By Jerry Hill

Baylor Bear Insider 

​Other than professional rodeo cowboy Cody Lambert, Jonah White just might be one of the biggest things to ever come out of Merkel, Texas. 

​"We don't even have red lights or stop lights," White said of his hometown, which is about 20 miles west of Abilene. "We have one little market (Spring Market grocery store) and there's maybe 2,500 people. Just switching from that to a bigger stage has been one of the best things I've had to adjust to."

​Until Saturday's game at Oklahoma, the sum total of White's statistics in two seasons at Baylor was three carries for one yard in two games. But with injuries continuing to pile up at the running back position, the redshirt freshman stepped up to gain 81 yards on 12 touches – nine catches for 63 yards and three carries for 18 yards on the ground, both team-bests. 

​"Our running backs coach (Justin Johnson) tells us all the time to prepare like a starter and just be ready when your number is called," said White, who was the scout team running back until a couple weeks ago. "At first, going into the game, I had a few butterflies, coming from where I'm from, a small town. But after a while, like the coaches and everybody said, it's just football. I just got comfortable and went out there and played to the best of my ability."

​When the Bears (2-6) finish the season on Saturday with a 6 p.m. matchup at home against Oklahoma State (6-3), White will likely become the fifth different starter at running back. John Lovett and Craig Williams are both out, Trestan Ebner is doubtful and Qualan Jones is coming back from an injury. 

​"Really all the running backs, we're not in competition, but we all love to help each other out," White said. "When they went down, they came over and talked to me and encouraged me and built me up for when I went in the game, because I had some nerves and little butterflies. All the running backs were on my side and coaching me up on the coaching points that I needed to do. I was just thankful for them to help me like that."

​On the 17-play, 96-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter, quarterback Charlie Brewer found White six times for 48 yards. 

​"I just sat down in the zone, and they were like 15, 20 yards off," White said. "I'm just glad I was able to make an impact on the team."

​A receiver his first three seasons at Merkel High School, White switched to quarterback as a senior and earned district MVP honors, rushing for 2,611 yards and 34 touchdowns and passing for 893 yards and four TDs. Recruited in the same class with Qualan Jones, he was seen as a utility player that could even move to defense, considering he picked off six passes as a junior. 

​Of course, until the last couple weeks, he was the guy getting Baylor's defense ready as the scout team running back. 

​"I'm just thankful that the coaches noticed," he said. "But, at that time, I just wanted to sit back and help out the team in whatever I could do and whatever my role is. At that time, it was to be the scout running back for the No. 1 defense and try to give them a great look."

​White definitely caught the attention of first-year head coach Dave Aranda. 

​"I remember in practice, there was a pass out of the backfield where he stuck his foot in the ground, made a guy miss and then lowered his shoulder," Aranda said of White. "Really, from the foot in the ground to the acceleration, it was like, 'Who is this?' 

​"There's a humble heart in there that whatever we ask him to do, he's going to do. But, it's cool when you have your moment and you take advantage of it. I just thought late in the game, his ability to take those check-downs and get north and south, we've got some other guys who can learn from that."

​While the running game has struggled most of the year, averaging just 92.9 yards per game and 2.8 yards per carry, White said it's actually much closer than it appears. 

​"We go back and watch film, and every time we look up, we're like, 'Man, just that one second or that one little bitty step right there could have made a big difference,''' he said. "We're just going to go out there and execute and try to get it done this weekend."