Shawne Alston injury: West Virginia running back out against Texas

Looks like both the Texas Longhorns and West Virginia Mountaineers will be missing their starting tailback this Saturday.

Malcolm Brown is out with a left ankle injury he suffered in last week's game against Oklahoma State, and West Virginia will be missing Shawne Alston is out with a thigh bruise.

West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen said that Alston was just unable to go in practice this week:

"We're going to move on without him this week," Holgorsen said. "If he's out there practicing next week, we'll play him in the game. But he tried to go here for the last couple of days and just wasn't able. He's going to continue to get that thigh worked on and we'll hopefully get him back next week."

The thigh bruise has limited Alston the past few weeks, with Andrew Buie and Dustin Garrison taking his place. Last week in their epic win over Baylor, the Mountaineers were able to rack up only 25 rushing yards.

The passing game is already the key component in West Virginia's offense, with Geno Smith slinging the ball around. Look for that to continue on Saturday.