MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -
The West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will retire football's No. 9, in honor of College Football Hall of Famer Major Harris, during the Oklahoma State game on Nov. 6.
Harris was one of college football's most exciting performers in the late 1980s. Arriving in Morgantown at a time when West Virginia was coming off two straight seasons without going to a bowl game, the Pittsburgh native ignited a flame in the Mountaineer grid program that led to the doorstep of a national championship in 1989.
Harris had his first breakout game against East Carolina in 1987 and never looked back. He produced 1,200 yards passing and 615 rushing yards that season as a redshirt freshman in helping WVU to a John Hancock Sun Bowl berth against Oklahoma State.
A year later, he directed West Virginia to its first-ever undefeated, untied regular season and a matchup against No. 1-ranked Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship. To this day, West Virginia fans still wonder if the outcome of the national championship game would have been different if Harris had not injured his throwing shoulder in the game's first quarter. In getting the Mountaineers to the national championship game, Harris baffled opponents all season long with his daring passes and exciting runs, accounting for 2,525 yards of total offense and 20 touchdowns.
He became legendary for his 1988 dismantling of long-time nemesis Penn State and produced one of the school's most exciting runs in the first quarter of that game. When the ball was snapped, the entire West Virginia offense went in one direction, and Harris went in the other in an obvious broken play. He faked out the entire Penn State team leaving no less than seven tacklers grabbing air on the way to one of the most famous touchdown runs in school history -- a mere 26 yards forever embedded in the memories of West Virginia football fans.
That run and other big plays, coupled with performances such as outgaining Boston College himself in total offense, 372-319 yards, while accounting for five touchdowns against the Eagles helped him finish fifth in the Heisman Trophy race that year and earn ECAC Player of the Year honors. Harris became so popular with Mountaineer fans that he received write-in votes during the 1988 West Virginia gubernatorial election.
A year later, Harris outgained the entire Penn State team at Beaver Stadium, 301-262 yards, and was spectacular all season as a junior. In a run-first offense, he passed for 2,058 yards and rushed for 936, accounting for 23 touchdowns and finishing third in the Heisman Trophy balloting, which is still to this day the highest finish ever for a Mountaineer. He earned First Team Kodak All-American honors and was a Second Team AP and Football News All-American. Like 1988, Harris was again voted ECAC Player of the Year and garnered his third straight team MVP honor.
He established a then-WVU record with 7,334 total yards and became one of just two quarterbacks in Division I history to pass for more than 5,000 yards and rush for more than 2,000 yards during his career. His 2,161 rushing yards still rank among the top 20 in school history and he still ranks among the school's top 10 in passing yards and total offense as he accounted for 59 total touchdowns in his three years with a career long run of 70 yards and a career long pass of 75 yards.
After the completion of his junior season, Harris opted to leave school a year early and was selected in the 12th round of the NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Raiders. Even though success did not follow him to the professional ranks, it could easily be said that Harris' style of play was ahead of its time for the NFL and paved the way for future quarterbacks such as Michael Vick, Russell Wilson and many stars of today to shine in the league. He played one season in the Canadian Football League with the British Columbia Lions and spent parts of the next five years in the Arena Football League.
Harris was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009, and a year later, was a 2010 inductee into the The Legends of the Sun Bowl. Harris was an inaugural member of the prestigious Mountaineer Legends Society in 2016.
He now becomes the fifth WVU football player in history to have his number retired. Major's No. 9 joins Sam Huff's No. 75, Ira "Rat" Rodgers No. 21, Bruce Bosley's No. 77 and Darryl Talley's No. 90 as retired football numbers. Senior receiver
Isaiah Esdale currently wears No. 9 for the Mountaineers, and he will finish his career in that number before it goes in permanent retirement.
The WVU Athletics Council approved the retirement of Harris' number as he meets the qualifications that include an undergraduate degree from WVU, inductions into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, induction into the Mountaineer Legends Society and induction into a national collegiate or professional hall of fame.
An on-field presentation with Harris is planned during the Oklahoma State game and the No. 9 will be permanently displayed in Milan Puskar Stadium with the other four retired numbers.
