MORGANTOWN — “Here comes the Major.”
WVU public address announcer Bill Nevin’s voice boomed over the crowd of 50,109 at Milan Puskar Stadium, who collectively stood on their feet as Major Harris stood next to his framed No. 9 jersey after the first quarter.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy even ran over during the presentation to shake Harris’ hand and offer congratulations. The two faced each other in the 1987 Sun Bowl, with Gundy as Oklahoma State’s quarterback. The Cowboys won that game 35-33.
In what many considered a long time coming, Harris’ jersey was retired by WVU on Saturday, cementing himself as one of the all-time greats in program history. He is a WVU Sports and College Football hall-of-famer, and also led the Mountaineers to their first undefeated regular season in 1988.
In 1988, he finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting, and followed that up with a third-place finish in 1989. In his three-year career, Harris had 1,161 rushing yards with 18 touchdowns to go along with 5,173 passing yards and 41 touchdowns through the air.
Harris continues to try and remain as humble as possible, although many consider him to be the gold-standard in program history.
“I try not to think of it that way because you can get a big head from thinking like that,” he said Saturday. “I take it as an accomplishment. I feel uncomfortable when a player comes up to me, even like today, ‘Congratulations.’ I mean, we played together. We were part of a team, so I get uncomfortable because we played together. It makes me feel like I was out there running by myself.
“I appreciate everything that comes with playing football, but I never think in terms of I did all of this myself.”
Harris joins Bruce Bosley (77), Sam Huff (75), Ira Rogers (21) and Darryl Talley (90) as retired numbers for the Mountaineers.
Esdale’s injury stings
WVU knew it was going to be without tight end Mike O’Laughlin and cornerback Nicktroy Fortune, but wide receiver Isaiah Esdale’s absence wasn’t known until kickoff.
It turned out to be a critical missing piece for the Mountaineers on offense and special teams.
Esdale had 26 catches for 343 yards this season and was a critical part of the screen pass game. WVU struggled to get anything going with its screen passes, trying out attempts to Winston Wright and Sam James to poor results.
Perhaps the most glaring instance was a muffed punt by Graeson Malashevich, which eventually led to Tay Martin’s second touchdown catch of the game to put OSU up 17-3 in the third quarter.
Head coach Neal Brown did not specify what was wrong with Esdale, but mentioned wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton and defensive tackle Dante Stills did not practice this week, though they did play.
Cornerback Charles Woods went down with an injury but returned later. Linebacker Lance Dixon also got hurt and did not return, another blow to an already thin linebackers corps.
Josh Sills returns to Morgantown
Former WVU offensive lineman Josh Sills played on Mountaineer Field for the first time since the 2019 season-opener vs. James Madison, but this time, he was wearing Oklahoma State orange.
He started for the Mountaineers along the offensive line from 2017-19, but a season-ending injury in 2019 cut his career in Morgantown short.
After that season, Sills entered the transfer portal and ended up at OSU, where he’s been a starter at left guard for the last two years.
After the game Saturday, he received warm welcomes from his former teammates, giving hugs and handshakes to several WVU players and staff before saluting the Cowboys fans who made the trip.
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