WVU Bowl Moments
December 17, 2003 03:52 PM | General
December 17, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Here is a quick look at some of West Virginia’s most memorable and most forgetful bowl moments.
Five Great Bowl Performances
1. Brad Lewis, 15 of 21 for 308 yards and 5 touchdowns in the 2000 Music City Bowl
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| Quarterback Brad Lewis threw five touchdown passes to lead West Virginia to a 49-38 victory. (WVU Sports Communications) | |
Music City Bowl MVP Brad Lewis fired five touchdown passes to three different players to lead West Virginia to a 49-38 victory over Mississippi in Nashville. Lewis completed 15 of 21 passes for 308 yards including four scoring strikes in the first half. The Shadyside, Ohio native helped West Virginia produce its highest bowl-game point total ever.
2. West Virginia defense shuts down Florida’s offense in the 1981 Peach Bowl
West Virginia’s fired up defense led by linebackers Darryl Talley and Dennis Fowlkes and a seldom-used nickel back named Donnie Stemple completely shut down a Florida offense coordinated by up and coming offensive guru Mike Shanahan. The result: Florida finished the game rushing for minus 30 yards and didn’t cross the goal line until late in the fourth quarter on a 22-yard pass from backup quarterback Bob Hewko.
3. Marc Bulger, 34 of 50 for 429 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 1998 Insight.com Bowl
Quarterback Marc Bulger led a furious second-half comeback against Missouri in the 1998 Insight.com Bowl that just fell short. The junior set bowl records for most passing yards (429), most passes attempted (50), most passes completed (34) and total offense (434). Bulger also finished the day throwing three touchdown passes.
4. Eddie Williams, 35 carries for 208 yards in the 1969 Peach Bowl
WVU coach Jim Carlen was just full of surprises. First, he bagged the offense he ran all season in favor of the wishbone which completely caught South Carolina off guard in the 1969 Peach Bowl. Second, rather than making either Jim Braxton or Bob Gresham the workhorse, he instead gave the ball 35 times to sophomore Eddie Williams and he responded with 208 yards in the mud and slop of Georgia Tech’s Grant Field. Carlen’s third surprise came after the game, a 14-3 West Virginia win, by announcing he was leaving to take the Texas Tech job.
5. Kevin White, 16 for 30 for 280 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 1984 Bluebonnet Bowl
Quarterback Kevin White burned TCU’s three-deep coverage for three first-half touchdown passes to help the Mountaineers roll to a 31-14 victory over TCU in the 1984 Bluebonnet Bowl. Playing in front of mostly TCU fans in the Houston Astrodome, White led WVU to a 31-7 halftime lead on TD passes for 2, 62 and 5 yards. The senior from Case Grande, Ariz., was named the game’s MVP.
Honorable mention: Harry Clarke (1938 Sun Bowl); Dan Kendra (1975 Peach Bowl); Willie Drewery (1984 Bluebonnet Bowl); A.B. Brown (1987 John Hancock Sun Bowl); Major Harris (1987 John Hancock Sun Bowl); David Saunders (1997 Toyota Gator Bowl); Jerry Porter (1997 Carquest Bowl); Shawn Foreman (1998 Insight.com Bowl); Antonio Brown (2000 Music City Bowl).
Five Great Opponent Bowl Performances
1. Pepper Rodgers, 16 of 26 for 195 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 1954 Sugar Bowl
Georgia Tech quarterback Pepper Rodgers riddled West Virginia’s pass defense for 195 yards and three touchdowns to lead the No. 8-rated Yellow Jackets to an easy 42-19 victory over No. 10-rated West Virginia in the 1954 Sugar Bowl. Rodgers also kicked two extra points and a field goal for Georgia Tech.
2. Joe Hamilton, 19 of 36 for 274 yards and touchdown and 14 carries for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 1997 Carquest Bowl
Georgia Tech coach George O’Leary put the 1997 Carquest Bowl in quarterback Joe Hamilton’s hands and he responded by producing 356 all-purpose yards and scoring three touchdowns in leading the Yellow Jackets to a 35-30 victory over West Virginia. Hamilton scored on runs of 30 and 9 yards and also tossed a three-yard TD pass to Mike Lillie.
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| Wali Lundy scored four touchdowns two different ways in the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) | |
3. Thurman Thomas, 33 carries for 157 yards and 4 touchdowns in the 1987 John Hancock Sun Bowl
Oklahoma State needed all four of All-American running back Thurman Thomas’ four touchdowns to hold off West Virginia, 35-33 in the 1987 John Hancock Sun Bowl. Although Thomas’ longest run was only 19 yards, he managed to score on runs of 5, 9, 4 and 4 yards in the snowy, bitter cold at El Paso, Texas.
4. Clemson defense shuts down West Virginia’s offense in the 1989 Mazda Gator Bowl
West Virginia came into the 1989 Mazda Gator Bowl featuring one of the nation’s best players in quarterback Major Harris, a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist. But after scoring on its opening possession, the Mountaineers had a tough time getting first downs against a Clemson defense featuring Levon Kirkland, Chester McGlockton and Michael Dean Perry. WVU finished the game with just 237 yards of total offense.
5. Wali Lundy, 22 carries for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns and 5 receptions for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl
Continental Tire Bowl MVP came into the game being the lesser known of the two Holy Cross High School running backs on the field (West Virginia’s Avon Cobourne being the other), but Lundy made a name for himself by rushing 22 times for 127 yards and scoring 2 touchdowns, and catching 5 passes for 76 yards and scoring twice more. Lundy finished the game with 203 all-purpose yards.
Honorable mention: Roy Jefferson, Utah (1964 Liberty Bowl); Dave Buckley, N.C. State (1972 Peach Bowl); Greg Allen, Florida State (1982 Gator Bowl); Notre Dame Defense (1989 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl); Joe Henderson, Clemson (1989 Mazda Gator Bowl); Steve Tanneyhill, South Carolina (1995 Carquest Bowl); Corby Jones, Missouri (1998 Insight.com Bowl).
Five Great West Virginia Bowl Wins
1. 1981 Peach Bowl
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| WVU's defense held Florida to minus 30 yards rushing in the 1981 Peach Bowl. (WVU Sports Communications) | |
The 1981 Peach Bowl was the betting lock of the year with virtually no one brave enough to put money on the upstart West Virginia Mountaineers under second-year coach Don Nehlen. But WVU came out with a masterful game plan and completely dominated an overconfident Florida team, 26-6 in Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium. Seven Peach Bowl records fell during the course of the game and Florida’s miserable performance prompted Coach Charley Pell to burn the game film. Afterward, Nehlen called his team’s victory over Florida its “finest hour.”
2. 1975 Peach Bowl
West Virginia needed a Dan Kendra-to-Scott MacDonald fourth-quarter touchdown strike to defeat North Carolina State 13-10 and avenge an embarrassing 49-13 loss to the Wolfpack in the 1972 Peach Bowl. MacDonald, a WVU basketball recruit, grabbed the Kendra pass out of the air, juggled it momentarily, and then galloped 50 yards past a N.C. State defense that included Bill Cowher to score the winning touchdown. West Virginia overcame a 10-0 North Carolina State first-half lead.
3. 1969 Peach Bowl
A big underdog to ACC champion South Carolina, West Virginia completely took the Gamecocks off guard by installing a wishbone offense and utilizing sophomore running back Eddie Williams instead of Jim Braxton and Bob Gresham. Williams ran 35 times for 208 yards and the WVU defense managed to hold Coach Paul Dietze’s offense to just a second-quarter field goal.
4. 1938 Sun Bowl
The country’s sportswriters heaped praise on Coach Marshall Glenn’s Mountaineers following their victory over slightly favored Texas Tech in the 1938 Sun Bowl. West Virginia took advantage of a Red Raider fumble and scored its only touchdown on a one-yard lunge by Davey Isaac. Texas Tech also scored in the second quarter, but a missed point after attempt by Texas Tech was the difference in the game. Running back Harry Clarke, who would later star for the NFL’s Chicago Bears, displayed his fine talents to the Southwest by running for a game-high 132 yards.
5. 2000 Music City Bowl
Sixteen years worth of bowl-game frustration ended for Don Nehlen in his very last game as Mountaineer coach. WVU snapped an eight-game bowl losing streak in style by defeating Mississippi 49-38 in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn. West Virginia jumped out to a 35-9 halftime lead and led 49-9 before a late Rebel rally closed the final margin to 11. Quarterback Brad Lewis fired five touchdown passes and wide receiver Antonio Brown caught six passes for 156 yards as West Virginia rolled up 432 yards of offense.
Five Disappointing Bowl Losses
1. 1989 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl
It was the battle for the national championship and many observes thought West Virginia had a 50-50 chance of beating the No. 1-rated Fighting Irish. That is until star quarterback Major Harris injured his shoulder on the game’s third play and West Virginia’s powerful offense ground to a halt. By halftime Notre Dame led 23-6 and led 26-6 before West Virginia scored two second-half touchdowns to make a game of it.
2. 1994 USF&G Sugar Bowl
After driving 80 yards on nine plays to take a 7-0 lead, it looked like West Virginia was going to No. 8-rated Florida all it could handle. Instead, Florida scored three straight times in the first half to take a 21-7 halftime lead, and completely blew the game open in the second half with two third-quarter scores. Sugar Bowl MVP Errict Rhett scored three times and finished the game rushing for more than 100 yards.
3. 1954 Sugar Bowl
A porous pass defense, penalties and turnovers led to West Virginia’s downfall in the 1954 Sugar Bowl against Georgia Tech. Yellow Jackets quarterback pepper Rodgers passed for 195 yards and three touchdowns and West Virginia lost five fumbles in a mistake filled game. West Virginia coach Pappy Lewis had tears in his eyes in the Mountaineer locker room following WVU’s first-ever bowl defeat.
4. 1995 Carquest Bowl
In one of the few instances when West Virginia was favored to win a bowl game, the Mountaineers came out shooting blanks against a very average South Carolina team. The Gamecocks took advantage of costly Mountaineer turnovers to hold on to a 24-21 victory. South Carolina jumped out to a 17-7 halftime lead before the Mountaineers closed the gap to 17-14. Leading 24-21, USC had a chance to put the game away but Aaron Beasley came from behind and stripped the football from Stanley Pritchett and WVU recovered the ball at its own three with 1:41 remaining. Three incomplete passes and a sack were all that came of the drive. It was South Carolina’s first-ever bowl victory.
5. 1972 Peach Bowl
North Carolina turned a close 14-13 lead at halftime into a 49-13 blowout victory in the 1972 Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The Wolfpack shattered one Peach Bowl record after another in a game many folks thought West Virginia could win. WVU’s 36-point loss was its most lopsided in bowl history. Coach Lou Holtz was able to carve up West Virginia’s defense with freshman quarterback Dave Buckley. Following the game, rumors of player misbehavior during the bowl trip caused Coach Bobby Bowden to issue firmer rules during spring practice.
