Last Saturday’s trip to Fort Worth was a homecoming for Charles Woods.

Amon G. Carter Stadium, home of the TCU Horned Frogs, sits roughly an hour from his hometown of Dallas, and Saturday’s game marked the first time since high school that he’d play so close to home.

In front of a familiar crowd, the redshirt junior defensive back put on a show — an interception, a fumble recovery and five tackles — to help lead the Mountaineers to a 29-17 win.

“It was very special because that was one of my first times actually playing back in Texas since high school,” Woods said. “It was just special (with) my mom being able to see (and) my family able to see me play. It was definitely special, especially to get the win on the road.”

Woods is one of the beneficiaries of West Virginia’s depleted secondary, seeing an increase in reps as teammates in the secondary battle injury or leave the program. He played 66 snaps against the Horned Frogs and 55 against Baylor two weeks prior — both season-highs at the time.

It’s come at the right time, according to defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley, who has noticed a trend about players getting comfortable across his years of coaching college football.

“It doesn’t matter where you come from,” Lesley said, “every system is different, and it takes time to get accustomed to that system. I think it’s always that, anywhere from (that) fourth to sixth game where when it clicks, it clicks. I think Charles is a guy who’s in that situation.”

Hearing little interest from schools at the next level, Woods originally committed to Illinois State out of high school, an FCS program part of the Missouri Valley Conference. He made an impact almost instantly as a freshman, playing in all 11 of the Redbirds’ games.

His sophomore season, however, saw Woods develop into one of the most feared defensive backs in the FCS. Starting in all 15 games, he tallied four interceptions, 17 defended passes and 48 tackles, being named an All-American in the process.

The strong season put Woods on the radar for a handful of Power Five and Group of Five schools, and he committed to transfer to SMU in March. A month later, he would flip his commitment to the Mountaineers, enrolling at West Virginia in the summer, and allowing him to fulfill one of his dreams.

“Me and my family thought it was the best choice to come here to the Power 5 level,” Woods said. “I was excited to play Big 12 football. It has always been a dream to play in the Big 12, especially playing Texas. It was a dream to come to West Virginia and play for this program.”

This season, Woods has primarily served as the backup to Scottie Young at the spear position. He saw more time as Young has been banged up in recent weeks and, after starting cornerback Nicktroy Fortune left the TCU game with an injury, Woods continued to find his way onto the field.

With his strong play last week and the current state of the Mountaineers’ secondary working hand in hand, it seems likely that Woods will continue to be a factor on defense for West Virginia. Regardless, he’s ready to contribute no matter what Lesley and the coaching staff throw at him.

“No matter how it goes, you’ve gotta prepare like you’re the starter or that you’re going to play because you never know when your opportunity is going to show up,” Woods said. “I don’t really spend too much time on that because that’s not my choice to make. I just prepare every week and get ready to play when my name is called.”

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