was known more for his running ability. He rushed for 4,480 yards in four seasons with the Mountaineers and had his two best seasons under Rodriguez.

Part of White’s rushing success was his athleticism, but more was due to Rodriguez’s offensive scheme, which focused more on the quarterback run. Through all of his stops, Rodriguez’s quarterbacks rushed a lot, and it’ll be the same in his first season back in 2025.

However, Rodriguez said this year they’ll “probably” pass more than people think.

“We are putting a lot more pass plays in than run plays,” Rodriguez said.

That doesn’t mean the West Virginia quarterbacks aren’t going to run. Rodriguez clarified he’s still going to run his quarterbacks a lot, which was the case during WVU’s Gold and Blue Spring Showcase and in the limited time the media could watch at preseason practice. WVU showed a bunch of designed quarterback runs at the Aug. 8 practice, and it didn’t matter who was at quarterback.

Rodriguez thinks all five quarterbacks, that he’s repping, have the ability to run the ball the way his offense needs to.

“They don’t have to be Pat White fast to be a 1,000-yard rusher,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t have any slugs back there. We’re running them.”

Quarterback Nicco Marchiol, who many project as the favorite to be the starter, said he could be a 1,000-yard rusher if Rodriguez needed him to. Marchiol wasn’t the biggest runner in his limited playing time over three seasons, but Marchiol said he’s in the best running shape he’s ever been.

The more pass plays come down to the strengths of the quarterbacks. White’s strength was his athleticism, so the offense was built around letting him run wild. Rodriguez is still learning what his quarterbacks’ strengths are, but one of them is their arm strength.

“All five can really throw it,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve never had that many that could throw it that well, as far as arm strength goes and all that. There’s not really a past play that’s out there, or a route package that is out there that we’re like, well, we can’t do that because we don’t have the arm strength to make that throw.”

Rodriguez is also putting in more pass plays because the offensive line is still learning Rodriguez’s offense, so pass plays are a bit easier to learn to block.

The season is fastly approaching. Rodriguez said this is the last week of install and evaluation, and next week, WVU needs to start game preparation. Rodriguez is still figuring out what he has in his quarterbacks and what he should focus the offense on. It’s still going to be very run-heavy, but don’t be surprised if the quarterbacks take more deep shots.

“That’s certainly a thought for us going into the next two weeks,” Rodriguez said. “When we tear this thing down, I’m not worried about 50% run plays, 50% pass plays. I’m worried about these are the play we can execute.”