A 6-5 record in the 2024 college football season might not sound successful, but West Virginia State had to overcome quite a bit of adversity to get there.

Factor in the death of the Yellow Jackets' Jyilek Harrington on the eve of WVSU's home opener, then season-ending injuries throughout the linebacking corps, and suddenly 6-5 starts to sound much better.

"Resilience" is the word Yellow Jackets coach John Pennington used to describe a 2024 team that he said never emotionally recovered from the loss of Harrington, who was shot and killed in what police called a home invasion on Sept. 11, 2024.

Memorials on the field and in the WVSU locker room to Harrington remain as a reminder to the Yellow Jackets in 2025 of the teammate they lost as WVSU attempts to turn the page to a new season.

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