MORGANTOWN - A year ago, the only complaint about West Virginia's offense was that on those rare occasions when an opponent was able to shut down the running game, the Mountaineers weren't proficient enough in the passing game to do much about it.

It was a legitimate criticism, too. South Florida and Pitt both stuffed WVU's ground game, and those were the only two games the Mountaineers lost.

Fast forward one year to a new offensive coaching staff and the problems have been compounded. Quite simply, there have been far too many times in West Virginia's first nine games when the Mountaineers haven't been able to either run or throw the football. Not only has the average rushing output declined dramatically - from 297 yards per game last year to 215 this season - so, too, have the passing numbers, from 159 to 135.

New offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen isn't going to try to deflect the blame, pointing out that if anyone needs to be thrown under the bus for the drop-off, "Throw me head first.''

He will, however, defend the methods that have brought the Mountaineers to this point heading into the final three games of the regular season. He knows all too well that he inherited a finely tuned running offense and in many ways has put it in reverse.

But he also knows he would have been guilty of negligence had he not tried to at least tweak that offense to correct the problems that were encountered in the past.

"Out of one side of your mouth you can continue to do the run stuff and come into those games where they're putting eight and nine in the box and have some trouble and at the end of the year lose two or three ball games,'' Mullen said. "Or you can go into it with the thought process that you're going to try and win them all, have a legitimate answer to both and maybe lose a little bit in the run game.

"We had a plan coming into this year trying to throw the ball. And it clearly helped us in a game like Auburn. So what we needed to do was to be able to teach that and do those kinds of things. Now if you're going to put time into the throw game, you're going to lose time in the run game. And that's where we've not been as consistent, which is what people are used to around here.''

MORGANTOWN - A year ago, the only complaint about West Virginia's offense was that on those rare occasions when an opponent was able to shut down the running game, the Mountaineers weren't proficient enough in the passing game to do much about it.

It was a legitimate criticism, too. South Florida and Pitt both stuffed WVU's ground game, and those were the only two games the Mountaineers lost.

Fast forward one year to a new offensive coaching staff and the problems have been compounded. Quite simply, there have been far too many times in West Virginia's first nine games when the Mountaineers haven't been able to either run or throw the football. Not only has the average rushing output declined dramatically - from 297 yards per game last year to 215 this season - so, too, have the passing numbers, from 159 to 135.

New offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen isn't going to try to deflect the blame, pointing out that if anyone needs to be thrown under the bus for the drop-off, "Throw me head first.''

He will, however, defend the methods that have brought the Mountaineers to this point heading into the final three games of the regular season. He knows all too well that he inherited a finely tuned running offense and in many ways has put it in reverse.

But he also knows he would have been guilty of negligence had he not tried to at least tweak that offense to correct the problems that were encountered in the past.

"Out of one side of your mouth you can continue to do the run stuff and come into those games where they're putting eight and nine in the box and have some trouble and at the end of the year lose two or three ball games,'' Mullen said. "Or you can go into it with the thought process that you're going to try and win them all, have a legitimate answer to both and maybe lose a little bit in the run game.

"We had a plan coming into this year trying to throw the ball. And it clearly helped us in a game like Auburn. So what we needed to do was to be able to teach that and do those kinds of things. Now if you're going to put time into the throw game, you're going to lose time in the run game. And that's where we've not been as consistent, which is what people are used to around here.''

Of course, the ideal thing would have been to improve West Virginia's passing game without disrupting the running game. That was certainly the hope, but that was probably unrealistic. One of the reasons West Virginia was so proficient at running the football in recent seasons was because it was so finely tuned. There was terrific communication and timing between the quarterback, the running backs, the offensive line and the receivers.

Subtracting three of the key components in that mix - tailback Steve Slaton, fullback Owen Schmitt and slot receiver Darius Reynaud, who along with quarterback Pat White combined to run or throw the football on just over 75 percent of WVU's plays last season - is tough enough. Subtracting those three and devoting less time to the running game so as to develop a better passing attack is the perfect recipe for a less productive offense.

Again, though, in order to fix the original problem of teams beating the Mountaineers by stuffing the run, Mullen and the offensive staff had to diversify. That takes time, and the results in the short term have not been as productive as most would like.

"It certainly helped us in a certain couple of games. And you saw it again against Cincinnati when we had legitimate answers when we were down a few points and we were able to get back in it,'' Mullen said, referring to a passing game that enabled the Mountaineers to rally and tie a game they would eventually lose in overtime. "But one of the things we've got to do is evaluate the run game and make sure that part of it stays as consistent as people are used to. That's probably the biggest thing you're seeing - a predetermined, premeditated thought to try and have a complete offense. And clearly that's going to take some time.''

In other words, Mullen isn't going to scrap the search for balance, but as West Virginia enjoys a two-week break before Saturday's game at Louisville, there will also be a concerted effort to utilize the running game.

"I'm with everybody else. There's not a lot of patience for that,'' Mullen said. "We're a 6-3 football team and our throw game has helped us in a couple of games. Our inconsistency running the ball has hurt us in a couple of games. But we're going to continue to try and be a balanced offense and give ourselves a chance versus those teams that are going to load the box and still have the ability to move the ball. That's what we're battling with right now.

"We've got great runners. We'd never want to be just a throw team. We want to be a balanced football team. That's our goal, but it takes a lot of work.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.