FRISCO, Texas ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” The No. 25 Memphis Tigers held off a frantic comeback from the West Virginia Mountaineers, seeing a 17-0 lead that went as high as 18 in the third quarter evaporate to five points before a game-sealing interception cemented the 42-37 final.
Garrett GreeneÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s only real mistake was the final throw that he was forced to make; the West Virginia quarterback completed 29 of 40 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns to go with that interception and ran seven times for 95 yards and another score.
Hudson Clement was the target of choice, grabbing 11 balls for 166 yards and both touchdowns.
CJ Donaldson carried 22 times for 83 yards and two late touchdowns during the rally for WVU, which ends the season 6-7 and will hand the reins back to Rich Rodriguez in 2025.
For Memphis (11-2), Seth Henigan was 18 of 26 passing for 294 yards and two scores, with DeMeer Blankumsee (four catches, 120 yards, one TD) and Roc Taylor (five catches, 116 yards) his primary targets.
West Virginia won the coin toss and chose to receive, but went three-and-out.
Memphis moved the chains on third-and-6 with a 14-yard pass from Henigan to Blankumsee, but Trey Latham stopped Mario Anderson Jr. three yards short of the marker on a third-and-9 pass three plays later.
Two Donaldson runs gained eight yards on WVUÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s second drive, but GreeneÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s pass intended for Clement fell incomplete and the Mountaineers punted again with 7:56 left in the first quarter, with Koby Drake returning the kick 13 yards into WVU territory at the 45.
Anderson Jr. rushed for 12 yards on the next snap, then Henigan kept for a gain of 23 on third-and-4.
On the next play, the two connected on a 4-yard TD pass, giving Memphis the 7-0 lead after Tristian VandenbergÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s kick with 5:06 left in the first quarter.
West Virginia picked up its first first down of the game on a 3-yard Jahiem White rush, a 6-yard pass from Greene to Rodney Gallagher and a 2-yard Donaldson rush.
But Donaldson, after a 6-yard catch on the next play, fumbled on a run, with MemphisÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ Mond Cole recovering the ball at the WVU 41.
Henigan hit Greg Desrosiers Jr. for 20 yards on third-and-7 to advance the ball into the red zone at the 18, setting up a 34-yard Vandenberg field goal on the opening play of the second quarter to increase the gap to 10-0.
On the ensuing possession, Greene picked up a third-and-13 with his feet, gaining 15, but the Mountaineers failed three plays later on third-and-1 when White was stopped for no gain, then unsuccessfully went for it on fourth down as GreeneÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s pass intended for Kole Taylor fell incomplete.
Memphis struck again on their first snap as Desrosiers Jr. ran 46 yards to the right for a touchdown.
The Tigers led 17-0 with 10:56 left in the second quarter.
West Virginia then mounted its first scoring drive.
Greene passed to Clement for six yards, handed off to White for 16, then hit Clement again two plays later for 19 yards down to the Memphis 37.
After a 4-yard White rush, Greene hit his favorite target, Clement, again for a 33-yard touchdown in the right side of the end zone.
The Mountaineers cut their deficit to 17-7 on Michael HayesÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ PAT with 7:28 left in the second quarter.
Memphis again drove into West Virginia territory, buoyed by a 25-yard pass from Henigan to Roc Taylor and a 10-yard Anderson Jr. rush, and turned to Vandenberg again for a 42-yard FG: 20-7 with 2:30 to go in the half.
Greene connected with DayDay Farmer for six yards, handed off to Donaldson for 13, then, after an incomplete pass, took off for a 56-yard TD.
West Virginia was back within a score, 20-14, with 1:44 remaining in the quarter.
But Memphis wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t done, benefitting from a 40-yard pass to Roc Taylor plus a roughing the passer flag tacked onto the end of the play to fly down to the West Virginia 21.
Two plays later, Henigan hit Blankumsee for the 18-yard score, then the same combination converted the 2-point play. The touchdown was HeniganÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s 104th career passing score, tying the American Athletic Conference record.
Just like that, the lead was back to 14, 28-14, with 55 seconds on the second-quarter clock.
Greene ran for a 7-yard gain and passed to Kole Taylor for 23 more down to the Memphis 45.
After another completion, this time to Preston Fox for 11 yards, Greene missed on his next two throws before connecting with Taylor for six yards.
West Virginia took a timeout with four seconds left and trotted on Hayes, who was true from 46 yards, cutting the halftime gap to 11 points, 28-17.
Both quarterbacks shone in the first half: Henigan was 14-for-19 for 136 yards with two touchdowns, while Greene did it with his arm (11-for-17, 126 yards, one TD) and his legs (four carries for 74 yards and a score).
The total yards were virtually identical: 252-251 in favor of Memphis.
The difference? Field position: MemphisÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ average starting spot was its own 42, while West VirginiaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s average drive began at its own 22.
Memphis went back to the air on the first snap of the third quarter with a 48-yard pass from Henigan to Roc Taylor that held up after review.
Anderson Jr. finished the 8-play drive with a 3-yard rush with 11:14 remaining in the third quarter: 35-17.
The Mountaineers responded with two Donaldson first-down rushes and completions of 20 yards (to Gallagher) and 12 yards (to Clement) to push the ball to the Memphis 31.
Donaldson ran for five, Greene hit Clement for six, Donaldson tore off five more, then Greene hooked up with Clement in the end zone for a second time, this time from 10 yards away.
In his last game as a Mountaineer, Greene moved into the top 10 in school history in career passing yards during the drive.
West Virginia botched the PAT, though, and trailed 35-23 with 7:16 to go in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers then forced a Memphis punt for the first time since the TigersÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ initial drive of the game.
Greene then moved the sticks with a 9-yard rush on third-and-8, then Donaldson picked off 13 yards on the next play and Greene followed with an 8-yard rush.
On fourth-and-5, Greene connected with Clement again for eight yards and a first down at the MountaineersÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ 47-yard line.
West Virginia faced a third-and-9 to open the fourth quarter and got it on a pass from ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” guess who ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Greene to Clement, this time covering 37 yards to the Memphis 15.
Donaldson nearly halved the distance to the goal with a 7-yard rush, then a holding penalty each way gave WVU a fresh set of downs at the Memphis 9.
After Donaldson was stopped at the line of scrimmage, Greene hit Fox on second-and-goal for a gain of six.
A Greene-to-Fox pass nosed the ball to the 1, bringing up a huge fourth-down play.
Donaldson did the job with a run up the middle, Hayes hit the PAT and West Virginia was as close as it had been since 0-0, trailing 35-30 with 12:02 to go thanks to a 16-play, 90-yard drive that ate 7:51 of clock.
But again, the MountaineersÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ pass defense proved to be its downfall.
Henigan and Blankumsee hooked up for 89 yards on first down and Brandon Thomas picked up the last few feet with a 1-yad rush.
The lead was back to double digits, 42-30, with 10:52 remaining.
Greene ran for 14, passed for two (Gallagher), 17 (Jarel Williams), four (Gallagher) and 13 (Kole Taylor) before the streak was broken up by a dropped pass.
Another one started with a 2-yard pass to Taylor and continued with a 27-yard hookup with Gallagher down to the Memphis 15.
Donaldson gave him a breather with a 4-yard rush, a 5-yard catch-and-run and another 4-yard carry before finishing the job from a yard away for the second straight drive and recording his 30th career Mountaineer TD.
With 4:17 left, Memphis led by five again, 42-37.
The Tigers were in the clock-milking business on their next drive, getting a vital first down from Henigan on a 10-yard keeper and another 19-yard gainer from Anderson Jr. following the 2-minute timeout.
West Virginia used its final timeout before a third-and-5 play with 1:39 to go and stopped Anderson Jr. after a gain of three.
Memphis burned every possible second before taking a timeout with 56 seconds left, then Vandenberg missed a 50-yard field goal, leaving the door open with 51 ticks remaining.
Greene. Clement. 23 yards, out of bounds at the Memphis 46.
Greene. Clement. 5 yards, out of bounds at the Memphis 41; 41 yards to go, 41 seconds to do it.
Greene had to keep for four yards and lost 13 seconds in the process.
But Greene, needing to throw, was intercepted by Elijah Herring to end the rally.
