It’s been quite the last couple of weeks for the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSAAC) when it comes to high school football.

On Thursday, it got a lot more interesting in a hearing held in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

According to a report by Panhandle News Network’s Clint Gaige, a judge ruled in favor of restoring four victories to Spring Mills’ football program in lieu of having been slapped with forfeits due to having ruled playing with an ineligible player.

“Your rules need to get in line with federal law, which is why I am ruling in favor of the Spring Mills injunction,” Judge McLaughlin said to the WVSSAC in Thursday’s ruling per the MetroNews report.

Spring Mills self-reported the eligibility violation of Treshawn Garmon, 18, who was enrolled as a student at the school through protections of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Per Gaige’s report, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal measure is aimed at protecting the educational rights of children who are homeless. The report also states the act requires a school system to remove barriers for homeless students to acquire educational opportunities, which includes extra curricular activities I.E. sports like football.

Per a MetroNews report, Garmon had moved to West Virginia back in the summer, but was wanted on charges of sexual assault back in Lee County, Georgia and was extradited back to Georgia in October to face charges of the sexual assault of a child.

Though Spring Mills now goes from 5-5 to 9-1, the team has no clue when exactly they’ll take the field for the postseason. The West Virginia high school football playoffs are officially on hold until further notice, due an injunction by Wood County regarding to the WVSSAC’s playoff formula rating.

Wood County’s injunction was upheld and four schools were displaced from the postseason brackets, which have now already seen more legal action taken by school boards which has officially delayed the WVSSAC playoffs.

“Then we would have competing injunctions. We can’t pick and choose which one we are going to follow. That would be up to a higher court to decide that. We would take a look next at what steps to take for that decision to be made. Hopefully it can be done quickly. If not, then we would have to look at possibly postponing or moving back a week or two until that decision is made. Those are all speculation at this point,” WVSSAC Executive Director David Price said in a report last week.

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— Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi

West Virginia is looking to make it three wins in a row with Baylor coming to Morgantown for a Big 12 Conference matchup. WVSports.com offers a look at some key elements of the match-up to get you ready for kick-off.

In this game preview, we dive into numbers and notes, a depth chart, our video preview of the game as well as where to can watch the contest.

Series: 8-4 West Virginia

Last meeting: 2023 WVU 34 BU 31

Television: 4 p.m. ESPN2, Mike Monaco (PBP), Kirk Morrison (analyst), Dawn Davenport (sideline)

Current Odds: BU -2.5 | Over/Under 59/5

COACHES:

Dave Aranda:

BAYLOR RECORD: 28-29, 5th Year

OVERALL RECORD: 28-29, 5th Year

VS. WEST VIRGINIA: 1-3

Neal Brown:

WEST VIRGINIA RECORD: 36-33, 6th Year

OVERALL RECORD: 71-49, 10th Year

VS. BAYLOR: 3-2

NOTES:

–West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is in his sixth season atop the Mountaineers football program and has gone 36-33 in Morgantown during that time. Overall, Brown is 71-49 as a head coach in his tenth season in that role.

–WVU is 8-6-1 in games played on Nov. 16, including 4-3 at home. The last time WVU played on that date was in 2019 at Kansas State (W 24-20)

–Overall, the Mountaineers are 31-11 in the Neal Brown era when rushing for at least 100 yards.

–West Virginia has surpassed at least 140 rushing yards in 23 of the last 25 games, dating back to 2022.

–West Virginia has reached 100 yards on the ground 42 times in the Neal Brown era.

–The Mountaineers are ranked No. 5 nationally for fewest penalty yards per game and No. 10 in fewest penalties per game

–Since 2002, the Mountaineers are 104-15 when winning the turnover battle.

-Since 1980, West Virginia has been 218-30-1 when scoring 30 or more points in a game. During the 1990s, West Virginia was 44-4 when scoring 30 or more points in a contest and was 40-2-1 in the ‘80s when reaching that mark. WVU is 133- 25 since 2000 when scoring 30 points or more in a contest.

–The ESPN2 broadcast of the Baylor game marks the 334th network television game for WVU. All-time, the Mountaineers are 176-156-1 in nationally televised games.

-The 2024 roster consists of 125 players from 24 different states and three foreign countries: Australia (1), Finland (1) and Liberia (1). Leading the way are West Virginia (28), Ohio (17), Pennsylvania (14), Florida (13), Georgia (8), Maryland (7), Virginia (5), South Carolina (4), Kentucky (3), New Jersey (3), New York (3), Alabama (2), Delaware (2), Illinois (2), Oklahoma (2), Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington.

–Eleven true freshmen have seen action for the Mountaineers in 2024: Clay Ash (RB), Israel Boyce (DB), Makai Byerson (DL), Trae’von Dunbar (RB), Ric’Darious Farmer (WR), Nate Gabriel (DL), Zae Jennings (SPEAR), Curtis Jones Jr. (LB), Elijah Kinsler (DL), Keyshawn Robinson (S) and Jack Sammarco (TE).

–Coaching assignments: AHC-OL Matt Moore (Field), OC-RB Chad Scott (Field), Co-DC-Secondary ShaDon Brown (Press Box), ST Coordinator-ILB Jeff Koonz (Press Box), QB Tyler Allen (Press Box), DL Andrew Jackson (Field), WR Bilal Marshall (Field), TE Blaine Stewart (Field) and OLB Victor Cabral (Field).

–Dating back to the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina, West Virginia has made 19 bowl appearances in the last 22 years, missing only the 2013, 2019, and 2022 seasons.

–Breaking down the West Virginia offensive numbers for the 2024 season shows that the Mountaineers have run 586 plays, 355 on the ground and 231 through the air.

–The rushing game has totaled 1,710 yards, an average of 4.8 yards per carry and 17 touchdowns. The passing attack has totaled 1,786 yards, 14 touchdowns and an average of 13.1 yards per completion. Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 3,496 yards of total offense, 31 touchdowns, an average of 6.0 yards per play and an average of 29.0 points per game.

–Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained 92 first downs by the run and 82 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 190.0 yards per game on the ground, 198.4 yards per game passing and 388.4 yards per game of total offense.

–On first down, the Mountaineers have run 257 plays and have gained 1,600 yards for a 6.2 average. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 186 plays for 997 yards and a 5.4 average. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 117 plays for 786 yards and a 6.7 average gain. West Virginia has run 26 plays on fourth down for 113 yards and a 4.3 average.

–WVU’s touchdowns have come nine times on first down (5 rush/4 pass), 11 times on second down (8 rush/3 pass), seven times on third down (1 rush/6 pass) and four times on fourth down (3 rush/1 pass).