The West Virginia Mountaineers (6-7) fell to the No. 25 Memphis Tigers (11-2) 42-37 in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday night.

Interim coach Chad Scott met with the media after the game and gave his initial thoughts on the Mountaineers’ performance.

These guys had every reason, every reason, to stop, get out and give up right from the start. And these guys refused to do that. Everything I asked them to do, they did. They have gone above and beyond. 100% participation in training and training. The energy and intensity of the exercises was great. The focus was great. The boys were locked up the whole time. The first message I told these people: “10 percent of the things that happen in life you can’t control, but the most important thing is that 90 percent depends on how you react.” And the way that Guys’ response to the adversity that came with the game was first class. You had a chance to see it first hand tonight.

We didn’t start as fast as we wanted to play and the boys never let up. They were resilient and responded. In the end it didn’t work out for us.

The thing I love most about is not the play call, but the player, and putting our guys in the best position to win. As a coach, I think it’s great to support the players who have been successful for us and have worked for us repeatedly. Instead of just hitting a call that made me feel good.

I’m super proud of these guys – the way they reacted, the way they did it and the way they fought together.

Early on we tried to establish the run and control the clock at the start of the game, but they made a real mess in the penalty area. Coming in we knew they were pretty vulnerable on the back end and so we were probably a bit too persistent in trying to control the ball.

I think at the start of the second quarter we said, ‘Hey, we’re just going to play along – we’re just going to shoot our shot.’ I told the defensive players, ‘Hey, we’re going to be aggressive, so hey, trust the decision.’ I I’ve been telling the guys all week, “Take it easy so these guys don’t shy away, don’t think, just go play ball,” and that’s exactly what I told them today: “Take it easy, so these guys. “Go play ball because we are getting aggressive be. The three of us could go and get out.’ Now, fortunately for us, we scored a goal. I think we scored on every single one of the last six drives. Shortly before halftime he ran out of time – he kicked a field goal. Phenomenal work from (senior kicker) Michael Hayes. Until this last possession here. So it should have been more aggressive from the start.