Mountaineer Nation ~
On Saturday, our beloved blue and gold clad West Virginia Mountaineers will take the field opposite an opponent dressed in all white, the ghosts of football past. Shadows and Ghouls of yesteryear, the scourge of Mountaineer nightmares for decades.
These pale specters persisted in their haunt since Don Nehlen ushered in a New Era of Mountaineer football in 1980. Undaunted by this ghoulish torment, Nehlen nevertheless ensured that this WVU program, the Soul of a prideful state and people, rekindled a fire, and reclaimed its glory and unbridled success. He made a promise by pounding the Florida Gators in the ’81 Peach Bowl, and put a stamp of emphasis on it with a win over Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma on the sizzling midwestern turf to begin 1982…“We’re here to stay”. The next domino to fall was Pitt – put away in 1983 as Hoss knelt in the end zone and pointed to the sky – an omen to the spirits: “We are laying the foundation”.
Despite this success, despite an early top 5 ranking in 1983, We could not solve the riddle of the Invaders from the North, the ghouls who wore the White Hats & Black Shoes. A lot of world history happened between 1955-1983. One thing that did not happen was a WVU victory over these Penn State Nittany Lions. Then, in 1984 the Mountaineer made its stand. Under the golden glow of the lights of Mountaineer field, Pat Randolph took a handoff, ripping off of the right side of our line, following the block of Ron Wolfley, sprinting into the end zone with hands in the air…electrifying the crowd and Mountaineers everywhere. FINALLY. WVU had solved the riddle. The upstarts from the Mountain State were equal to the task. Eastern football had a new Beast.
Four short years later, a man named Major would take our program to unprecedented heights, an 11-0 record, a 51-30 beatdown of the Nittany Lions, a national championship berth, a place amongst the blue bloods of college football.
But, the issue has always been – we’ve never been able to sustain it. One second, we’re 11-0 facing Notre Dame for the national championship, and two years later we’re 4-7 and out of bowl contention. We bounce back to reclaim glory in ’93 with an undefeated 11-0 season, only to take a long, often astonishingly painful walk down Heartbreak Alley through the remainder of the 1990s. Details are not necessary. If you know, you know.
WVU once again claimed elite status through the Power Spread Era of the 2000s, even surviving the departure of a traitorous Product to annihilate a Big 12 Champion Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, as a runaway beer truck led us home. A few years later, an Orange Bowl victory – a bowl record 70 points – Geno, Stedman, Tavon leading WVU into 2012 with gusto and national acclaim. Everyone knew our name. We dropped 69 more points on Marshall, then went to Austin, Texas and beat the top 10 Longhorns in front of 100,000+ in prime time. We were top 5, riding high… Where did it go?
And we’ve been looking for that glory ever since.
We thought 2018 would be the return. But we left our hearts in Stillwater, ripped out by a Cowboy named Cornelius. Another head coach left for easier pastures.
A new head coach would enter Morgantown, asking that we “Trust”. Trust incorporates a great deal of Faith. That Faith was based upon a foundation which had already been laid. And before the 2023 season, that Faith had worn thin.
Then, things changed in an instant. A firebrand was checked into the ’23 Oklahoma game at Quarterback amidst a falling Morgantown rain. This #6 was different. He who lowers his shoulder and 200lb body into 250lb linebackers with reckless abandon, makes you take notice…is there something to this? Are times about to change? “Restore my faith”.
When this QB named Greene takes the field with a sprained ankle, and sprints for a 35-yard touchdown, belief can be restored. Notice the efforts of those surrounding him. They are matching his moxie – a true freshman named White sprinting into an endzone. A walk-on called “Huddy”, schooling scholarship DBs, and another walk-on in Preston Fox – knocking himself unconscious securing a high pass from Greene in a Waco rainstorm – it’s hard not to Notice the strain. Their derivative is matching the swagger of their leader. The season ends with 5 victories in our final 6 games. A strained Faith has been rekindled. There is something to this. This feels different.
This is not blind “Faith”. Instead, it’s the Faith that this West Virginia football program can once again reach heights of grandeur amongst the college football elite, like we did in 1981-1984, like we did in 1988 and 1989, like we did in 1993, 2002-2007, and 2011. In those high cotton days, we always had THAT guy, THAT fireband – names like Talley, Hoss, Joz, Major, Snake, Avon, Quincy, Rasheed, Pat, Steve, Wiley…the list goes on and on.
Well, we have a posse about to take the field Saturday. And they have the chance to bring about the Dawn of another New Era. A New Era of Success & making memories to last forever is right in front of us. We are so close, and the table is set with our newly reconfigured Big 12 Conference. WVU could and should dominate this league, much as WVU did in Eastern football, much as WVU did in the Big East conference, much as WVU should do right now. The road to the new Big 12 should run through Morgantown.
We need but one win, one victory for the ages, to get there. And it feels appropriate that it is the white clad ghosts once again, the Invaders from the land of Nittany, come to do battle. Still haunting. The opportunity to solve the riddle one last time. But what an opportunity it is. While our other Big 12 brethren tread lightly in Week 1, only WVU stands alone facing a top ten foe. Saturday, we carry a banner for an entire maligned conference. Saturday, we carry the spirit and hopes of an entire State. With a win, we stand alone, and we drive that banner into the ground. All eyes will turn toward Mountaineer country. These guys are for real.
You can sense the optimism, the Faith, crackling like electricity throughout our Mountaineer faithful. We are facing the #8 team in the nation, yet unafraid. We echo the attitude and moxie of our quarterback and team. A victory Saturday carries meaning far beyond 1-0. It will wake up the echoes. It will change everything.
Not far away now.
LET THEM HEAR US COMING.
LET’S GOOOOOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!!
On Saturday, our beloved blue and gold clad West Virginia Mountaineers will take the field opposite an opponent dressed in all white, the ghosts of football past. Shadows and Ghouls of yesteryear, the scourge of Mountaineer nightmares for decades.
These pale specters persisted in their haunt since Don Nehlen ushered in a New Era of Mountaineer football in 1980. Undaunted by this ghoulish torment, Nehlen nevertheless ensured that this WVU program, the Soul of a prideful state and people, rekindled a fire, and reclaimed its glory and unbridled success. He made a promise by pounding the Florida Gators in the ’81 Peach Bowl, and put a stamp of emphasis on it with a win over Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma on the sizzling midwestern turf to begin 1982…“We’re here to stay”. The next domino to fall was Pitt – put away in 1983 as Hoss knelt in the end zone and pointed to the sky – an omen to the spirits: “We are laying the foundation”.
Despite this success, despite an early top 5 ranking in 1983, We could not solve the riddle of the Invaders from the North, the ghouls who wore the White Hats & Black Shoes. A lot of world history happened between 1955-1983. One thing that did not happen was a WVU victory over these Penn State Nittany Lions. Then, in 1984 the Mountaineer made its stand. Under the golden glow of the lights of Mountaineer field, Pat Randolph took a handoff, ripping off of the right side of our line, following the block of Ron Wolfley, sprinting into the end zone with hands in the air…electrifying the crowd and Mountaineers everywhere. FINALLY. WVU had solved the riddle. The upstarts from the Mountain State were equal to the task. Eastern football had a new Beast.
Four short years later, a man named Major would take our program to unprecedented heights, an 11-0 record, a 51-30 beatdown of the Nittany Lions, a national championship berth, a place amongst the blue bloods of college football.
But, the issue has always been – we’ve never been able to sustain it. One second, we’re 11-0 facing Notre Dame for the national championship, and two years later we’re 4-7 and out of bowl contention. We bounce back to reclaim glory in ’93 with an undefeated 11-0 season, only to take a long, often astonishingly painful walk down Heartbreak Alley through the remainder of the 1990s. Details are not necessary. If you know, you know.
WVU once again claimed elite status through the Power Spread Era of the 2000s, even surviving the departure of a traitorous Product to annihilate a Big 12 Champion Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, as a runaway beer truck led us home. A few years later, an Orange Bowl victory – a bowl record 70 points – Geno, Stedman, Tavon leading WVU into 2012 with gusto and national acclaim. Everyone knew our name. We dropped 69 more points on Marshall, then went to Austin, Texas and beat the top 10 Longhorns in front of 100,000+ in prime time. We were top 5, riding high… Where did it go?
And we’ve been looking for that glory ever since.
We thought 2018 would be the return. But we left our hearts in Stillwater, ripped out by a Cowboy named Cornelius. Another head coach left for easier pastures.
A new head coach would enter Morgantown, asking that we “Trust”. Trust incorporates a great deal of Faith. That Faith was based upon a foundation which had already been laid. And before the 2023 season, that Faith had worn thin.
Then, things changed in an instant. A firebrand was checked into the ’23 Oklahoma game at Quarterback amidst a falling Morgantown rain. This #6 was different. He who lowers his shoulder and 200lb body into 250lb linebackers with reckless abandon, makes you take notice…is there something to this? Are times about to change? “Restore my faith”.
When this QB named Greene takes the field with a sprained ankle, and sprints for a 35-yard touchdown, belief can be restored. Notice the efforts of those surrounding him. They are matching his moxie – a true freshman named White sprinting into an endzone. A walk-on called “Huddy”, schooling scholarship DBs, and another walk-on in Preston Fox – knocking himself unconscious securing a high pass from Greene in a Waco rainstorm – it’s hard not to Notice the strain. Their derivative is matching the swagger of their leader. The season ends with 5 victories in our final 6 games. A strained Faith has been rekindled. There is something to this. This feels different.
This is not blind “Faith”. Instead, it’s the Faith that this West Virginia football program can once again reach heights of grandeur amongst the college football elite, like we did in 1981-1984, like we did in 1988 and 1989, like we did in 1993, 2002-2007, and 2011. In those high cotton days, we always had THAT guy, THAT fireband – names like Talley, Hoss, Joz, Major, Snake, Avon, Quincy, Rasheed, Pat, Steve, Wiley…the list goes on and on.
Well, we have a posse about to take the field Saturday. And they have the chance to bring about the Dawn of another New Era. A New Era of Success & making memories to last forever is right in front of us. We are so close, and the table is set with our newly reconfigured Big 12 Conference. WVU could and should dominate this league, much as WVU did in Eastern football, much as WVU did in the Big East conference, much as WVU should do right now. The road to the new Big 12 should run through Morgantown.
We need but one win, one victory for the ages, to get there. And it feels appropriate that it is the white clad ghosts once again, the Invaders from the land of Nittany, come to do battle. Still haunting. The opportunity to solve the riddle one last time. But what an opportunity it is. While our other Big 12 brethren tread lightly in Week 1, only WVU stands alone facing a top ten foe. Saturday, we carry a banner for an entire maligned conference. Saturday, we carry the spirit and hopes of an entire State. With a win, we stand alone, and we drive that banner into the ground. All eyes will turn toward Mountaineer country. These guys are for real.
You can sense the optimism, the Faith, crackling like electricity throughout our Mountaineer faithful. We are facing the #8 team in the nation, yet unafraid. We echo the attitude and moxie of our quarterback and team. A victory Saturday carries meaning far beyond 1-0. It will wake up the echoes. It will change everything.
Not far away now.
LET THEM HEAR US COMING.
LET’S GOOOOOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!!
