Jahiem White Ran Angry — and One Wild Stat Proves Just How Hard He Was to Stop

Jahiem White had a strong first game in Rich Rodriguez's offense, although he was unable to really spring free and bust off a big-time run. He nearly had a long touchdown, but admittedly made the wrong cut and was tripped up by a defensive back in the first half.

"I wish I had got the one run to the left side when I was in the open field (back). That one tackler that brought me down, I didn't like that. I definitely should have (scored). I should have done something else, but it's alright.

Still, White finished the game with 93 yards on 18 carries. 71 of those yards came AFTER contact, according to Sports Info Solutions, which is incredibly impressive — that's 76% of his total on the day. He was hit at the line of scrimmage six times, yet broke three tackles and forced four missed tackles in total.

For example, last season, White accumulated 538 of his 844 rushing yards after contact, equating to 63% of his yardage. The nation's top yardage after contact back last year, Cam Skattebo (Arizona State), was at 66.8% for the season, for reference. 60% is a good target number, and yes, it's an extremely small sample size against an inferior team, but White ran hard with every carry he had.

Now, of course, that number is going to naturally lower over the course of the season, especially as WVU sees stingier defenses, but that's not the point of the story here. White is proving that he can run at the same speed with the added muscle (up to 195 lbs) and do more than just run away from defenders.

He's always been able to run it between the tackles and lower his shoulder, but now, you're seeing some of those carries that were bottled up before go for 6-8 yards or more. That added dimension of his game, assuming it continues (at a realistic pace), will be what takes him from being a really good back to one of the best in the country.

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