THE SHOTGUN THROWDOWN: West Virginia to retire Major Harris’ number this weekend

Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor, and daily distractions.

THE MAJOR

West Virginia is retiring the jersey number of a Mountaineer football legend this Saturday. Former WVU quarterback Major Harris will have his #9 retired this week at the Oklahoma State game.

Harris is a College Football Hall of Famer and played for the Mountaineers from 1987-1989. He finished his WVU career with 5,173 passing yards, 2,161 rushing yards, 41 passing touchdowns, and 19 rushing touchdowns. Major led the Mountaineers to an undefeated regular season and a national championship game appearance in the 1988-89 season, which helped him finish fifth in the Heisman Trophy race. He was also a Heisman contender in 1989-90, when he finished in third place.

Harris is responsible for one of most famous plays in WVU football history, where he evaded approximately seven Penn State defenders for a 26-yard touchdown run on a broken play. “The Play” became one of the most iconic moments in Mountaineer football.

Mountaineer fans will get to reminisce about “The Play” and all the other great moments that Harris had while at WVU. What memories from the Major Harris era stand out to you?

Major’s jersey retirement ceremony will take place during WVU’s game against Oklahoma State on Saturday, which is set to kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be nationally televised on ESPN.

EXHIBITION WIN

The West Virginia’s men basketball team earned a 74-59 win over Akron in the team’s charity exhibition this past Friday. Fifth-year senior Taz Sherman led the way for the Mountaineers with 29 points, four rebounds, and three assists. The WVU guard scored 20 of his points in the first half and was able to rest for most of the second half. Senior guard Sean McNeil also finished with double-digit points, despite a rough shooting night. McNeil had a handful of shots go in-and-out, but was able to finish with 10 points and three assists.

The Mountaineers were able to make the Zips uncomfortable with full-court pressure. Akron had 20 turnovers, with 15 occurring in the first half.

WVU seemed to let its foot off the gas late in the second half, letting the Zips cut into the Mountaineers’ 32-point lead to make the game appear closer than it actually was. Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers will start the regular season next week with a home opener against Oakland on November 9th.

BIG 12 TOURNAMENT

The West Virginia women’s soccer team kicked off the 2021 Big 12 Soccer Championship with a 1-0 win over Baylor in the quarterfinals. Freshman forward Dilary Heredia-Beltran scored the only goal of the match for the Mountaineers with just 11 minutes left in the game.

WVU will now face Texas in the semifinals on Thursday and that match will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

WEST VIRGINIA ROUNDUP

• The Mountaineers are rebuilding their winning streak and it is now at three games after a 5-0 blowout win over Georgia Southern. This was WVU’s seventh clean sheet of the season and sophomore forward Ciro Bourlot Jaeggi led the way offensively, scoring two of the Mountaineers’ five goals.

• West Virginia head coach Neal Brown couldn’t hide his excitement after the team’s 38-31 win over then-#22 Iowa State on Saturday.

The two-game winning streak has Brown excited about his team’s resiliency and it has many WVU fans restoring their belief to “Trust the Climb.” Brown also praised the fantastic crowd at the game. Many were saying before the game that it would be a good crowd, despite not being a full stadium, because it would be the true Mountaineer fans that would come out in the rainy weather on a cold fall afternoon to support their team.

AROUND THE BIG 12

• Gary Patterson has left TCU after 20 seasons as the head football coach. School officials asked Patterson to finish this season, but he declined and decided to leave immediately. He went 181-79 and led the Horned Frogs to 17 bowl appearances during his tenure.
• West Virginia and Iowa State put on an entertaining game, but it wasn’t the only close one in the Big 12 this weekend. #14 Baylor came back from a 21-10 deficit to defeat Texas 31-24.
• Kansas State sophomore Felix Anudike-Uzomah has been named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week. The K-State defensive end had eight tackles, four sacks, and forced two fumbles in the Wildcats’ 31-12 win over TCU.

AROUND THE NCAA

• #5 Ohio State knocked off its rival, #20 Penn State, in a Big Ten showdown this weekend. Freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson had 152 rushing yards and one touchdown for the Buckeyes. Both teams fell in the Associated Press (AP) poll following the game.
• Michigan State came away with the Paul Bunyan Trophy after defeating Michigan 37-33 on Saturday. The Spartans moved up to #5 in the national rankings, while the Wolverines fell to #9.
• Pitt dropped out of the top-25 after its 38-34 loss to Miami. Freshman quarterback Tyler Van Dyke threw for 426 yards and three touchdowns for the Hurricanes.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Despite an early injury that took quarterback Jameis Winston out of the game, the New Orleans Saints were able to overcome the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers 36-27. Tom Brady had 375 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in the losing effort for Tampa Bay.
• Mike White started at quarterback for the Jets, in the place of injured rookie Zach Wilson, and he led New York to a 34-31 upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Have any tips, suggestions or requests for what you want to see in The Shotgun Throwdown? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or contact us on social media.

Follow us!

Twitter: @smokingmusket

Facebook: The Smoking Musket