West Virginia running back Kennedy McKoy had a pretty good start to his career in his first two seasons, rushing for 1,099 yards and 11 touchdowns.
But he wasn’t happy with how he performed past the line of scrimmage and made a concerted effort to make bigger plays and have longer runs. Missing defenders at the second level has plagued WVU running backs over the last five seasons — unable to break off the “big one.”
McKoy used the offseason to try to make tacklers miss in the secondary and that work came to fruition last Saturday at Texas Tech.
After a third-down catch by Marcus Simms as the first quarter was winding down, the Mountaineers could have let the clock run out and start anew in the second.
Instead, they decided to run one more play.
Quarterback Will Grier handed the ball to McKoy, who scooted between left tackle Yodny Cajuste and guard Josh Sills. Then it was a one-on-one with safety Vaughnte Dorsey and a juke left by McKoy left Dorsey in the dust as he outran the rest of the Red Raiders defense for a 38-yard touchdown.
“That’s definitely something I’ve been working on through the offseason and it paid off there,” McKoy said. “That comes with film, too, and knowing your scouting report on how the safety fills gaps: Is he a hard hitter or a guy likes to go for the legs?”
In the heat of the moment, McKoy said it can be difficult to tell which defender is coming at him, but he does try to see his number to he can play out in his head what to do next.
“It that instance [against Texas Tech], I didn’t see who it was, I just knew I had to make him miss, but in some instances, you can see who it is and try to size them up,” he said. “You can either try to get around them or run them over based off what you’ve seen on film.”
McKoy earned his first start of the season against the Red Raiders and got the bulk of the carries, finishing with 11 and 77 yards.
He’ll face the team he’s had the most success against in his career Saturday with Kansas. As a freshman in 2016, McKoy had 127 yards and last season, he had 105 yards and two touchdowns.
There is nothing in particular about the matchup that he likes, but McKoy’s playing it close to the vest.
The Jayhawks are allowing 177.2 yards per game on the ground, 92nd nationally and last in the Big 12.
“They’re always a pretty solid defense and we can’t take anything lightly,” he said. “We’re gonna have to work to get it done this week.”
