MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia lifts the lid on the 125th year of Mountaineer football at high noon when the Missouri Tigers come to town for an interesting Big 12-SEC matchup.
It’s been 23 years since Missouri’s last visit to the University City, a 35-3 West Virginia victory that sent the Mountaineers down the path toward perfection in 1993.
Missouri’s other trip to Morgantown back in 1926 happened when players were still putting their helmets in their back pockets.
This marks the first home opener against an SEC team in 54 years when Vanderbilt traveled to the Mountain State to christen the 1962 campaign, a 26-0 WVU victory - one of eight triumphs coach Gene Corum’s Mountaineers had that year.
There are plenty of events surrounding the home opener, headlined by the official retiring of consensus All-American Bruce Bosley’s No. 77 during an on-field ceremony at the end of the first quarter and the celebration of West Virginia’s medal winners at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio.
Fox Sports 1 (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman and Bruce Feldman) will televise the game nationally, while the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG’s radio coverage begins bright and early at 8:30 a.m. with the Go-Mart Mountaineer Tailgate Show, featuring Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning, leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi and Dwight Wallace at 11 a.m.
Then, Dan, Wolfman and Jed will be back on the air following the conclusion of Saturday’s game to wrap things up.
In the meantime, it’s time to once again Countdown to Kickoff:
10 - Twenty-eight of the 33 300-yard passing games during the last TEN years have come under coach Dana Holgorsen, including all 10 performances of 400 yards or more.
9 - Tony Gibson’s defense allowed only NINE rushing touchdowns in 2015, tied for third nationally.
8 - EIGHT Mountaineer offensive linemen return with game experience from the 2015 season.
7 – Dana Holgorsen’s West Virginia teams have had SEVEN games with at least 91 offensive plays, including a team-best 108 in a win against Maryland two years ago.
6 - This will be West Virginia’s SIXTH meeting with Missouri, the Tigers holding a narrow 3-2 record against the Mountaineers.
5 - West Virginia has won FIVE of its last 10 games against Southeastern Conference opponents and owns a 24-25-1 all-time record against the SEC.
4 - West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen has won FOUR of his five prior season-opening games, defeating Marshall twice, William & Mary and Georgia Southern, while losing the 2014 season opener to No. 2-ranked Alabama in Atlanta.
3 - Saturday’s game against Missouri will be the Tigers’ THIRD-ever appearance in Morgantown, the prior two trips coming in 1993 and 1926 - both West Virginia victories.
2 - West Virginia has a Big 12-most 20 seniors on its TWO-deep roster to begin the season.
1 - Missouri’s Barry Odom is coaching his FIRST career game as a head coach on Saturday.
Enjoy the game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage on WVUsports.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Sound Cloud.
