Will Grier's Retirement is the Perfect Time to Relive Two Iconic WVU Wins

One of the greatest quarterbacks in West Virginia football history, Will Grier, called it a career on Wednesday, announcing his retirement from football.

After the career that he put together in Morgantown, everyone thought, myself included, that he would be a star at the next level. Sometimes, it depends on the team that you’re drafted to, the situation, and a bunch of other factors.

He went through a lot early in his career with the Carolina Panthers, who moved on from Cam Newton, and made a coaching change after experiencing a bunch of success with Ron Rivera. It never felt like developing him was a priority, but he still ended up sticking in the league for over seven years, which is quite an accomplishment.

In honor of his retirement, I want to go back to two of the most impressive wins the Mountaineers have had this century that he helped create.

The first often gets forgotten about because of how special the next one that we talk about is, but in 2017, West Virginia erased an 18-point deficit against No. 24 Texas Tech to win 46–35 to improve to 4-2.

Oct 14, 2017; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Will Grier (7) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass during the fourth quarter against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

I was in the booth for this one, and you could see how poorly West Virginia's secondary was playing all game with guys just flying wide open early in their routes and Nic Shimonek just playing pitch and catch for the first 2 1/2 quarters. Tony Gibson’s unit figured some things out in the second half, allowing Grier and Co. a chance to climb back in the game.

The comeback began midway through the third quarter when Grier hit David Sills for an 8-yard touchdown pass to make it 35-24. Texas Tech zipped down the field but missed a 37-yard field goal. The momentum was halted just for a slight second when Grier was intercepted by Desmon Smith, but a three-and-out by the Red Raiders calmed things down, and that became a theme for the next few drives.

Grier then delivered one of the most impressive throws to Ka’Raun White, 32 yards down the field in the end zone, who made arguably one of the better catches in recent memory, pulling down the ball in the end zone just before stepping out. Grier then found David Sills in the back of the end zone for a two-point conversion to cut the deficit to three.

With nine minutes and change left in the game, Grier found White over the middle of the field for a 17-yard touchdown to take the lead, and from that point on, it was all Mountaineers. The defense recorded another quick stop, and Grier added onto the lead with an 11-yard toss to Sills, bumping the lead to 11. With 1:49 left, Shimonek was intercepted by Kyzir White, putting the game on ice.

The Texas game...

Nov 3, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Will Grier (7) throws a pass against Texas Longhorns during the first quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bethany Hocker-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

Every day for the past week or so, I have put on an old West Virginia game in the background as I’m punching up my first couple of articles in the morning, and it’s become a thing that fans have enjoyed as I post a picture of it along with a little stat or nugget on X.

This morning‘s choice was easy — the Will Grier Texas game.

It was a top-20 matchup and a massive game for WVU and their hopes for a Big 12 title and much more.

The two traded blows back and forth throughout the first half, and it wasn’t until the final few minutes of the third quarter that the next score was made.

Sam Ehlinger was nearly sacked by JoVanni Stewart and Ezekiel Rose, but just lobbed the ball deep down the field to the Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, who Moss’d Kenny Robinson at the 12-yard line. If that play isn’t made, it would’ve been a 54-yard field goal attempt for Cameron Dicker instead of a 22-yard field goal that they ended up kicking.

On the ensuing drive, the Mountaineers marched all the way inside the 20 and opted to go for it on fourth and short, but Kennedy McKoy was stuffed before the line to gain. At that point, it felt like things shifted heavily toward the Longhorns. Fortunately for WVU, Texas was held to yet another field goal, making it 34-27.

A long 11-play 75-yard drive was capped off by a 13-yard run by Martell Pettaway to knot the game up at 34, but that didn’t last long. Texas answered quickly as Ehlinger connected with Devin Duvernay for a 48-yard score to go back up a touchdown.

Then, magic happened.

Cheers to retirement, Will Grierpic.twitter.com/dNKwEg5eF4
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 15, 2026

Grier and the offense got down to the 33-yard line of Texas with 23 seconds left on the clock. Grier looked confused pre-snap, but went through with the play and uncorked a deep ball to Gary Jennings, while off-balance, placing it perfectly over two Texas defenders, giving Jennings just enough room to make the catch before stepping out of bounds.

Dana Holgerson elected to go for two, and some of you may have forgotten that they had to do it twice as Grier hit Sills on a slant for the score, but Tom Herman called a timeout just before the ball was snapped, forcing WVU to run another two-point play.

Grier pump faked, stepped up in the pocket, and rolled left, reaching the ball across the plane for the score. He spiked the ball on the sideline and then went straight to the fans to flash the horns down symbol along with David Sills, Gary Jennings, and Kelby Wickline.

West Virginia was able to hold on in the closing seconds to win 42–41, improving to 7-1 on the season, which bumped them up to a No. 9 ranking the following week. Grier's Heisman candidacy and West Virginia’s College Football Playoff hopes were more than alive heading into the second week of November.

Unfortunately, this was the last time that West Virginia felt like it was a true national title contender. While things fell apart in Stillwater against Oklahoma State, and then the following week in a high-scoring shootout against Oklahoma to end the season, that game against Texas, and that season will always be remembered.

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