Jahiem White is already making noise at North Texas, and the early returns look a lot like the version of him West Virginia fans remember.
The former WVU running back has been back on the field for just two games, but he’s wasted little time showing his burst again. In his season debut against No.
6 Indiana, White ran for 61 yards and a touchdown. Then this past weekend, he delivered his first 100-yard game since Nov. 30 against Texas Tech, piling up 124 yards and another score on 14 carries for the Mountaineers.
That performance pushed White past 2,000 career rushing yards. Of that total, 1,819 came in Morgantown, where he finished as the 27th all-time leading rusher in West Virginia history.
And there’s a what-if hanging over all of it.
White looked like a dynamic piece in his first two seasons at WVU, with the kind of quick acceleration, big-play juice, and balance through contact that can change a game in a hurry. Then came the season-ending knee injury in a Week 2 loss to Ohio last fall, the kind of setback that changes careers and decisions alike.
The source of that uncertainty is part of the reason the separation from West Virginia makes sense from a roster-building standpoint. Coming off a significant knee injury, a player is always a gamble.
You don’t know how quickly he’ll come back, or whether he’ll look the same when he does. That uncertainty can affect everything around him.
Still, the numbers make the hypothetical hard to ignore. If White had stayed one more season and rushed for exactly 1,000 yards, he would have climbed all the way to No. 7 on WVU’s all-time rushing list, trailing only Avon Cobourne, Pat White, Noel Devine, Amos Zereoue, Steve Slaton, and Leddie Brown.
For now, though, White is back doing what made him special in the first place. He’s producing, he’s healthy enough to look like himself, and North Texas is getting the kind of runner West Virginia once built its offense around.
In Other News...
WVU Could Finally Add A Needed Weapon Against Virginia
West Virginia came out of the UT Martin game in good shape, and that alone gave Rich Rodriguez a little more room to breathe heading into a bigger test against Virginia. The Mountaineers are still trying to settle in offensively, but the possibility of getting wide receiver Prince Strachan into the mix offers a timely lift for a group that could use another proven target as quarterback Mike Hawkins Jr. continues to build rhythm with the passing game.
Strachan has been practicing with limited contact, and his status for the Virginia game may hinge on how he handles the next stretch of practices. If that goes well, West Virginia could finally add another weapon to an offense that already needs every available piece, especially with the Mountaineers looking to sharpen the connection between Hawkins and a deeper receiver rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rodriguez Just Framed West Virginias Biggest Concerns Before Virginia
Rich Rodriguez spent part of his media session Wednesday laying out the pressure points West Virginia is carrying into its matchup with Virginia, and the focus started up front. He praised the experience and discipline of his defensive line, the kind of steady interior presence the Mountaineers will need if they want to control the game and avoid chasing it from the opening series.
Rodriguez also pointed to the challenge posed by one of Virginias players, a reminder that this one may hinge on a few individual matchups as much as overall structure. On the roster front, he said one player has a hearing scheduled for Thursday in Indiana, while Talleys injury status remains day-to-day with a possible return in one to two weeks, leaving West Virginia with a little more uncertainty as kickoff approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Mountaineers NFL Pipeline Faces One Early Reality Check
Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season gave West Virginia plenty to track, with eight former Mountaineers seeing action and four of them cracking starting lineups for their clubs. It was the kind of opening weekend that keeps a fan base connected long after Saturdays in Morgantown are over, because the pro game offers a running referendum on how the pipeline is holding up. The results, spread across multiple games, also showed just how different those NFL roles can look from player to player.
Some former Mountaineers came away with meaningful snap counts and stat lines, while others had more limited opportunities in their season debuts. A few more were listed on reserve, the injured list or inactive for the weekend, a reminder that the first week of September rarely tells the whole story. For West Virginia, the larger takeaway is less about one box score than the early shape of a pro footprint that could change quickly as the season settles in. [Read more 🡒]