University of Charleston football coach Pat Kirkland understands how important it is to allow playmakers to do whatever they can that fits their set of skills in order to have the success they're capable of having.
Some years, that means passing the ball a little more - which the Golden Eagles did a year ago with Jeremy Johnson at quarterback as he set the UC single-game passing record twice while also presenting teams with a great threat on the ground.
And then there are seasons like this 2016 version of Kirkland's team, when he has an abundance of riches in the backfield at the running back position. Back from last season are Tevion Cappe and Marvin Elam, two experienced backs who played a big role in the team's success in 2015, and the Golden Eagles added Vernard Roberts - a talented running back who spent a year at West Virginia, where he played as a true freshman before spending time in junior college.
"We've got really good backs. We believe those three are three of the best backs in this conference right now," Kirkland said. "They're all so unselfish and extremely versatile. They make it where we can get a few of them on the field at the same time, which is big."
That versatility was on display Thursday night when the Golden Eagles used that running game in various ways to pick up their first win of the season, topping West Virginia State 26-7.
Cappe carried the ball 19 times for a game-high 185 yards and two touchdowns while Elam had 20 carries for 96 yards and also scored.
Those backs were crucial to UC's success with starting quarterback Mason Olszewski still sidelined with a foot injury and Anthony Fontana continuing to get comfortable running the offense.
Elam and Roberts also served as threats catching the ball out of the backfield, grabbing three of the four passes that Fontana completed for a combined 40 yards. Cappe also served a second role - taking snaps out of a Wildcat formation, with one of those runs resulting in a 36-yard touchdown that gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good at the end of the first quarter.
"We like to play like that, those are things we've always liked to do," Kirkland said. "Our goal is to be diverse enough that we aren't predictable. We've been able to find that balance.
"They help Anthony too. He got more comfortable as the game went on [against WVSU] and a lot of that was because those guys were there to help him out along the way."
Of course, the guys running the ball had plenty of help from the ones blocking for them. The Charleston offensive line was dominant for significant stretches of the game, helping the Golden Eagles turn something into nothing most of the time even when West Virginia State would put eight or nine players in the box.
"I'm sure we're tough to prepare for because we have so many guys that can do so many things," Cappe said. "But at the end of the day, that all starts with our offensive line. There's no way we'd be successful without them, so they get a ton of credit in my book. They were great."
Charleston needed a win, and when a team is in that type of situation, that's when they need guys like Cappe and Elam who had been around for a while to take charge.
Cappe, a redshirt junior, was pleased to see the Golden Eagles were up for that challenge.
"We're a brotherhood, we're never going to turn our backs on our teammates," Cappe said. "We knew we needed to come together and get this win to get us back on the right track."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.