Thin Texas Tech defensive line will be tested by the West Virginia ground game

All season long, the Texas Tech defense has been dominated by opposing passing attacks. The Red Raiders rank 132nd nationally in pass defense giving up 309 yards per game.

However, in the regular-season finale against West Virginia on Saturday, Tech's ability to stop the run will be tested most heavily. That's because the Mountaineers have a three-pronged rushing attack that powers their offense.

Overall, WVU ranks 22nd in the NCAA in rushing offense. They average 197.5 yards per game on the ground.

What makes the Mountaineers a tough team to stop is that they don't just have one player that they rely on to rack up yards on the ground. Instead, three members of their offense help share the load.

Jahiem White, a 5-foot-7, 195-pound sophomore running back leads the team in rushing. This year, he's racked up 693 yards on 128 carries. He averages 5.4 yards per carry but that's down from the 7.7 he posted a season ago on 109 carries.

What might scare Red Raider fans most, though, is that WVU's second-leading rusher is their QB, Garrett Greene. While he's thrown for only 1,707 yards and 12 touchdowns this year while completing only 55.5% of his passes, he has helped the offense by picking up 649 yards and 5 TDs on 116 carries. In fact, in five games this season, he's run for at least 80 yards including 129 yards and 2 TDs on 22 carries against Baylor.

That's not an encouraging fact for Texas Tech fans after seeing the Red Raiders struggle against mobile quarterbacks this year. Most notable was Washington State's John Mateer who ran for 197 yards and a TD on 21 carries against the Red Raiders back in week two.

Of course, that night, Mateer's ability to run the ball took Tech by surprise given that it was just his second career start and there wasn't much game footage of him for the coaching staff to scout. That won't be the case with Greene.

That is the only massive performance that Tech has allowed an opposing QB to have on the ground this season. However, in recent years, Red Raider fans have become scarred by seeing this program let mobile quarterbacks run wild.

The third weapon in the WVU rushing attack is bruising 6-foot-2, 238-pound junior CJ Donaldson. This year, he's carried the ball 132 times for 621 yards and 9 TDs.

This all means that the Red Raider defensive line needs to be ready for a ground assault this weekend in Lubbock. However, that unit might be a bit banged up.

Early in last week's win over Oklahoma State, the Red Raiders lost both starting defensive tackles, Quincy Ledet Jr. and De'Braylon Carroll for the game. That left Tech woefully thin at the position and as a result, the Cowboys were able to run for 165 yards as a team with star RB Ollie Gordon II going off for 156 yards and 3 TDs on only 15 carries.

This week, Ledet is listed as questionable to play with a knee injury and Carroll is listed as questionable with an ankle injury. If they can't play or are unable to play up to their usual standard, it will make life extremely difficult for the rest of the defense.

That's because WVU has the No. 4 rushing attack in the Big 12 and arguably the best ground game that Tech will have faced this year. If the Red Raiders aren't up to the task, they could be run over and run out of Jones Stadium on Senior Day.