CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Shhh, don’t say it too loud. Barry Switzer is a fan of West Virginia.

Sort of.

OK, so the Oklahoma Hall of Fame coach won’t be rooting for the Mountaineers when they face the Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl.

He just gushes at how West Virginia’s no-huddle offense works.

Just as Switzer transformed Oklahoma’s wishbone into the most prolific rushing attack in college football history, West Virginia thrives in the run-based, no-huddle spread formation.

“They’ve got a playbook that works,” Switzer told The Associated Press in a recent telephone interview from Norman, Okla. “I’ve loved their offense. When I saw them run it the first time, I loved it. I said this is similar to something I would do if I was college coaching again.”

It’s a system that will likely get its last look at West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl unless coach Rich Rodriguez’s successor retains it. Rodriguez was named coach at Michigan on Dec. 16 and isn’t going to the bowl.

West Virginia annually has one of the nation’s top rushing attacks and the 11th-ranked Mountaineers (10-2) can earn a third-straight 11-win season — a feat that can be matched only by Southern Cal and LSU — if they beat the third-ranked Sooners (11-2) on Jan. 2.

Switzer’s 1971 team set an NCAA FBS record by averaging 472 rushing yards over an 11-game regular season. The 1974 national title team set more records with per-game averages of 74 rushes and 21 first downs rushing. Oklahoma also holds the NCAA single-game record of 768 rushing yards against Kansas State in 1988.

The 500-point plateau is considered a lofty achievement and Switzer did it twice in 12 games in 1971 and 1986. West Virginia set a school record with 505 points last year and can eclipse that if the Mountaineers score 39 points against the Sooners in their 13th game.

Since the arrival of running back Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White three years ago, West Virginia has averaged 274 rushing yards or better per game and ranked no worse than fourth in the nation on the ground.

Switzer remembers seeing White as a freshman two years ago, when he led the Mountaineers to a win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

White has surpassed 1,000 rushing yards each in 2006 and 2007. He had a career-high 247 yards against Syracuse last year and became the eighth player in NCAA history to throw and pass for more than 200 yards in a 2006 game against Pittsburgh.

“They’re more deceptive than the wishbone. The wishbone was an east-west offense,” Switzer said. “This offense he runs is more deceptive because you run counters, you run options off the counters. It’s just totally lined up to be able to go misdirection.”

It took several years for Rodriguez’s offense to attain its run-oriented label. It is rooted in the run-and-shoot passing gallery of Mouse Davis, who served as offensive coordinator in 1988-90 with the Detroit Lions.

Rodriguez took over at then-NAIA Glenville State in 1990 but won just one game and started his current system in 1991. He knew he couldn’t match the size of opposing defenses, so he got innovative, going without a huddle with the quarterback in shotgun formation and spreading out the field.

In 1993, Glenville’s Jed Drenning threw for 3,593 yards and wide receiver Chris George caught 117 passes. George still holds Division II records for single-season receiving yards (1,876) in 1993 and single-game catches (23) in 1994.

By 1997, Rodriguez had become Tommy Bowden’s offensive coordinator at Tulane. Shaun King threw for 3,500 yards and 38 touchdowns the following season, while Rodriguez saw him as another running back. King gained 633 yards on the ground, ranking third on the team.

Rodriguez followed Bowden to Clemson, where Woody Dantzler became the first player in NCAA history to pass for more than 2,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000 in a regular season.

Rodriguez took over at West Virginia in 2001. Rasheed Marshall continued Rodriguez’s trend of rushing quarterbacks, compiling 861 yards in 2004. White took over in the middle of the 2005 season and has gone 25-4 as a starter and has rushed for a Big East-record of 3,356 yards for a quarterback.

Coaches have come from all over to West Virginia each winter to pick up tidbits of the spread formation. Usually the coaches are from programs that don’t play the Mountaineers. Muskogee coach Matt Hennesy had even planned a trip to West Virginia this off-season.

“Coaches are great copycats,” Rodriguez said before taking the Michigan job. “They’ll see an idea or two from here and there. And we’re such a competitive profession that coaches will study as much as they can in the offseason and put a plan together. If the thing matches right with a couple of talented skill players and some coaches that get players believing in their system, then anything can happen.”

Sports Editor Mike Kays contributed to this story.