West Virginia’s Stadium-Packers
June 25, 2021 09:00 AM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With Milan Puskar Stadium slated to return to full capacity this fall, I thought it would be interesting to identify some of the West Virginia University football players who could really bring out the fans and pack a stadium.
Since my experiences at Mountaineer Field only date to 1977, when the games were still being played downtown at the old stadium, exciting WVU players such as Danny Buggs, Kerry Marbury and Artie Owens were just a little bit before my time.
In 1972, Buggs averaged more than 22 yards every time he touched the football and scored 14 touchdowns three different ways – eight through the air, four on the ground and two via punt returns. Marbury and Owens were two other terrific playmakers coach Bobby Bowden found interesting ways to get the football in their hands – much to the delight of Mountaineer fans in the mid-1970s.
The first explosive playmaker I saw in person was Willie Drewrey - “Willie D” - as he was known to Mountaineer fans who watched him play from 1981-84. Drewrey was listed at 5-foot-10 in the media guide, though he was really closer to 5-8, but every time he walked back toward the end zone to catch a kickoff he had fans sitting on the edge of their seats.
Willie D. averaged 16.9 yards every time he touched the football during his phenomenal senior season in 1984, which was 2.7 yards more than Notre Dame’s Tim Brown averaged during his Heisman Trophy season in 1987.
Four times Drewrey played before 60,000+ fans at Mountaineer Field, including the first instance WVU ever topped 60,000 for a game against Penn State in 1982. West Virginia averaged 58,536 fans during a 1984 season in which the Mountaineers defeated fourth-ranked Boston College and Penn State on back-to-back weekends.
Of course, scrambling quarterback Major Harris brought them in from everywhere during his three exciting seasons playing for the Mountaineers from 1987-89. Five of the 20 largest crowds in Mountaineer Field history happened during Harris’ tenure, including the 68,938 who showed up in 1989 to watch top-10 teams West Virginia and Pitt battle to a 31-31 tie.
Nine times West Virginia exceeded 60,000 fans during Harris’ career, which encompassed the two highest-attended seasons in school history in 1988 (60,497 average) and 1989 (60,649 average). In fact, Harris was so popular with West Virginians that he received write-in votes for governor during his sophomore campaign in 1988.
Quarterback Jake Kelchner was a fan favorite in the early 1990s, his long, flowing hair and his riverboat-gambler playing style helping West Virginia to its second undefeated regular season in school history in 1993 and the largest crowd ever to watch a football game in the state when 70,222 stuffed themselves into Mountaineer Field to watch WVU defeat No. 4 Miami 17-14.
“Famous” Amos Zereoue mesmerized Mountaineer fans from the moment he first touched a football at Pitt in 1996, resulting in a long touchdown run. Zereoue’s three outstanding years at WVU, comprising 18 home games, generated nearly one million spectators to Mountaineer Field during the 1996, 1997 and 1998 seasons.
Nearly a decade later, speedsters Pat White and Steve Slaton played together in the mid-2000s, helping West Virginia to heights it only achieved once before in the mid-1920s when Clarence “Doc” Spears was coaching the Mountaineers.
As they used to say about Pat and Stevie, “If they’re even, they’re leavin’!”
The Dynamic Duo introduced themselves to Mountaineer Nation in 2005 when they led West Virginia to a stirring comeback victory over 19th-ranked Louisville. The Mountaineers were trailing the Cardinals 24-7 early in the fourth quarter when White orchestrated three scores in less than nine minutes in an eventual 46-44 triple-overtime victory.
Slaton ended up scoring six touchdowns that afternoon, five on the ground, including all three overtime scores in that unforgettable win.
White and Slaton led West Virginia to the doorstep of a national championship in 2007 and three straight 11-win seasons. Milan Puskar Stadium averaged 60,400 fans per game in 2007 when White and Slaton were juniors – just the third time ever more than 60,000 fans per game showed up to watch the Mountaineers play at home.
White played an additional season for the Mountaineers in 2008, and 13 times during his career West Virginia had at least 60,000 fans in the stadium to watch him play a football game – the most of any WVU player ever.
Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and Geno Smith were also stadium packers. Their teams weren’t nearly as successful as White’s and Slaton’s, but their prodigious offensive numbers performing in a wide-open Big 12 Conference helped sell lots of tickets.
Smith and Bailey rewrote the WVU record books against Baylor before 60,012 fans in WVU’s inaugural Big 12 game on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. After three hours of continuous scoring, West Virginia finally emerged a 70-63 victor. Smith completed 45-of-51 passes for 656 yards and eight touchdowns – 13 of those passes going Bailey’s way for 303 yards and five touchdowns.
And Austin, playing a supporting role that afternoon, caught a mere 14 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns!
Tavon’s big game came later that season when coach Dana Holgorsen caught Oklahoma off guard by lining him up at tailback. Austin rushed 21 times for 344 yards and two touchdowns, caught four passes for 82 yards and finished the game with an unbelievable 572 all-purpose yards.
Berry Tramel, covering the game for the Oklahoman that night, mentioned Gale Sayers when trying to describe Austin’s performance.
Six times during their careers these guys played before crowds of more than 60,000 at Milan Puskar Stadium.
I count quarterback Will Grier and wide receivers David Sills V and Gary Jennings Jr. among my stadium fillers, too. In 2018, the Mountaineers averaged 58,158 for the season and twice topped 60,000 for games against TCU and Oklahoma.
Some of the defensive players who really brought people out to the stadium include consensus All-Americans Darryl Talley, Aaron Beasley, Canute Curtis, Grant Wiley and Darius Stills, as well as dynamic edge pass rushers Gary Stills and Bruce Irvin.
Who were some of your favorite Mountaineer players you wanted to watch play in Milan Puskar Stadium?
Tweet them to me @JohnAntonik.
