MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia lifts the lid on its 129^th home football season later this afternoon against FCS upstart Long Island, which now competes in the Northeast Conference.
 
The Sharks were originally a Division II program before making the move to Division I three years ago. Akron graduate Jonathan Gill is serving as the team's interim coach after longtime coach Bryan Collins retired in June. 
 
LIU (0-1) lost its opener 48-10 at Florida International on Thursday, Sept. 2.
 
West Virginia, meanwhile, is coming off a disappointing 30-24 defeat at Maryland last Saturday in College Park. WVU overcame an early 17-7 deficit to lead 21-20 after three quarters, but the Terps outscored the Mountaineers 10-3 in the final quarter to claim just their second victory in the last 11 meetings in the series.
 
Senior running back Leddie Brown scored all three touchdowns for West Virginia, two by ground and one by air, while accumulating 116 total yards from scrimmage. Junior receiver Winston Wright Jr. set a school record with 217 return yards and finished the afternoon with 254 all-purpose yards.
 
Senior safety Sean Mahone led the Mountaineer defense with 11 total tackles, one more than senior linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo.
 
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.
 
West Virginia's first-year defensive line coach Andrew "A.J." Jackson was a 2011 graduate of Long Island and was a graduate assistant coach for the team in 2013.
 
Today's game will be Long Island's first appearance at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff:
 
10 – TEN Mountaineer players on this year's team have already earned their college degrees: Alonzo Addae, Taijh Alston, Josh Chander-Semedo, Jarret Doege, Isaiah Esdale, Exree Loe, Sean Mahone, Evan Staley, Deshawn Stevens and Tyler Sumpter.
 
9 – NINE current Mountaineer players have appeared in at least 23 career college football games, including Sean Mahone with a team-best 43 appearances heading into this afternoon's contest.
 
8 – The Mountaineers have passed for more than 250 yards in a game EIGHT times in the last three season, including last Saturday's 277-yard performance at Maryland.
 
7 – West Virginia's defense ranks SEVENTH among all Power 5 schools with 82 interceptions over the last SEVEN years.
 
6 – SIX West Virginia players caught at least three passes last Saturday at Maryland. They were Winston Wright Jr. (six), Sam James (five), Leddie Brown (four) and Sean Ryan, Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Isaiah Esdale (three each).
 
5 – West Virginia has won all FIVE times it has played on Sept. 11, including a most recent 45-20 victory over UCF in Orlando in 2004.
 
4 – West Virginia had FOUR plays from scrimmage of at least 20 yards last week against Maryland, including Sam James' 39-yard reception of a pass thrown by Jarret Doege.
 
3 – Sean Mahone had the THIRD-most solo tackles (nine) in the country during last week's loss at Maryland.
 
2 – Leddie Brown is one of just TWO Mountaineer running backs since 2007 to tally at least two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdowns in multiple games. All-American Steve Slaton was the other to do so.
 
1 – Leddie Brown ranks FIRST in the Big 12 and fourth nationally in scoring with 18 points scored during last Saturday's loss at Maryland.
 
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.