WVU, Grier Looking for Different Ending vs. Longhorns

QB was injured against Texas in last year’s game

MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia football coach Dana Holgorsen was ready to talk Tuesday about his No. 13 (CFP) Mountaineers (6-1, 4-1 Big 12) showdown with No. 17 Texas (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.

"Okay, here we go," Holgorsen said. "This one is one we've been looking forward to for a while. It didn't quite end the way we wanted it to last year, and we haven't forgotten about that.

"We're looking forward to going to Austin on Friday and playing this game on Saturday. We'll have to prepare for some heat, it's going to be hot down there, and we're well-aware of that. I don't think it's going to be as hot as some of the games we've already played this year, I don't think, but we'll be prepared for that."

Holgorsen was referring to last year's contest where West Virginia lost quarterback Will Grier on the Mountaineers' third possession of the game.

With the game scoreless, Grier injured a finger on his throwing hand while diving for the end zone pylon. Not only was Grier not awarded a touchdown, but he never returned as the injury proved to be season-ending.

Forced to turn to backup Chris Chugunov, the Mountaineers dropped a 28-14 decision to the Longhorns and first-year head coach Tom Herman.

Now Grier and Company would like to get a little payback when the teams clash in Austin.

"A lot of guys in our locker room have been to Austin, been on that field," Holgorsen said. "I don't think we'll be surprised by any of the excitement that they have surrounding around their program at this point in time."

It will be the first time the two teams have been ranked in the Associated Press Top 15 since the 2012 season - a 48-45 overtime win by the Mountaineers.

"It's the next one," Holgorsen said. "You have to get ready to play every week. If you've learned anything from the last game we've played, if you're not ready to play, you're going to get beat. It's no different than any of the other nine Big 12 teams in our league. If you're ready to play, then you have a chance to win. If you're not ready to play, then you're going to get beat. That's college football for you. It has happened to us, it has happened to them. They've been in some tight games and won. Obviously, the one against Oklahoma three weeks ago stands out because Oklahoma is playing pretty well at this point in time. They won a close one against Baylor - that probably had something to do with their quarterback problem at the time. Then, they lost a close one at Oklahoma State last week. So, anything I've said is not surprising in the Big 12, it's not surprising in college football."

Offensively, both teams are built around the quarterback position.

Texas' Sam Ehlinger comes into his second meeting with the Mountaineers. He has connected on 63.5 percent (158-249) of his passes for 1,817 yards and 13 touchdowns.

His counterpart, Grier, continues to build upon his Heisman candidate resume, completing 70.3 percent (154-219) of his passes for 2,272 yards with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

"Just like us, things start with their quarterback. Ehlinger is coming into his own. He's really a fantastic football player. I thought he was good last year, it's just hard for true freshmen to play at a high level, but he got a lot of valuable experience last year," Holgorsen said.

"They run him a lot, he's heavily involved in their run game. He has scored eight touchdowns with his feet, so they rely on that, they've built their offense around it. It's no different than what Coach (Tom) Herman did at Houston, or even in his days at Ohio State, they always ran the quarterback, and he's good at it. He's 6-(foot)-3, 225, and he looks every bit of it. He looks to me like he's much more comfortable in the pocket now. He's throwing the ball well and has made a lot of plays and extended a lot of plays against Oklahoma State last week. He looks comfortable doing so."

So much so, that defensive coordinator Tony Gibson has become somewhat tight lipped about how he and the prevent unit will game plan for the Texas QB.

"Well, I'm not going to give you our game plan," Gibson said with a laugh. "There's a little bit of everything involved. When we're rushing three and dropping eight, we have to have somebody accounting for him, because if he can't find it, he's going to take off and run on us. If we blitz him, then you have to take the chance of being able to tackle him once we get there. That's going to be a big challenge for our guys."