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I've been reporting for almost two months at Horns247 that West Virginia was the expected return date for injured left tackle Connor Williams, whose primary left knee injury wasn't the slight tear of his meniscus but rather the sprained MCL he suffered in the second quarter of a 0-0 game against USC on Sept. 16.

Because the recovery of the MCL showed enough early progress, surgery on the meniscus was postponed. Williams took part in Sunday's practice and barring any unforeseen circumstances this week, the junior All-American will be back in the lineup for the bowl-eligibility-seeking Longhorns (5-5, 4-3 Big 12) on Saturday (11 a.m., ESPN) in Morgantown against the 24th-ranked Mountaineers (7-3, 5-2).

Williams' injury has been a worst-case-scenario for Longhorns' coaches, who knew going into the season they'd be without last year's starting right tackle Brandon Hodges, who opted to become a graduate transfer to Pitt.

It's commonplace for coaches to help an inexperienced or overmatched tackle on one side of the line by having a tight end, H-back or running back assist on that tackle's side. What's not commonplace is needing to help both tackles, which is what Texas has faced in Williams' absence the last seven and a half games.

It was with Williams in the lineup in Game 2 against San Jose State that Texas ran a bunch of power and counter plays - pulling the guard to kick out a linebacker (power) or defensive end (counter) - and racking up 406 yards on 59 carries (6.9 yards per carry) and six rushing TDs. Chris Warren III averaged 10.4 yards per carry (16 for 166 yards) with two touchdowns against the Spartans.

Only 129th-ranked UCLA (302.3 yards per game) has a worse run defense in FBS than No. 128 San Jose State (292.9 ypg). West Virginia, giving up 191.1 yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry on the ground, has the second-worst run defense in the Big 12 (No. 94 nationally) behind No. 99 Baylor (195.3 ypg, 5.1 ypc).

Even without Williams, the Longhorns managed their second-best rushing day of the season against the Bears (35 carries for 171 yards, 4.9 ypc).

Sources told me Texas head coach Tom Herman and offensive coordinator Tim Beck have been hesitant to commit to much power and counter - two staple running plays of last year's Texas offense - with two inexperienced tackles.

In the seven games without Williams, Texas has rushed for only 2.83 yards per carry (300 attempts for 849 yards), including Saturday's 42-27 win over Kansas in which UT ran 40 times for 113 yards (2.83 ypc). Four yards per carry is considered the standard for a good running team.

How much of a boost Williams can give Texas' struggling offensive line - and struggling offense in general - remains to be seen. But just having big No. 55 back in the huddle should provide some surge of confidence.

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