MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It's now time for West Virginia to clean off the stains from last Saturday's disappointing 30-24 loss at Maryland to open the 2021 football season.
The Mountaineers (0-1) will be taking on Long Island (0-1) in a special 5 p.m. kickoff late Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Activities surrounding Saturday's season opener include a 9/11 salute to our first responders and the honoring of student-athletes at both schools who perished during 9/11. Tim Gray, the brother of former WVU quarterback Chris Gray, who was killed at Ground Zero that morning, will be at the game for a special on-field recognition at the end of the first quarter.
Durrell "Bronko" Pearsall, a former offensive lineman for the Sharks, was one of 343 New York City firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty, as was Keith Glascoe, the father of current LIU tight end Owen Glascoe. Both also will be honored.
"I think it's worth noting that we're going to play them on the 20
th anniversary of 9/11," West Virginia coach
Neal Brown said. "Their program was deeply affected by 9/11 so their players will be excited."
Returning members of last year's senior class will be recognized before the game and a brief tribute to former coach Bobby Bowden will run on the video board. Also, the Gathering of Mountain Eagles, a wounded veterans group, will be making its annual visit to Milan Puskar Stadium this weekend. The group has been attending Mountaineer home football games for the last 10 years or so.
Long Island is coming off a 48-10 loss at Florida International in its season opening game on Thursday, Sept. 2. The Sharks got 115 yards receiving from Derick Eugene, including a 74-yard second quarter touchdown reception on a pass thrown from quarterback Camden Orth.
"They're going to give us a lot of misdirections and screens," Brown noted. "They've got a couple of guys that belong. Their receiver (Eugene) is really talented, and he hit a couple of long ones against FIU. Their tight end, Glascoe, transferred from Penn State, and I thought their quarterback managed things well last week."
Long Island recently made the jump from the Division II ranks to the FCS level and is competing in the Northeast Conference.
Akron graduate Jonathan Gill is serving as the team's interim head coach following the summertime retirement of longtime coach Bryan Collins.
West Virginia University's first-year defensive line coach A.J. Jackson is a graduate of Long Island.
"Long Island is a program that had a strong tradition in Division II," Brown said. "They are making the transition to an FCS program and it's a program I know a lot about just because coach Jackson is an alumnus."
Last week in College Park, the Mountaineers fought back from an early 17-7 deficit to lead Maryland 21-20 through three quarters, but the Terps managed a late touchdown to pull out a 30-24 victory, just their second in the last 11 meetings.
"It was not the start anybody associated with our team wanted," Brown said.
Senior running back
Leddie Brown scored all three touchdowns for WVU, two on the ground and the other coming on a 20-yard reception from quarterback
Jarret Doege on West Virginia's opening possession of the game. Brown finished the game with 116 total yards on 21 touches.
Doege completed 24 of his 40 pass attempts for 277 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. His second pick occurred in the end zone in the fourth quarter when West Virginia was driving for a go-ahead touchdown.
Junior wide receiver
Sam James led the Mountaineers with 67 yards receiving on five catches.
"We've got a starting point that nobody is happy with and now we've got to continue to improve," Brown said.
Saturday's game will be Long Island's first appearance at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Family Day tickets (four tickets and a $25 concession voucher for just $150) are still available through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to
WVUGAME.com.
The game will be televised on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ (Bill Spaulding and Brooks Bennett).
Mountaineer Sports Network coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. with the Mountaineer Tailgate Show, leading into regular network coverage with
Tony Caridi,
Dwight Wallace and
Jed Drenning at 4 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via
WVUsports.com and the free popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
