West Virginia Football Information

Football is fast becoming the American pastime. While still behind baseball in overall attendance, the gap is closing quickly. College football is a spectacle that lots of Americans follow very closely. People are drawn to the athleticism and the spectacle, as well as the organized violence of the game.

The saying "Be The Hammer" pretty much sums up their philosophy. Since 1891 The West Virginia Mountaineers have been providing the alumni and fans of The West Virginia University with spectacular football. Now part of the Big 12 Conference of the NCAA, they compete against a list of very tough teams: The Baylor Bears, the Iowa State Cyclones, the Kansas Jayhawks, the Kansas State Wildcats, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the TCU Horned Frogs, the Texas Longhorns, and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. West Virginia University tickets are very popular with fans. With a storied history that includes 16 regional and conference championships, the Mountaineers are a force to be reckoned with!

The West Virginia University football program began on November 28, 1891 when its first team lost to Washington & Jefferson 72-0 on a converted cow pasture. Despite that humble beginning, the Mountaineers early years were very successful. Under the coaching of Clarence Spears the Mountaineers put together a record of 30-6-3. Following Spears was the first tenure of West Virginia All-American Ira Everett Rodgers. His first season was successful, but subsequent seasons fell short. He was replaced by Earle "Greasy" Neale, where the team failed to gain a single winning season. Charles Tallman replaced Neale after 3 years and the program began to see success again. Tallman resigned after just a year to pursue a career as the Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police.

Beginning in 1953, the Mountaineers had three consecutive 8 win seasons and five Southern Conference championships in six seasons. During this time they produced several All-Americans and future College Hall of Fame inductees.

Bobby Bowden became head coach in 1970 and began with a 4-1 start to the season. In week 6 they led arch rival Pitt 35-8 at halftime. They then surrendered 28 unanswered points to lose to Pitt 36-35, prompting Bowden to say that he had "embarrassed the whole state of West Virginia". They did, however, go on to finish 8-3 that year.

In 1980, following the dismissal of Frank Cignetti, the WVU athletic department introduced Don Nehlen as the new head coach. He went on to produce 15 winning seasons for the program.

Final Record: 10-3, 5-2 (Big East)