A former West Virginia Mountaineer is having a good season with the top-ranked team in the country.
CJ Donaldson Jr. spent three years with WVU football, but entered the transfer portal last December before landing with the 2024 National Champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Now in his first season with the Buckeyes, Donaldson Jr. has been a critical player in the offensive rotation of the first-ranked team in the country.
Most recently, the former Mountaineer also reached the endzone twice on Saturday in Ohio State’s 34-16 win over Illinois. Donaldson Jr. finished with 44 rushing yards on 13 carries, averaging 3.4 yards per carry. The Miami, Florida, native added one catch for four yards on Saturday.
CJ DONALDSON DOES IT AGAIN @OhioStateFB adds on another TD in the second half 💪 pic.twitter.com/fmDkQYcWun
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 11, 2025
Donaldson Jr. cited wanting to bet on himself as one of the reasons he wanted to transfer. And so far, that bet has cashed for the former WVU running back. In his first season with Ohio State, Donaldson Jr.has racked up 237 rushing yards on 58 carries (4.1 yards per carry), adding six rushing touchdowns. Through the air, Donaldson Jr. has contributed five catches for 30 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. The Miami native is tied for the most carries on the team, which has come as part of a recent trend for Ohio State to load the running back room.
Ohio State has one of the best running back rooms in the country. After having two running backs drafted in the first 38 selections of the 2025 NFL Draft (Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson), Donaldson is sharing the backfield with a pair of standout underclassmen in freshman Bo Jackson and sophomore James Peoples. With 58 carries and 40 carries, respectively, Jackson and People may take away from Donaldson Jr., but they are why the former Mountaineer is able to reach the end zone at such a high rate. Being more rested with other running backs taking carries has allowed Donaldson to establish himself as even more of a force in short-yardage situations and near the goal line.
It is hard to accept that the former Mountaineer, who spent three seasons in Morgantown, has turned into a pivotal piece for the number one-ranked team in the country. Donaldson Jr. racked up 1,690 rushing yards on 353 carries, also finding the endzone 23 times, in his three seasons representing WVU.
Some WVU football fans may be resentful that Donaldson Jr. decided to leave the program once former head coach Neal Brown was fired, and other fans may still root for his success at Ohio State. But one thing that we all can agree on, it is not an easy pill to swallow that a former Mountaineer is having the season he is having for another team.