MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Had there been social media back in the 1950s, I wonder how West Virginia fans would have treated Fred Wyant?

 

Here was a guy who wasn’t very big, who didn’t fit the classic profile of a T formation quarterback from his era - rangy and cannon-armed such as Georgia’s Zeke Bratkowski, Stanford’s John Brodie or Texas’ Joe Clements - but instead was an athletic, strong-willed and self-confident quarterback who won a lot of football games with his feet and his brain instead of with his arm.

 

In fact, Wyant was the school’s winningest starting quarterback with a 30-4 record until Pat White came along five decades later.

 

Despite playing in a weak Southern Conference that no longer included Maryland, Clemson and the Carolina schools, Wyant was the catalyst for West Virginia’s rise in the national rankings, the Mountaineers reaching No. 5 in mid-October of 1953, No. 7 in late October of 1954 and No. 6 in early November of 1955.

 

Yet in each instance, disappointing defeats brought West Virginia back to Earth - to South Carolina at home in 1953, to Pitt at home in 1954, and to Pitt again in 1955 to end West Virginia’s quest for an undefeated season.

 

WVU was invited to play in the 1954 Sugar Bowl during Fred’s sophomore season - the first major bowl appearance in school history - but lost 42-19 to a better-prepared Georgia Tech team that featured the accurate, downfield passing of quarterback Pepper Rodgers.

 

The two Pitt losses cost West Virginia a chance to return to bowl games in 1954 and 1955, although the Mountaineers were certainly good enough in those two seasons to play in the two “minor bowl” games held at the time - the Sun and the Gator bowls.

 

Still, generally speaking, Wyant’s status as one of the great quarterbacks in school history is secure … as it should be.

 

I only bring this up only because I see a lot of similarities between Wyant and current WVU quarterback Skyler Howard, whose Mountaineer legacy among the outstanding signal callers in school history is considerably more complicated.

 

Consider this:

 

- Howard’s stature and athleticism is very similar to Wyant’s.

 

- Howard, like Wyant, is very confident in his own abilities and has earned the respect and admiration of his coaches and teammates.

 

- Howard, like Wyant, could beat you with his arm, his feet and his brain.

 

- Howard, like Wyant, won a high percentage of the games he’s started and has the Mountaineers once again scaling the national polls at No. 14 heading into this year’s Russell Athletic Bowl.

 

- And Howard, like Wyant, came to West Virginia with little or no fanfare.

 

Wyant played on a Weston High football team that won only two games during his senior year and he entertained scholarship offers from just a handful of local West Virginia Conference schools.

 

Back then, being under-recruited wasn’t held against a player but was instead applauded because it demonstrated a player’s ability to overcome great odds. That’s what Wyant did to lead the Mountaineers.

 

But in today’s era of five-star recruits, hat-exchanging news conferences and all of the bling and ridiculousness that comes along with it, the rags-to-riches stories are not looked upon favorably by a lot of the fans these days - especially when it comes to the quarterback position.

 

Howard didn’t have any big-time offers coming out of Brewer High in Fort Worth, Texas, so he first went to Stephen F. Austin and then to junior college in California. There, he was good enough to attract the attention of West Virginia University.

 

And here, he was good enough to win the starting job outright during the summer of his junior season and he led the Mountaineers to an 8-5 record last year, including a come-from-behind victory over Arizona State in the 2016 Cactus Bowl.

 

This season, Howard was the key cog in West Virginia’s 10-2 record - one of only nine teams in 125 years of football at WVU to win 10 or more games.

 

Howard may or may not be the team’s MVP this year but consider this - how many games would the Mountaineers have won this year without Howard in the starting lineup?

 

We saw how precarious things could be in the second quarter of the very first game of the season against a so-so Missouri team that finished last in the SEC East.

 

If that’s not MVP then I don’t know what is.

 

And considering the schedule Howard faced at WVU - against the Big 12 and not, say, the Southern Conference, or a Big East without Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College - that alone should secure his legacy among the better quarterbacks in school history.

 

Go research West Virginia’s record with Wyant in the starting lineup and then look at it after he graduated.

 

I will save you the trouble - it’s not as good.

 

Howard's value to his team is similar regarding the last two seasons.

 

We'll see what happens after he's gone.

 

Skyler’s career numbers are certainly there as well … 7,168 yards passing, 60 touchdowns to just 24 interceptions and more than 1,000 yards rushing - one of only five quarterbacks in school history to do so (Pat White, Major Harris, Rasheed Marshall and Jarrett Brown are the others).

 

White, universally acclaimed as the most successful quarterback in school history, thought enough of Howard to wear his No. 3 jersey when he took the field as honorary game captain for WVU’s regular-season-ending contest against Baylor.

 

But even those who cover Howard on a daily basis have struggled to appreciate his hidden talents, comprehend his Mountaineer legacy or consider his football future.

 

Howard believes HE HAS a future in football beyond college, saying so last Friday.

 

“I wasn’t really promised coming out of high school that I’d be here,” he said. “It’s not promised that I will keep playing next year, but they told me the statistics in high school and I’m here so go ahead and tell me the statistics right now (of playing professional football) and we’ll see what happens.”

 

Pressed further, Howard added, “Give me the stats. Give me the height. Give me the projections of draft picks or anything like that, but the fact is I’m just going to do it. All I need is my foot in the door.”

 

I hope it happens. If it does, I wouldn’t bet against him.

 

He certainly showed at WVU what he can do when given the opportunity.

 

And as the years wear on, I think Skyler Howard’s standing as one of the truly outstanding quarterbacks in school history will only improve.