West Virginia head coach Neil Brown is doused in MAYONNAISE after leading the Mountaineers to a 30-10 win over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl: ‘I would not recommend it!’

West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neil Brown was doused in mayonnaise on Wednesday while celebrating their 30-10 victory over the North Carolina Tarheels in the 'Mayo Bowl'.

Brown has been the Mountaineers coach since 2019 and led the team to their best record during his tenure after finishing the regular season with a 9-4 record.

Few expected that outcome when the Mountaineers were picked to finish last in the 14-team Big 12.

“It's an important step for us,” Brown said.

North Carolina came into the game averaging 36.6 points per game, good enough for 16th in the FBS, but was missing star quarterback Drake Maye and top wide receiver Tez Walker after both opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL draft.

Brown led the Mountaineers to a 9-4 record after projected to finish last in the Big 12

Maye's absence from the field was a sore thumb for the Tarheels, who saw quarterback Conner Harrell get sacked seven times.

Mountaineers QB Garrett Greene threw for 204 yards and a touchdown, Beanie Bishop Jr. returned a punt 78 yards for a score and West Virginia capped a season in which it exceeded expectations with a 30-10 win over North Carolina on Wednesday night.

Greene, the game's MVP, said the preseason predictions motivated him and his teammates all season. So much so. that he recently wore a No. 14 Mountaineers jersey to a Charles Wesley Godwin concert while briefly taking the stage to announce the team's uniform selection for the bowl game.

“I knew what we had in the locker room,” Greene said. “So when those (predictions) came out, everyone was kind of ticked off. We knew we were a better team than that.”

As for getting a full bucket of mayonnaise dumped on his head, Brown joked, “I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.”

Traylon Ray had a 75-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the scrimmage for the Mountaineers, who won their last three games and finished 9-4.

Greene completed 11 of 22 passes and also ran for 75 yards. Jahiem White ran for 50 yards and a touchdown for West Virginia, and Ray finished with three catches for 91 yards.

Mountaineers QB Garrett Greene threw for 204 yards and a touchdown and was named MVP

Conner Harrell made his first college start for North Carolina, completing 18 of 27 passes for 199 yards, with a 16-yard touchdown to JJ Jones. Harrell ran for 37 yards and threw two interceptions – one in the end zone.

For the second straight season, the Tar Heels struggled, losing five of their last seven games – including the last three – after starting 6-0.

Last year, UNC started 9-1 but finished with four losses.

“We have to figure out why we're not finishing well,” North Carolina head coach Mack Brown said. 'We have achieved eight or nine wins and we have to cross that threshold to achieve more. My job over the next six months is to figure out why we're doing so well early and not well late.”

Despite the game being played about a two-hour drive from North Carolina's Chapel Hill campus, it was a mostly West Virginia crowd.

And Mountaineers fans watched their team get off to a great start when Greene connected with a Beam at a bomb from 75 meters on the first play from scrimmage. Greene said it was one of two starting plays the team had considered in pre-game planning.

North Carolina star QB Drake Maye has opted out of the game after declaring for the NFL Draft

West Virginia, which entered the game ranked fourth in the nation with 234.4 yards rushing per game, couldn't muster much offense after that in the first half. But their special teams provided a huge lift when Bishop lined up a punt, made a tackler miss and crossed the field on his way to a 78-yard return to build a 17–10 halftime lead.

Bishop had returned kickoffs before, but never a punt.

“He exceeded his reporting,” Bishop said. “I've had one or two guys miss it and go to the races.”

The Mountaineers finally got their running game going in the fourth quarter when Greene broke the pocket for a 48-yard scamper and White scored on an 11-yard burst to extend the lead to 27-10. Michael Hayes made it 30-10 with eight minutes remaining after his third field goal of the game.