Buie improving, moving up WVU depth chart

Sometimes all a player needs is repetition to improve his talent and progress. For West Virginia sophomore running back Andrew Buie, this has been exactly the case.

The 5-foot-9, 187-pound running back from Jacksonville, Fla., has made visible improvements from spring 2011 until now.

"I’m working on the little stuff that I missed last year to become better and continuing to go as hard as I can," Buie said.

Buie and his teammates are already halfway through spring practices and less than a month away from the annual Gold-Blue Spring Game.

But the Mountaineers have a different feeling this spring.

"The confidence level is different on offense, because of the fact that everyone knows what we’re doing," Buie said. "It’s not so much thinking about it now as it is just going out and doing it."

Buie also feels more confident from an individual perspective.

"I have more confidence, and I know what’s going on around me which allows me to play faster," he said. "Being that it’s the second year in this offense, I know more of what’s going on, and I’m more comfortable."

Last season, Buie had an impressive freshman campaign, but was limited due to injury. However, he feels he may now know the trick to preventing similar setbacks to occur.

"I know what you have to do to take care of your body so you can go out there and perform on the weekends," Buie said. "As soon as my body starts to hurt, I say something right away so they can take care of it early versus later down the road when it’s something severe, and it’s hard to bounce back from."

Even WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen has noticed a difference in his running back this spring. It’s not just Buie’s confidence and talent level that has improved. He has also added about 15 pounds of bulk.

"He’s healthy. For the majority of last year, he wasn’t healthy. One, is that he was young and was worn down pretty quick, because he plays hard too," Holgorsen said. "He was only about 165 pounds at one point last season. He’s been working hard and has his size back. He’s about 180 now. He’s playing hard and handling the volume well. He could probably take more snaps."

Buie is expected to compete with fellow sophomore Dustin Garrison and junior Shawne Alston for the starting running back position next fall.