1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Mountaineers' 89th overall season and they competed as a Division I-A Independent. The team was led by head coach Don Nehlen, in his second year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record of nine wins and three losses (9–3 overall) and with a victory over Florida in the Peach Bowl.

1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Peach Bowl champion
Peach Bowl, W 26–6 vs. Florida
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 18
APNo. 17
1981 record9–3
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGary Tranquill (2nd season)
Home stadiumMountaineer Field
(Capacity: 50,000)
1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 3 Penn State        10 2 0
No. 4 Pittsburgh        11 1 0
No. 8 Miami (FL)        9 2 0
Southern Miss        9 2 1
No. 17 West Virginia        9 3 0
Colgate        7 3 0
Virginia Tech        7 4 0
Navy        7 4 1
Cincinnati        6 5 0
Florida State        6 5 0
Holy Cross        6 5 0
Tulane        6 5 0
UNLV        6 6 0
South Carolina        6 6 0
Temple        5 5 0
Boston College        5 6 0
East Carolina        5 6 0
Northeast Louisiana        5 6 0
Louisville        5 6 0
Notre Dame        5 6 0
Rutgers        5 6 0
William & Mary        5 6 0
Syracuse        4 6 1
Richmond        4 7 0
Army        3 7 1
North Texas State        2 9 0
Georgia Tech        1 10 0
Memphis State        1 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 12at VirginiaW 32–1834,007
September 19at MarylandW 17–1338,300
September 26Colorado StateW 49–348,716
October 3at Boston CollegeW 38–1023,500
October 101:00 p.m.No. 4 Pittsburgh
L 0–1754,280
October 17Virginia Tech
W 27–649,115
October 24at No. 1 Penn StateL 7–3085,012
October 31East Carolina
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 20–341,364
November 7Temple
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 24–1940,342
November 14Rutgers
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 20–344,395
November 21at SyracuseABCL 24–2733,117
December 31vs. FloridaCBSW 26–637,582

Season recap

Oliver Luck was the starting quarterback for the Mountaineers. He led the team with 2448 passing yards and 16 touchdowns. Leading the team in rushing was Curlin Beck with 537 net yards. Rich Hollins led the team in receiving with 37 receptions for 764 yards.

The first game pitted the Mountaineers against the Virginia Cavaliers. The Mountaineers won the opener 32–18 in Charlottesville. WVU then traveled to College Park, where they took on the Maryland Terrapins. WVU held on for a 17–13 road victory.

Their home opener was against Colorado State, who they thrashed 49–3. They then traveled to Boston College, where they won 38–10. Their first loss of the season came at the hands of archrival Pitt 17–0 at home. They rebounded with a resounding 27–6 win over Virginia Tech. They played at Penn State, but lost 7–30, to the number 1 team in the nation.

The Mountaineers returned home for a game with East Carolina, in which they won 20–3. They later on beat Temple by a 24–19 margin. Rutgers was next up, and lost 20–3.

West Virginia barely lost on the road to Syracuse, 24–27, but more than made up for it with a 26–6 thumping of the Florida Gators in the Peach Bowl.

Roster

1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 10 Oliver Luck Sr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 90 Darryl Talley Jr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

References

  1. "WVU 1981 Schedule". The West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
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