MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Maurice Fleming, tip-drill hero in Saturday’s 35-32 win over BYU, carries a simple recollection of what convinced him to spend his final season at West Virginia.
He didn’t need to see the Mountaineers’ new team room or their stadium renovation or the new practice fields. The only persuasion Fleming needed was one face-to-face talk with defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.
“As soon as I met Gibby I was pretty much sold,” the Iowa transfer said. “I was like sorry to everybody else, but this is where I need to be.”
Fleming announced his transfer destination in May, after he and his mother visited Morgantown, where Gibson was seeking instant help for the secondary.
“He kept it real,” Fleming said. “Just talked football and how he could help get me where I wanted to go. That’s what I wanted to hear.”
After appearing in 33 games at Iowa over three seasons, Fleming drew mild interest on the graduate transfer free-agent market. But coaches from some competing programs were re-using the same spiels Fleming heard as a high school prospect in Chicago.
“I wasn’t a freshman anymore, and some of these other schools were taking about this and talking about that. I wasn’t buying it at all,” he said.
Fleming started the season opener against Missouri and saw heavy action as the third cornerback when Rasul Douglas moved into the lineup in Week 2. Fleming came off the bench against BYU and played most of the second half after Antonio Crawford was injured.
On BYU’s final snap, Fleming ran deep with the Cougars’ top receiver Nick Kurtz while nickel back Nana Kyremeh played man coverage on Aleva Hifo from the slot. Taysom Hill’s underthrown pass at the goal line gave Hifo a chance to adjust if not for Kyremeh’s perfectly timed left-hand swat that deflected the ball toward Fleming, who pulled down his first college interception.
“I heard someone yell ‘Ball!’ so I knew the pass was in the air,” he said. “Then it happened so fast. I saw the tip. Great play by Nana.”
And great relief for Gibson, whose defense generated four turnovers to mitigate BYU’s 521 yards.
“The smile on Fleming’s face coming to sideline — with everything that kid’s been through and coming here for his fifth year — was great,” the coordinator said. “You couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
Actually Fleming, despite a career-high seven tackles, wasn’t wholly satisfied with the script. Not when his unit allowed four touchdown drives and yielded 10-of-15 third downs.
“I wouldn’t give us an A,” Fleming said. “We still didn’t live up to or expectations, which is three touchdowns or less.”