MORGANTOWN – The West Virginia University football team is happy that the last time they came together on the gridiron wasn’t the last time they came together this season.
WVU’s last foray was one of its worst losses, a 52-15 drubbing to end the regular season at Texas Tech. The Mountaineers were as far behind as 42-3 against the Red Raiders.
That bad taste in the team’s mouth was made even more bitter by the dominos that fell following the game. The day after that loss, head coach Neal Brown was fired after six seasons and a 37-35 overall record in Morgantown. The university reached back into history and hired former WVU coach Rich Rodriguez to replace him.
West Virginia players and coaches don’t want that game to be the lasting memory of the 2024 season, so they have attacked their preparation for Tuesday’s Frisco Bowl versus No. 25 Memphis (9 p.m., ESPN). Knocking off a top-25 foe, a feat the Mountaineers weren’t able to accomplish in the regular season, would be a much better cap to 2024 in their eyes.
“I think that, in the back of some guys’ minds, it’s obviously there,” quarterback Garrett Greene said of WVU’s poor showing at Texas Tech. “Obviously, (the play against) Texas Tech just wasn’t good enough, and the performance we put out there, me included, just wasn’t good enough.
“For me personally,” he added, “I don’t want that to be the last experience I have playing here.”
A better on-field experience for WVU (6-6) tonight will likely mean a better on-field performance in one of the Mountaineers’ weakest areas – its pass defense. That is a tall order, considering the Tigers (10-2) have on their side the program’s career leader in passing, Seth Henigan. The senior is 14th in the Football Bowl Subdivision averaging 267.3 passing yards per game with 23 touchdowns against just six interceptions.
Henigan is an anomaly in the current college football landscape. He’s the only four-year starting quarterback currently in the FBS to spend all four years with the same team. That, WVU defensive coordinator Jeff Koonz said, gives him a level of comfort and familiarity within Memphis’ offense that no other FBS quarterback enjoys.
“When you watch him on film, you can see that they trust him with a lot of things,” Koonz said, “a lot of movement, a lot of moving parts, motion and how they adjust. You can see that they allow him to make adjustments. He’s a very smart player.
“You see an incredible amount of patience from him,” Koonz added. “So that’s a testament to them and how they developed him.”
WVU has a veteran quarterback itself in Greene. The Tallahassee, Florida, native can get the offense moving with both his arm and his legs. At 12.3 yards per completion, he isn’t afraid to take shots downfield. He’s also one of three players on the team who has rushed for at least 600 yards on the season, entering tonight’s game with 656 yards and five touchdowns.
Yet turnovers have been an issue for him this season. He has thrown 11 interceptions against 13 touchdowns, and the Tigers are adept at swiping the ball from the opposition. Memphis is third in the FBS in forcing 24 turnovers, 10 interceptions and 14 fumbles.
Interim head coach Chad Scott, WVU’s offensive coordinator, said he has been pleased with the energy and fight he has seen from the players during bowl preparation. They want to be here, he said, which is evident in how few have already entered the transfer portal compared to some other teams.
And, he added, they want to show the rest of college football that, although they had their stumbles in 2024, they’re still the team with the talent that made them a dark-horse Big 12 title contender in the preseason.
“It’s the same elite talent, same attitude, same guys in this room that thought that way back in the spring,” Scott said. “Those are the same guys there right now. There’s no reason for us to not go out there and play that way.”
— Story by Derek Redd
