West Virginia and No. 25 Memphis have different motivations, but a similar goal leads to Tuesday’s Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, where the Mountaineers face the Tigers for the first time at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

Memphis (10-2) is fighting to solidify its national ranking and has more than 10 wins in a season for just the second time in program history, while a strong senior class that has contributed to 20 wins over the past two years is celebrating its career ended.

WVU (6-6) has seen its fair share of turmoil over the past 16 days, starting with a 52-15 loss at Texas Tech in the regular-season finale. The next day, former head coach Neal Brown was fired before he could complete his sixth season. The Mountaineers then named offensive coordinator/running backs coach Chad Scott as interim coach throughout the bowl game and brought back Rich Rodriguez last week to replace Brown.

“They are very resilient and stayed together, kept in touch, worked and put in a lot of time,” said Scott, who will be on the sidelines as head coach for the first time on Tuesday. “It would mean a lot to us to go out with a ‘W’.”

West Virginia senior quarterback Garrett Greene is hoping to not only avoid a losing season and finish his college career on a high note, but he’s also hoping the Mountaineers have extra incentive to have a strong performance under Scott, while leading the program through a challenging transition.

“Coach Scott’s first game as a head coach, and over the last five years we’ve seen how much the program means to him and how much he invests in the program,” Greene said. “It would be a great opportunity to have him as a head coach for the first time.”

West Virginia playing in the second-earliest bowl game among FBS teams was favored by the program to expedite the transition, but presents the challenge of getting a talented Tigers team ready in less than two weeks. Following the coaching change, several Mountaineers — most notably linebacker and second-leading tackler Josiah Trotter — have entered the NCAA transfer portal, and more are likely to follow after Tuesday’s move.

Still, West Virginia will have most of its starting lineup available from the regular-season finale against the Tigers, and Greene sees a quick turnaround from the loss in Lubbock to this one as a positive development.

“It was just good in the sense that we didn’t really have a lot of free time,” Greene said. “Right after Texas Tech, we were there for a few days and then we started practicing right back. It’s helped us stay in rhythm and stay in shape because we don’t spend four or five days at home without training. We were training the whole time, so it really helped us stay in shape and stay in rhythm.”

Memphis is making its 11th straight bowl game appearance, and a year ago the Tigers defeated Iowa State 36-26 in the Liberty Bowl, marking the program’s third straight bowl victory.

In its only game so far this season against Power 4 Conference competition, Memphis won at Florida State 20-12.

“Being able to beat three Power 4 teams in 365 days is unique,” ​​Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield said. “The Liberty Bowl game against Iowa State last year was great for our program and what it meant to those players, and then the opportunity to beat Florida State in Tallahassee. Having the opportunity to beat a very good Power 4 team that has a winning record in the Big 12 means a lot because it just means we belong.

“If we get our business together, we should have a chance to be maybe one of the top 20 teams in the country. We have to be great at the fundamentals like you do in every bowl game, but any time we get a chance to put the leaping tiger logo on the map, that’s a great thing.”

Quarterback Seth Henigan is at the top of Memphis’ senior class and has been a starter behind center for four years. Henigan has thrown 23 touchdowns and six interceptions this season, as well as 102 TDs against 31 picks in his college career, which has included over 3,000 passing yards and 102 touchdown tosses each season.

Henigan is the Tigers’ all-time leader in passing yards, completions and touchdowns, as well as the American Athletic Conference’s career all-time leader in passing yards. He is the only four-year starting quarterback at an FBS program to have started all four seasons at the same school.

“It’s a testament to our culture. “At the Group of 5 level, being able to retain your star players is a testament to what we are building in Memphis, and we hope that sustained success comes after our senior class is gone,” Henigan said. “We have a deep senior class. The culture that coach Silverfield and his staff have built is here to stay. Hopefully we’ll keep building after we’re gone.”