Submitted photo Running back Cyncir Bowers is shown during WVU’s win over Robert Morris.

MORGANTOWN — Picture the NBA logo without Jerry West, as hard as that may be.

Picture Michael Jordan dunking without his tongue sticking out. Picture Nike without its “Swoosh” or the New York Yankees without the pinstripes or Paul Skenes without his fastball or a hockey game without a fight or Bill Belichick without Tom Brady.

What’s that, you’ve seen Belichick without Brady and it wasn’t very pretty.

Well, at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon in the 108th renewal of the Backyard Brawl against Pitt. 60,000-plus fans may have to watch West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez without a running game as he has to put his Mountaineers on display without running back Jahiem White.

Rodriguez’s running game at West Virginia is legendary for handing the ball off to Avon Cobourne or Quincy Wilson or Steve Slaton or Noel Devine or having quarterback Pat White scamper down the field with the ball.

His running game was so devastating that in eight years as head coach he produced the three top rushing seasons in Mountaineer history and five of the top 10 seasons and six of the top 12 rushers.

And Jahiem White was expected to etch his name alongside those other WVU greats this season as Rodriguez returned to his alma mater until a knee injury that required surgery at Ohio University ended his season.

That left WVU firing blanks on the ground, gaining just 72 rushing yards against a MAC team, only one of those yards coming from his replacements.

Now, the opponent is Pitt and the most that White can do is offer moral support as Rodriguez looks to find a way to win the Backyard Brawl with sophomores Clay Ash and Cyncir Bowers and redshirt freshman Diore Hubbard trying to fill the gaping hole created by White’s absence.

“He’s just a little down a little bit, but he’s going to bounce back,” receiver Rodney Gallagher III said on Tuesday of this week. “He’s always been a hard worker, so he’s going to do whatever he needs to do to get back. He’s a special player and we all know that.”

The question is whether his three young and inexperienced backups can take over an offense that wants to control tempo and with it the football, looking every game to reach at least 25 first downs.

How that will be done remains to be seen and it could come with more running coming out of the quarterback position, meaning perhaps more playing time from Nicco Marchiol’s backups Jaylen Henderson or Scotty Fox Jr., who are more dangerous in the run game than Marchiol.

Ash figures to try to pick up the load for the Mountaineers as he was next up when White went down, but he was hardly featured, as he carried four times for just 2 yards and caught four passes for 20.

“He’s played pretty well,” Rodriguez said of Ash, a former walk-on. “He’s a tough competitor. I’ve been really pleased; he’s earned the right to play some. He’s being pushed into a bigger role with Jahiem being out, but he’ll be OK.”

Bowers may be able to give WVU the breakaway threat that White presented and showed on a 32-TD jaunt against Ohio before being injured.

“Cyncir’s one of the fastest guys on the team,” Rodriguez said. “I think he’s got the chance to play a lot of football. He’s played a little bit, but I think every week he gets a little bit more comfortable.”

There is another option available that Rodriguez may push forward in Tye Edwards, one of the transfers who had to go through the courts to gain eligibility and recently was granted an injunction that allowed him to play.

He has bounced around, having played at Georgia Military College, Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College, UTSA and the last two years at Northern Iowa, where last season he rushed for 1,000 yards.

Another back, Kannon Katzer, a redshirt junior who was a key member of Ferris State’s Division II national championship team, has been injured and there was no definitive word on his availability this week.

“Katzer is getting closer to coming back. I’m hoping he’ll be able to practice this week, but we’re not sure if he’ll be full go today or tomorrow,” Rodriguez said on Tuesday.

Diore Hubbard, a redshirt freshman last year at Oklahoma State who transferred to WVU, is another possibility at running back after having been injured until this week.

“Diore has some speed and good ability,” Rodriguez said. “He’s still learning a little bit. He was banged up somewhat at the beginning of camp, which set him back a little bit. Some people go, ‘Well you’re going to be running back by committee.’ Obviously, we lost a great player, but we don’t look at it as a committee of guys. We’ll give some guys opportunities and see who does the best.”

The fact is that the Mountaineers are without White and wide receiver Jaden Bray, two of their better offensive players, and have shown little in the way of offense in putting together a 1-1 record.

Pitt, on the other hand, has won two straight in a similar early season schedule but has averaged 53 points a game, which explains why Pitt is an 8-point favorite on the road.

While the Panthers lead the series 63-41-3, the Mountaineers have a slight edge of 26-24-2 in the 52 years it has been played on a home-and-home basis in 1963.

Rodriguez is looking to avenge that 13-9 loss Pitt laid on him in 2007, costing the Mountaineers a chance to play for the national championship. It was the last game Rodriguez coached before hastily departing for Michigan.

It took him 17 years to return.