After the conclusion of the West Virginia Mountaineers’ 2024 campaign, which was the last ride for fired Head Coach Neal Brown, Athletic Director Wren Baker told the media that WVU sought an early bowl matchup. After a 6-6 season that ended with demolition at the hands of Texas Tech, safe to say the Mountaineers want the season to wrap quickly. The Memphis Tigers, on the other hand, want to add to their second straight 10-win season under Head Coach Ryan Silverfield. We provide our Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl preview and predictions here. The ball kicks off at 9:00 PM Eastern Time, and ESPN will televise the event.
Frisco Bowl Preview and Predictions
The Tigers enter the Frisco Bowl looking to continue a three-game winning streak. To conclude the regular season, Memphis knocked off 18th-ranked Tulane 34-24. With the win, Memphis clinched its second straight 10-win season, the first such streak in the Tigers’ FBS history.
At some point during the coaching search that ended with the Mountaineers hiring Head Coach Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia interviewed Silverfield for the position. That certainly would have made for some awkward intrigue had the Mountaineers gone further with Silverfield. Instead, interim Head Coach Chad Scott, who served as the Mountaineers’ offensive coordinator and running back coach, will lead West Virginia into Frisco, Texas.
Tigers Bring Balanced Attack to Texas
Memphis travels to Texas ranking 19th in the country in points per game. Offensively, the Tigers offer a balanced attack, passing an average of 35 times and rushing an average of 38 times a game. Senior signal caller Seth Henigan leads the aerial attack for the fourth straight year. His favorite targets include Roc Taylor (61 receptions) and Demeer Blankumsee (41).
On the ground, the Tigers rely heavily on South Carolina transfer senior Mario Anderson. Indeed, Anderson leads the Tigers with 219 carries, nearly 1,300 yards, and 17 touchdowns. Anderson is also a receiving threat with 46 receptions, 290 yards, and two touchdowns. Behind Anderson, Memphis uses Brandon Thomas, who adds 331 yards on 55 carries to the backfield.
Mountaineers Rush to Texas
Both figuratively and literally, the West Virginia Mountaineers rush into Texas. At Baker’s request, the Mountaineers play in just the third bowl of the postseason. They feature a run-heavy attack, dialing up runs 60% of the time.
Three players have carried the ball over 100 times: Jahiem White (142), CJ Donaldson (141), and Garrett Greene (126). Averaging over five-and-a-half yards per carry, White offers the most explosion. Donaldson offers a steady, bruising back to offset White’s speed.
As a signal caller, Greene has been inconsistent. His completion percentage (58%) offers an improvement over the last two seasons, but he’s thrown for a career-high 11 interceptions. Like Henigan, Greene is a veteran player who will play his last college game on Tuesday.
Turnovers a Difference?
The West Virginia Mountaineers have struggled to create turnovers for several years. They average just under a turnover a game this season while coughing up the ball nearly one-and-a-half times a contest. Their pressure has been unreliable, and the defense has largely been reactive as a result. The lackluster performance has the Mountaineers yielding over 31 points per game, good for 106th in the nation.
Memphis, on the other hand, turns the ball over once in about two games but forces two turnovers a game defensively. The Tigers also have 25 sacks on the season, good for over two per game. Based on their opportunistic defense, the Tigers surrender just under 23 points per game. They are better in run defense, giving up just over three-and-a-half yards per carry. That turnover margin might be the difference in the game.
Predicting the Frisco Bowl
Our Frisco Bowl preview ends with a prediction. Silverfield and his team enter the game motivated to win its fourth straight bowl game (and second straight against a Big 12 team). The Mountaineers, on the other hand, concluded their season with a 37-point loss to Texas Tech. Scott certainly offers the team a great interim leader, and he and his staff did plenty to keep the roster bought in after the firing of Brown. We expect this to be a close game, with the Mountaineers entering with enough of a chip on their shoulder to make things interesting. That said, with the WVU pass defense amounting to a significant liability, we expect Hanigan to lead the Tigers to a single-score victory over the Mountaineers. After the game, of course, the second Rodriguez era begins in earnest for West Virginia.
