MORGANTOWN — West Virginia quarterback Scotty Fox lined up behind center, and behind him stood edge rusher Curtis Jones Jr. Jones took the handoff and scored, punching it in to extend the lead for the Mountaineers against Colorado.

Jones was a talented running back in high school, but came to the Mountaineers as a pass rusher. Rich Rodriguez had Jones play running back because of all the injuries in the running back room.

Rodriguez talked multiple times before and throughout the season that there’d be more two-way players in college football because of the shrinking roster sizes and the inability to add players if after injuries, like in the NFL.

They won’t be true two-way players, like Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, who played whole drives on offense and defense, but they’ll come in on certain plays, like if WVU needed a big rusher in short-yardage situations.

After all the injuries this year, Rodriguez wanted to add more versatile players and started during the first signing period. On Day 1, Penn State commit 4-star safety Matt Sieg flipped to WVU. Sieg is a versatile player who was listed as a safety on most recruiting sites, but he played quarterback on offense and had over 4,000 rushing and 4,000 passing yards. Sieg is a stud on both sides of the ball.

Rodriguez wants him to play both ways for WVU.

“I think he probably saw there’s probably a great opportunity for him at safety,” Rodriguez said. “I told him, I think you’re good enough to play that, but also help us on the other side of the ball as well.”

WVU signed multiple players who can help on offense and defense. Usually, when a player is listed as an athlete, it means their position is undecided. The Mountaineers have just two players listed as ATH, Sieg and John Johnson.

Johnson played quarterback in high school, and looks like he’ll probably play that in college. But Johnson also played corner, too, so he could play there.

Rodriguez has a history of turning quarterbacks into other players. Wide receiver Cam Vaughn came to Rodriguez at Jacksonville State as a quarterback. Rodriguez saw Vaughn practice a little at quarterback and thought he’d be better suited at receiver. Now, he’s WVU’s top receiving threat.

The other player Rodriguez called out by name when talking about playing both ways was pass rusher Noah Tishendorf. Tishendorf is a 3-star pass rusher, but he also played tight end in high school. He’s listed at 6-foot, 254, so he’s not a tall target, but he definitely has size.

“A guy like Noah Tishendorf, we signed him as, what is he an outside linebacker, D-end kind of guy?” Rodriguez said. “He’ll be a full back and tight end for us, too. He can do that, he’s a tough guy.”

Rodriguez also talked about in-state signee Xavier Anderson, who signed as a tight end, but he also played defensive line in high school. He could play both ways, too.

When WVU released the descriptions of the new signees, it made sure to list if the players played two positions in high school, keeping in mind that they may play more than what they’re listed on the roster.

But, like in the Jones situation, most of WVU’s two-way players will come out of necessity, or they fit Rodriguez’s most famous phrase when evaluating talent: it helps WVU win games.

Rodriguez’s going to put the best players out there to help the Mountaineers win, making the players not restricted to the position next to their names on the roster.

“I’ve said this to you guys before, we’re going to have multiple guys, and we’ve signed multiple guys that have a chance to help both ways because the roster size is going to be limited going forward,” Rodriguez said. “You’re going to have to guys to play both ways… There are several of our guys that are athletes that will play running back, they may play slot receiver, they may play outside, or maybe look at defense. We signed guys with that in mind.”