West Virginia and Tennessee are playing some depth chart games ahead of their matchup on Saturday.
The Mountaineers released their first official depth chart this season. Though most positions appeared to have the players stacked in order of status, some positions simply had players divided by “OR.”
Take a look at their running back position, for instance:
“RB: Kennedy McKoy, OR Martell Pettaway, OR Alec Sinkfield OR Leddie Brown”
So what’s the deal with that? West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen said he did it to mimic Tennessee, which had done that first.
Dana Holgorsen, on hiding true starters on the depth chart: "we 'OR'd them because Tennessee 'OR'd us first." Says team can only do it in the first week.
— Chris Anderson (@CMAnderson247) August 27, 2018
Teams can only get away with that in the first week because opponents will then have game film they can study to learn who the starters and backups are. For now, teams are looking for any edge possible. If that means keeping some mystery to their depth chart, they’ll take advantage of it.
