After Impressive Debut, Cyncir Bowers Pushing for Bigger Role at West Virginia

Seeing the division of labor in the backfield was something I had my eyes on in Week 1 for West Virginia. There were so many ways it could have played out beyond Jahiem White that it was truly hard to predict who would be RB2, RB3, and so forth.

Northern Iowa transfer Tye Edwards didn't become eligible until a week before the game, and they also added Andre Devine and Tyler Jacklich midway through fall camp.

For some reason, Diore Hubbard did not suit up for the opener, so I'm sure we'll get some clarity either tonight on the coach's show or tomorrow afternoon during Rich Rod's press conference.

If you had told me before the game that Hubbard would be out, I would have guessed that Ferris State transfer Kannon Katzer might have been the second guy in the game. I was dead wrong. Katzer did not get any snaps, yet Jacklich and Edwards did.

In my opinion, though, the story of the day in the room was Cyncir Bowers. The junior college product rushed for 54 yards on six carries, including an impressive 26-yard touchdown run where he put his speed on full display.

Not just because of that run, but Bowers should see more touches moving forward. He's the fastest back on the roster and can put up some very interesting numbers, if given the opportunity.

During fall camp, former WVU running back Eugene Napoleon made a bold statement about Bowers, and through one game, I'll say he might be on to something here.

"He is a special talent. I say that and preface that by saying he still has to respect what Jahiem White is. There’s levels to this, right? You still got to respect the productivity and the experience of Jaylan Knighton. You have to. But I’m going to tell you right now, *takes glasses off* Cyncir Bowers might be potentially as good as the other two. He might turn out to be the best of them all. I’m trying to tell you, the dude is different. He’s a difference maker."

From what we saw in the opener against Robert Morris, he's right. He is a difference maker. If the Mountaineers can get solid production out of him, they'll have one of the best running back duos in the Big 12 Conference.

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