The West Virginia Mountaineers have had their fair share of historic football victories since the turn of the 21st century.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) ā€” It was, considering the defensive dominance West Virginia held over Virginia Tech in Thursday night's 33-10 victory, a rare line on the statistic sheet under the Mountaineers' star defensive tackle Dante Stills' name.

One assisted tackle and one quarterback hurry.

That's all there was.

When one considers that Stills came into the game needing only one tackle for a loss to tie former linebacker Grant Wiley's school career record of 47.5 you understand why some questions were being raised.

In fact, it was the third game in succession that Stills had been involved in only one tackle.

One might ask why this is occurring. Or how.

Perhaps a hint came out of a Facebook posting from his mother ā€” and biggest fan ā€” Janeen Floyd over the weekend:

"Show your West Virginia Passion!! Make every snap countā€¦when they hold & double & triple team you, fight through it & just know when this happens youā€™re helping your teamā€¦ I love you Son...Unleash the Beast within!!"

Sometimes, you see, there's a high price you pay with fame and success, as Stills has had over a four-year career.

With Akheem Mesidor having transferred out, teams can devise offensive blocking schemes aimed at making sure it isn't Stills who harasses their quarterbacks and tosses their running backs around as they try to make their way through the line.

Certainly, Virginia Tech and Kansas went in that direction.

And, if they held when he seemed to be breaking loose, it hardly mattered. If called for a penalty, while it would cost them 10 yards, they'd at least get to play the down over.

In the Virginia Tech game, WVU was credited with only 40 tackles all night and Tech ran just 53 plays, an extremely low number and with no tackles being credited on 19 incomplete passes, there were limited tackling opportunities for everyone on the defensive side.

Stills let on prior to the Virginia Tech game that he knew how teams were approaching him and that his approach in the defense has changed dramatically.

"For me, this whole year was about trying not to do too much," he said in pre-game interviews. "I just try to play within the scheme the way I play."

it's funny how things work. When you come into college football as a top recruit you want to be noticed, to make a name for yourself. But as the years go by you become more and more of a team player, approaching games with a different attitude.

That's the approaching Stills is taking.

"I love seeing other guys make plays, probably more than my own plays," he said. "So, if there's a play that I don't make, I don't worry about it. I just trust that I'm going to make the play when it's presented to me.

"I'm just going out and doing my job and having fun."

You see the jubilation that flows forth from Stills when the defense comes up with big plays, knowing that his job isn't necessarily to be the man who makes the play but the man who makes it possible for the man who made the play to make it.

If he's taking on two blockers; if they are running the other way; if the quarterback is running quick passes rather giving him time to get there, he's done his job.

The coaches certainly recognize that and set their defense expecting the offenses to be set up to keep Stills from being the one making the plays.

Take the Towson game. Defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley went out of his way in the pre-Virginia Tech session to point out the mechanisms at work when Jordan Jefferson had a sack.

"Jefferson got the stat, but Dante made the play," he said. "He set up the 'twist game', took an angle that allowed Jefferson to get free to make the play.

"That's an example of what he does within the game. Guys are going to know where 55 is. He understands now and doesn't get frustrated if he isn't the one making the play."

Lesley now has things figured out, what offenses are doing and how he can make use of that knowledge.

Stills is moved around in the defensive schemes. Sometimes left, sometimes right, sometime down in a stance, sometimes standing up

"We try to disguise him, use other guys to get him free," Lesley said.

The tackle for a loss to tie Wiley will come and the person rooting hardest for Stills to break the record, other than his family, is Wiley himself.

"It would have been neat if he could have done it at Virginia Tech, on the same field where we had that goal line stand in 2002," Wiley said. "And it would have been really cool if he had done it on fourth-and-goal. That would have been awesome for him."

Wiley says that when he saw that Stills was on the verge of tying his record, he texted him.

"Break it," Wiley says he said in the text. "It would be neat if you could take it to 60."

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) ā€” Can it be 20 years already, two decades, a time of ups and downs in West Virgnia football history?

If one were to pick the three defining games of the 21st century for the Mountaineer program, one would pick the game that almost ruined it, that being the 2007 upset loss to Pitt that cost it not a chance at a national championship but also its coach, Rich Rodriguez.

One would also select the next game the Mountaineers played, the Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma which not only got Bill Stewart the job of head coach but which held things together after the Backyard Brawl that became a fiasco.

But third was the 2002 night in Blacksburg, Virginia, where WVU returns on Thursday for the first time in 14 years to play the Virginia Tech Hokies. That game 20 years ago may well have dictated the direction the program would take into the 2000s, returning it among the elite in college football.

It was a victory when WVU had its back against the wall on its own goal line twice in the closing minutes and somehow survived, a game that ended with safety Brian King intercepting quarterback Bryan Randall in the end zone to save the day.

But that play never would have happened had linebacker Grant Wiley not etched his name into Mountaineer lore minutes earlier as he closed out a goal line stand that included three Hokie attempts to get into the end zone from less than a yard away with perhaps the greatest tackle in WVU history.

Fourth-and-1 for Virginia Tech, trailing at home, 62,273 frenzied fans screaming at the top of their lungs. They had in their backfield the ultimate scoring machine in running back Lee Suggs, who had scored a rushing touchdown in 24 consecutive games, including the first one in this game on a 28-yard run.

Now, he needed only two feet ...

What happened next defies description, but Grant Wiley tried on Tuesday, speaking by phone from his Pennsylvania home, shaking his head as he mused, ā€œIt doesnā€™t seem like 20 years ago.ā€

Some background

In 2000, Don Nehlen retired as West Virginia coach and was replaced by Rich Rodriguez, a former WVU player and native of the state who was a hot number as an offensive coordinator but who had never had a big-time head coaching job.

Things did not start well for Rodriguez with a 3-8 debut season, including a devastating 35-0 home loss to Virginia Tech.

ā€œWe had just lost to Virginia Tech a year earlier, 35-0 at home. That game inflicted a little pain on the community, and we wanted to reverse it,ā€ Wiley recalled.

Now it was November, They won two in a row and then found themselves face to face with a Virginia Tech team ranked No. 13.

Virginia Tech drove to just inside the 10 and gave the ball to Suggs, who went within a foot of the end zone. On second down, Suggs tried the middle and was stopped. On third down, Randall tried a quarterback sneak but was stuffed back a foot or so.

Fourth down.

Down to the field

Grant Wiley understood what the situation was.

ā€œIf I donā€™t make that play, who knows? If ā€˜WEā€™ donā€™t make that play, because the defensive line had a tremendous effect on where the running back was going, and I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the flow,ā€ he said.

Wiley was always more than just a football player. He was a deep thinker, although at the time, he really didnā€™t know it.

ā€œThe way I see it, Iā€™m having this existential experience in the middle of this football game, and thereā€™s 80,000 people plus a national television audience, and only I know what is going on inside of me to introduce me to this new way of seeing the world,ā€ Wiley explained. ā€œThatā€™s pretty profound, that we can have these experiences in the middle of a game.ā€

So many things go through your mind in moments like this.

ā€œHave you ever seen the movie ā€œFor the Love of the Gameā€ with Kevin Costner? Thatā€™s one of the best metaphors to explain what was going on for me in that moment,ā€ he said. ā€œAt that moment in my career, teams were not coming my way, and I would have to be patient.

ā€œMy dad, who passed a couple of years ago, had taught me as kid to be patient. I had a very impatient mindset for most of adolescence. I wanted everything to happen immediately and to make plays immediately, but sometimes, when teams donā€™t have a whole lot of success going your way, they avoid you.ā€

So, what would Tech do?

ā€œThey had, in Suggs, the most prolific runner in the country as far as scoring touchdowns, and Bryan Randall was a dual threat at quarterback,ā€ he said. ā€œFrom my perspective, itā€™s fourth-and-goal and they have only two options.

ā€œThey are either going to bootleg with Randall and he can run it or throw it or they are going to give it to Suggs. Iā€™m thinking, if I were Frank Beamer, Iā€™d just give it to Suggs because he does it every single game.ā€

He remembers the moment well.

ā€œI remember looking at Dirty Davis and saying, ā€˜I got to make this play.ā€™ He looked at me and said, ā€˜You do. And if you donā€™t make it, Iā€™m going to make it.ā€™

ā€œSo, we had this little mini-conversation on the field, everything went quiet. It was that metaphor from ā€œFor the Love of the Game.ā€ I didnā€™t know how, I just trusted that the ball was going to be snapped and I was going to just know what to do.

ā€œIt was loud, you could feel the tension ... and then there was our own confidence that someone had to step up. We just believed in each other.ā€

The play

The ball was snapped.

ā€œI donā€™t remember it clearly, but there was an opening. Itā€™s always fascinated me to this day, how many decisions we have to make in a split second. Youā€™re either right or wrong. Thatā€™s one of the beautiful things in sports. Almost doesnā€™t matter.

ā€œI saw Randall was leaning into the handoff, which to me signified a run. If a quarterback doesnā€™t lean there and is standing more straight up, you know they are building the momentum to roll out. He was all in on the handoff, and I knew it.

ā€œThen that opening happened. I think the guard blocked down because there were three interior linemen. Something came over me, and I just jumped. I knew I had to push Suggs into the pile, so I used my outside shoulder leverage, because if I miss inside of him he might bounce it and walk in. If you watch the play, I jump and the majority of my body is closing out the outside so he canā€™t see if thereā€™s anything there.

ā€œI hit his leg ā€” 240 pounds going into his hip. He was a physical freak, but I put enough into his hip that he couldnā€™t collect himself before everyone else was able to pile in. I think he would have gone down anyway, but it was good the others were there.

ā€œI remember running off to the sidelines. I had a little celebration. Then I sat there and was like, ā€˜Wow!ā€™ Not about the jump so much because I didnā€™t even recall that. It was more like, ā€˜What just happened?ā€™ There was that moment of blackout.

ā€œThen I sat there and was thinking we have to go back out there for another series. Rich made a great decision taking a safety. Rich was betting on the defense to come out and stop them again.ā€

Changing the future

ā€œThe game, the play had a significant impact on Coach Rodā€™s legacy and all of our legacy with the program,ā€ Wiley said. ā€œAt that time, my goal was to have a 10-year career in the NFL,ā€ Wiley said. ā€œThat moment showed me that thereā€™s more to this experience of life than just this game. I was OK with that, knowing the fragility of that expectancy is a play away from ending or a play forward from building an even bigger reputation and legacy within the game.ā€œI enjoy the time reflecting on how can I apply that to my time today. Thereā€™s nothing wrong with going through life signing autographs and being the person who did that and still living off that in some way, but for me, it was a bigger, grander experience and helped me figure out my role in this world.

ā€œI use the same principles and I try to live in that state on a daily basis. It doesnā€™t matter what we are doing but where we are coming from when we are doing things; thatā€™s the gem I carry forward in relation to people, in how I am approaching art or technology or how I relate to my family,ā€ Wiley continued.

ā€œI will never forget it. I know my family will never forget it, and I can only do myself a service by keeping it in a positive light because of how positively it affected me through my life.ā€

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) ā€” One week until kickoff.

Seven days. One-hundred-and-sixty-eight hours. That's 10,800 minutes.

You get the picture.

West Virginia is getting serious about Maryland now.

Decisions have been made. Position battles are over and game-planning for next Saturday's 3:30 p.m. kickoff is nearly finished.

Tension builds in players. It builds in coaches, too.

That's what makes it so wonderful.

Echoes of Jack Fleming's voice ring clearly throughout the state. Let's back to one of four times the Mountaineers beat Boston College and Doug Flutie:

"Here's Flutie being chased. They're after him. Did they get him? They got him! They got him back at the 47-yard-line. That was Matt Smith, the linebacker. They got Flutie. They got him that time. All afternoon they've been chasing him. All afternoon they've pursued him. They got him at the 26-and-a-half-yard line for the first sack of the ball game, only the sixth sack of the season for Flutie ... "

Echoes of Tony Caridi's call of Grant Wiley's fourth-down stop of Virginia Tech's Lee Suggs on the goal line in Blacksburg, Virginia, again fill the memory:

"And folks, this is going to be it. Thirteenth play of the drive. Will it be lucky or will it be unlucky? No. 13 for the Hokies. Fourth down and goal, about eight inches away from the goal line. Randall is under center, Power-I formation. Randall barking signals, hands the ball off to Suggs. SUGGS IS STOPPED SHORT! West Virginia gets the football. It was Grant Wiley. Grant Wiley stopped Lee Suggs with 3:51 to go. And there is pandemonium on the West Virginia sideline ... "

One week until the rumbling begins, a Maryland team that is building under Mike Locksley will be hosting WVU as the rivalry renews after a five-year gap, a wide gap but not as wide as the talent gap that existed when it came to a halt in 2015 after WVU beat the Terps for the ninth time in 10 meetings.

Much is different. Brown is now coach at WVU. Dana Holgorsen is gone. His quarterback, too, is gone, that being Skylar Howard, while Jarret Doege enters his final season taking snaps.

One thing that hasn't changed is West Virginia's pass defense. The people running it are different, and the alignment is different, but last year it led the nation in fewest passing yards allowed, and in that last Maryland game, the Mountaineers came up with five interceptions, one each by K.J. Dillon, Terrell Chestnut, Karl Joseph, Jeremy Tyler and Daryl Worley.

While there were key defections from last year's secondary through the transfer portal in safety Tykee Smith and cornerback Dreshun Miller, WVU is filling those holes with a couple of players they regard highly in safety Scottie Young, an Arizona transfer, returning cornerback Jackie Matthews and Illinois State transfer Charles Wood.

"It took some time, but I feel I can adapt to things quick," Young said. "That comes with maturity. When you have a goal, when you know what you want, things come kind of easy, like being able to adapt. You put a lot of outside noise to the side and you focus on what you want."

Maryland is a tough opener to a tough schedule that includes 11 games against Power 5 opponents.

"It's very challenging," Neal Brown said. "We play 11 Power Five teams. I think we're one of four universities to play 11 Power Fives, nine leagues and we play two regional rivals. The regional rivals are important to our fan base."

That's Maryland in Week 1, Virginia Tech in Week 3.

With the uncertainty in WVU's place in the college football power structure, considering the fragile nature of the Big 12, victories over a Big 10 and an ACC team would loom large as they try to put Humpty Dumpty back together again in college football.

Like college football, Brown is trying to put WVU football back together again and has made large strides in changing both the culture and talent level as he enters Year 3, closely following the same pattern that emerged as he did the same thing at Troy University in Alabama.

If it holds together this year, Brown will have some upsets stored up for top-ranked teams, although he's not ready to judge his team yet.

"Our theme for this year is to be better, and that's our objective in every phase," Brown said during Big 12 Media Day. "Culturally, our buy-in is extremely high right now. We've made tremendous progress in the last two years with the culture of our football program. On the field, I like our team. I think our leadership is better than at any point since i was named coach."

All that's left is to ring out those echoes of the glory days is to translate that into victories, beginning next weekend.