West Virginia RB Shawne Alston won't play vs. Texas

The West Virginia Mountaineers hit the road for the first time in their new conference this Saturday and they'll have to play without running back Shawne Alston. The WVU rusher was ruled out in advance of the Mountaineers' game against Texas. Alston will not make the trip to Austin, with head coach Dana Holgersen saying that his running back is still recovering from a thigh bruise (via Garrett Cullen of West Virginia MetroNews):

"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."

Alston reiterated on his Twitter account that his not making the trip to Texas was strictly because of the injury, and not some other off-the-field issue.

The senior running back has not played in West Virginia's last two games, after a productive start to the season. Alston scored three touchdowns in the first two games of the season and averaged more than six yards per carry.

One week after their dramatic 70-point debut in the Big 12, the Mountaineers will face a fellow top 10 team on the road in the Longhorns, who are favored by 6.5 points.

This story originally appeared on SBNation.com.