Nov 15, 2019 3 min read

If there were a college football season where the numbers don’t tell the story, this was it.

The eyes did.

Jordan West will trot out onto the artificial turf of Cameron Stadium, one of 12 seniors on the Washington & Jefferson roster, for one final game.

This isn’t the season he expected. An early season injury limited him at times and an inexperienced offensive line struggled to open holes. The result was that West, a Washington High School graduate, will finish around 500 yards, far from the 1,200 he ran for last season.

But those paying attention could see his skills were still there.

“I feel really bad for Jordan. Everyone knows we haven’t been as good up front this year,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “Jordan has taken the brunt of that. He’s not a 500-yard rusher. He’s a really, really good football player.”

West is going to finish his college career with more than 2,500 rushing yards in three-plus seasons. He enters this game with 34 career touchdowns.

“It’s been a little unreal. I can’t believe the four years have gone so fast,” said West. “I didn’t think it would by so fast but it did. I really enjoyed playing with these guys. We’re going to go out and try to win. Whether or not this is our last game, it’s been a great run.”

W&J might land a postseason game in the ECAC but that won’t be known until early next week.

West has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game eight times in his four seasons. His best game came in 2018 against Geneva, when he rushed for 196 yards.

West has 85 career pass receptions for 772 yards and eight touchdowns.

“We tried to get him the ball more,” said Sirianni. “We threw him more passes and used him on kickoffs just to get the ball in his hands. It’s not his fault we were inexperienced upfront. We struggled so much there and the person who took the brunt of that was Jordan.”

Last year against Waynesburg, West rushed for 138 yards and backup E.J. Thompson had 186 yards in a lopsided victory.

West said there were some frustrations this season.

“I think part of it was not executing like we should,” he said. “I feel like the (three) games we lost, we shot ourselves in the foot. It came back to haunt us at the end of games. You can’t really point fingers because we all screwed up.”

West said there were many moments that stood out.

“Every game, I would stand back and let it all soak in,” he said. “It’s hard to pick just one memory, one moment. Looking back, I wanted to absorb the love for my teammates and compassion for my teammates. I’ve really enjoyed it.”