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1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Peach Bowl champion
Peach Bowl, W 26–6 vs. Florida
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 18
APNo. 17
Record9–3
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill (2nd season)
Home stadium Mountaineer Field
(Capacity: 50,000)
Seasons
←  1980
1982 →
1981 Major eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Penn State $ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 4 Pittsburgh 5 – 1 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
No. 17 West Virginia 3 – 3 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Temple 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Syracuse 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 1
Boston College 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Rutgers 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Pittsburgh   –   –   11 – 1 – 0
No. 3 Penn State   –   –   10 – 2 – 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

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.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 12at Virginia
W 32–1834,007 [1]
September 19at Maryland
W 17–1338,300 [2]
September 26 Colorado State
W 49–348,716 [3]
October 3at Boston College
W 38–1017,235 [4] [5] [6]
October 10No. 4 Pittsburgh
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV ( rivalry)
L 0–1754,280 [7]
October 17 Virginia Tech
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV ( rivalry)
W 27–649,115 [8]
October 24at No. 1 Penn State
L 7–3085,012 [9]
October 31 East Carolina
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 20–341,364 [10]
November 7 Temple
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 24–1940,342 [11]
November 14 Rutgers
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 20–344,395 [12]
November 21at Syracuse
 ABCL 24–2733,117 [13]
December 31vs. Florida
 CBSW 26–637,582 [14]
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 1 Gary Mullen Fr
QB 10 Oliver Luck Sr
FB 36 Ron Wolfley Fr
WR 48 Willie Drewrey Fr
G 79 Mike Durrette Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 50 Dennis Fowlkes Jr
LB 90 Darryl Talley Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

  1. ^ "Cavs grounded". The Times & World-News. September 13, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Terps struggle again, lose to West Virginia". The Charlotte Observer. September 20, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "West Virginia romps 49–3". The Times Recorder. September 27, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "West Virginia rolls to 4–0, crushes Boston College". The News and Advance. October 4, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Undefeated West Virginia knocks off Boston College". Tallahassee Democrat. October 4, 1981. p. 4F – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "West Virginia 38, Boston College 10". St. Petersburg Times. October 4, 1981. p. 8C – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Pitt shelves air attack, wins, 17–0". The Miami Herald. October 11, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Virginia Tech gets lesson in Luck, 27–6". The Pittsburgh Press. October 18, 1981. Retrieved December 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Warner substitute leads Penn State past W. Va". Sunday News Journal. October 25, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "W. Virginia gets by East Carolina, 20–3". The Pittsburgh Press. November 1, 1981. Retrieved March 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "W. Va.'s Luck good; Owls' bad". The Courier-Post. November 8, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "West Virginia rips sputtering Scarlet". The Home News. November 15, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Syracuse, 4–6, upsets W. Va., 8–3". The Sunday News. November 22, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "West Virginia too much for Florida in Peach". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. January 1, 1982. Retrieved November 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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