The Mountaineers By The Numbers: No. 6

A series detailing the best Mountaineers to wear every jersey number

Author:
Daniel Woods
Publish date:
Jul 1, 2020 5:52 PM EDT

Through the years, West Virginia football has had certain jersey numbers become iconic through the play of the men who wore them. To honor this, Mountaineer Maven is beginning a new series entitled “The Mountaineers By The Numbers”, in which we will select the best player to wear each jersey number for the West Virginia Mountaineers football team.

This is an entirely subjective process and if you disagree, let us know! Every edition of the series will include one or more numbers, starting with number one, and running all the way until 100.

Up next,

Grant Wiley-LB (2000-03)

It’s not often that you see defensive players make an immediate impact at the college level as a freshman. That’s exactly what Grant Wiley did at West Virginia when he took the field for the first time in 2000.

Headed into Don Nehlen’s final season, WVU needed to replace an NFL-caliber linebacker in Barrett Green, as well as fellow starter Chris Edmonds. To fill that void, the coaching staff turned to senior David Carter for the experience but went with the freshman Wiley in the other spot.

The prolific tackler exploded onto the scene immediately with a taste of what he would bring to the table over his four years, putting together a stellar season of 94 tackles, 14 of which went for a loss, three sacks and three interceptions.

He was named Big East Freshman of the Year, averaging almost six tackles per game in conference play. In the midst of the season, a major breakout performance came as Notre Dame visited Morgantown.

Despite a Mountaineer loss, the freshman totaled 12 tackles against the Fighting Irish with three of those pushing the offense back for a total of 13 yards. From that point on, it was clear Grant Wiley was a player to watch for WVU.

While a sophomore breakout seemed likely, that would have to wait until 2002 as Wiley battled a nagging hamstring injury suffered in the opener against Boston College. He still managed to top his freshman tackle total with 98 in just nine games while being awarded the Ideal Mountaineer Man Award at season’s end.

Fully healthy as a junior, Wiley became one of the best linebackers in the country with 122 tackles while breaking double figures in tackles for loss for the second time with 12. His ability to rack up tackles in volume reemerged as he got into double digits in six out of 13 games with a career-high 15 against both Miami and Virginia Tech.

The most iconic play of his career came in that Virginia Tech game. Late in the fourth quarter, the Hokies drove inside the Mountaineer ten yard-line looking to retake the lead. With Lee Suggs taking the handoff up the middle, Wiley leaped over the line to stuff him in the backfield and turn the ball over on downs.

Despite Virginia Tech getting the ball back up close once again, Brian King picked off quarterback Bryan Randall to seal the game, and “Wiley Over The Line” became one of the most iconic plays in Mountaineer football history.

In 2003, Grant Wiley reached another level.

The senior linebacker had already earned conference honors but for his final season, he proved to be one of the best defenders in the country. For the first 12 games of the season, he reached double digits in tackles before the streak was broken in the bowl game against Maryland.

Breaking 15 stops five times, Wiley posted a career-high 18 against Miami while bringing down opposing ball carriers 167 times overall. At season’s end, he finished with 481 career tackles, second behind only Daryl Talley, and 46 tackles for loss, since surpassed by only Julian Miller. His nine forced fumbles are still tops all time.

In honor of that performance, Wiley became one of 11 consensus All-Americans in school history, etching his name into record books and the memories of countless Mountaineer fans.

He went on to sign with the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent but a series of shoulder injuries proved to be career-ending. He was inducted into the WVU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.

Since the end of his playing career, Wiley has gone into both the tech and acting fields, co-founding the NFL-partner service VEEPIO and making several credited appearances as both an actor and producer.