How Diore Hubbard’s Toughness is Driving West Virginia’s Late-Season Surge

At some point in time, you're going to see West Virginia running backs rip off big runs routinely, and even the five and six-yard gains will be much easier to come by. Right now, they're having to fight, scrap, and claw for every blade of grass behind a choppy offensive line.

That's why if you're someone who doesn't follow this team closely or watch every game, you'd think there's nothing to write home about in regards to redshirt freshman Diore Hubbard. Statistically speaking, his production isn't going to jump off the page, but he's been a workhorse in WVU's current two-game winning streak and has even played hurt in both games.

In the first quarter against Colorado, he took a shot to the leg and lay on the ground for a minute or so before hobbling off and into the locker room to be further examined. It didn't look promising, but not much time passed by before he was back on the sideline getting some sprints in and convinced the training staff he was good to go.

“That’s hard edge,” Hubbard said when asked about playing through the injury. “I knew I definitely would be able to continue. It’s all about hard edge and having that mentality of just going when you can.”

Against Houston, Hubbard rushed for a career high 108 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. Against Colorado, he put up 64 yards on 16 carries. Both games, he sealed the deal by rushing for a first down when everybody in the stadium knew where the ball was going, yet he still closed the deal.

“Going back to a couple of games ago, I felt like the morale around the whole building was down," Hubbard said. "So definitely these last two games going out there and do what we do and playing hard-nosed football definitely has brought the morale up around here.”

Hubbard and the Mountaineers will be facing the nation's 34th-ranked rush defense this Saturday on the road against Arizona State.

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