CJ Donaldson Named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week

West Virginia running back CJ Donaldson has picked up his first in-season accolade as he was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week by the conference.

This comes after Donaldson had a breakout game against Pitt in which he put up 125 rushing yards on just seven carries (17.9 average) and added a rushing touchdown as well as a key block punt that set up his touchdown.

𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝟭𝟮 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 🏆

Newcomer of the Week: @Sp3Cj pic.twitter.com/2dVTFTk2WE

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) September 5, 2022

The performance by Donaldson on Thursday night was nothing short of incredible and a key reason why West Virginia had a chance to win the game despite being +7.5 point underdogs. He had two 20+ yard runs as well in the game, including a 44-yard run which was the game’s longest.

This is all impressive without even considering the fact that he was a three-star tight-end recruit in high school. The true freshman had gone under a position switch this off-season and was thrown immediately into the fire by making his debut against Pitt in the renewal of the Backyard Brawl. It’s safe to say the pressure from such a challenge did not get the better of Donaldson.

Donaldson and the rest of the West Virginia football team are set to start Big 12 play this week in their home opener at Milan Puskar Stadium by playing Kansas this Saturday at 6:00 p.m., the first home night game for West Virginia in four years.