Among the numerous Top 25 upsets we've already seen pulled off in Week 8 of the college football season, one was led by a former WVU football quarterback who transferred out of the program following the 2024 season.
Ryder Burton, who started his career at BYU before spending the 2024 season as the third-string quarterback for the Mountaineers, got his first-career start for the UAB Blazers today, less than a week after the program fired now-former head coach Trent Dilfer. Burton, who left the program at WVU after Neal Brown was fired last year, proceeded to use his opportunity well as he led the Blazers to a 31-24 upset of previously undefeated No. 22 Memphis – despite the fact that Memphis entered as over three touchdown favorites.
Don't look now, but former WVU quarterback Ryder Burton – who transferred after Neal Brown was fired – just led UAB to a Top 25 upset of Memphis in his first collegiate start.
— Joe Smith (@joesmithwrites) October 18, 2025
Burton looked quite impressive in the win for the Blazers, going 20-of-27 for 251 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception against the Tigers, a team that knocked off the Mountaineers last season in the Frisco Bowl. Burton didn't get to see action against the Tigers in that game, but made the most of his shot at Memphis on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers saw two different quarterbacks combine for 79 passing yards and zero touchdowns in a brutal loss to UCF on Saturday.
Given the quarterback competition is still lingering in Morgantown after seven games, and that the West Virginia Mountaineers have started four different signal callers this season, it might be a tough pill to swallow for WVU fans to see a quarterback who was in the program leave to a lower-level school and pull off a massive upset over a team WVU couldn't even beat last season. Of course, a lot of issues facing the WVU program right now don't fall squarely on the quarterback, and a better offensive line will be needed to truly fix the issues. But it wouldn't hurt to have a winning quarterback like Ryder under center, either.