Ranking West Virginia’s 40 Bowl Appearances
January 12, 2024 04:00 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia played its 40th bowl game last month when it defeated North Carolina 30-10 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It was the Mountaineers’ 17th victory against 23 defeats, eight of those losses coming during a 16-year stretch from 1984 until 2000 before WVU topped Ole Miss 49-38 in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee.
That was the game when 250-pound-plus fullback Wes Ours caught a pass down the sideline and rumbled 40 yards for West Virginia's first touchdown. In the second quarter, WVU exploded for 28 points to take a commanding 35-9 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Then, to begin the second half, Shawn Terry took the kickoff and returned it 99 yards for another touchdown. It seemed like 16 years of pent-up frustration was taken out on the Rebels in what was to be coach Don Nehlen’s final game coaching the Mountaineers.
He had announced the month prior that the 2000 season would be his last, allowing West Virginia the opportunity to move swiftly to hire young, up-and-coming assistant coach Rich Rodriguez.
Rich Rod’s bowl successes came slowly. His first bowl trip in 2002 resulted in a 26-point loss to Virginia, and his next appearances against Maryland and Florida State in the Gator Bowl were lackluster performances as well.
Then, his program caught lightning in a bottle when he recruited quarterback Pat White out of Daphne, Alabama, and surrounded him with a variety of playmakers, one of them being the speedy Steve Slaton from Levittown, Pennsylvania.
When fullback Owen Schmitt showed up on campus after transferring from Wisconsin-River Falls, that completed West Virginia’s triple-threat backfield.
They led West Virginia to a stunning 38-35 victory over Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl, played in Georgia’s backyard in Atlanta that year because of Hurricane Katrina, and to victories over Georgia Tech in the 2007 Gator Bowl and against third-ranked Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.
By the end of 2007, Rodriguez opted to move on to coach Michigan, leaving the team in the hands of interim coach Bill Stewart.
Stewart was only afforded three seasons to coach the Mountaineers, winning 70% of his games, including a 31-30 victory over North Carolina in the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, which was the same bowl under another name coach Neal Brown won this year and got mayonnaise dumped over his head afterward.
Dana Holgorsen’s Orange Bowl victory over Clemson must go down as the most dominant offensive performance in bowl game history, while Nehlen’s 26-6 triumph over heavily favored Florida in the 1981 Peach Bowl was the most surprising.
Speaking of surprises, Jim Carlen’s Mountaineers completely caught South Carolina off guard in the 1969 Peach Bowl when they switched to a wishbone attack and rolled up 356 yards rushing in a dominating 14-3 victory over the Gamecocks. Equally surprising was Carlen’s decision to take the Texas Tech job the following day.
Bobby Bowden did likewise when he accepted the Florida State job after West Virginia upset NC State 13-10 in the 1975 Peach Bowl. That avenged a 49-13 defeat Bowden’s Mountaineers suffered at the hands of the Wolfpack in 1972.
West Virginia’s first bowl game in 1922, a three-day excursion by train out to San Diego, resulted in a 21-13 victory over Gonzaga. It’s next two trips out west, to El Paso, Texas, in 1938 and 1949, also ended in triumphs.
The Mountaineers’ first true moment in the sun – the 1954 Sugar Bowl – ended in failure when Georgia Tech routed West Virginia 42-19. WVU’s next major bowl appearance 35 years later in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl for the national championship against Notre Dame also ended unsuccessfully.
A trip to the Sugar Bowl in 1994 was yet another bad memory for WVU fans, which makes the 2006 victory over Georgia so sweet.
After the Georgia game, as I was walking around the field taking everything in, I noticed grizzled, longtime defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich walking around with an ear-to-ear grin on his face. He was involved in WVU’s eight-game bowl losing streak that included those stinging losses to Notre Dame and Florida.
“Can you !@#$% believe this?” he asked me in Kirlav-style language.
Having been around here to see all the losses in some manner and form, I couldn’t.
“Nope,” I replied, realizing then that I needed to soak up this memory for everything that it was worth just like Kirlav was doing. It’s not every day West Virginia wins Sugar Bowls or beats Georgia.
To do it again two years later to Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl with an interim coach was equally surprising, as was West Virginia’s offensive dominance of Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
That six-year run of bowl success from 2006-12 was like no other in the long, storied history of Mountaineer football.
So, with those great wins setting the scene, here is one guy’s ranking of West Virginia’s 40 all-time bowl appearances, from No. 40 to No. 1:
TV – ESPN (Roy Philpott, Rene Ingoglia and Kris Budden)
It was cold, the Cotton Bowl was old and no tickets were sold. That pretty much sums up this one.
(MVP - CB Julian Blackmon)
(Maryland 4.5-point favorite)
TV – NBC (Tom Hammond, Pat Haden and Lewis Johnson)
The bowl rematch of Maryland’s regular-season blowout victory over WVU in College Park was another dud of a game. Former WVU quarterback Scott McBrien going up and down the field on his old team made this one even tougher to watch.
(MVP – QB Scott McBrien)
(Minnesota 4-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Dave Flemming, Rod Gilmore and Stormy Buonantony)
Quarterback Jarret Doege’s fourth-down, 1-yard touchdown run was the offensive highlight of the game for the Mountaineers.
(MVPs – RB Ky Thomas and S Tyler Nubin)
(WVU 3-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore and Rob Stone)
NC State quarterback Russell Wilson threw a touchdown pass, ran for another and led the Wolfpack to three field goals against West Virginia’s nationally ranked defense.
(MVP – QB Russell Wilson)
TV – Mizlou Network (Jack Drees and Eddie Doucette)
West Virginia led 13-7 after the first quarter before NC State erupted for 42 unanswered points in this belly-flopper of a performance. Mountaineer fans praising coach Bobby Bowden on the drive down to Atlanta were cursing him on the return trip back to West Virginia.
(MVPs – QB Dave Buckey and DT George Bell)
(Florida 6 ½-point favorite)
TV – ABC (Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil)
Undefeated West Virginia’s gripe of not getting into the national championship game looked legitimate on the game’s opening drive; and then it didn’t.
(MVP – RB Errict Rhett)
TV – ESPN (Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer and Tom Rinaldi)
The history and nostalgia of playing in famed Yankee Stadium was meaningless to a cold and uninterested West Virginia football team playing out its season.
(MVP – RB Prince-Tyson Gulley)
(Miami 3-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy and Tom Luginbill)
West Virginia scored the game’s first and last touchdowns, but Miami scored all the points in between in this forgetful game.
(MVP – QB Brad Kaaya)
TV – ABC (Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman and Jim McKay)
It was the first indoor bowl game ever played, and the Eastern sportswriters forced to cover it had a field day making fun of it. A natural grass surface was used, requiring special lighting, which meant the fans could watch the grass grow during the game.
(MVP – QB Pokey Allen).
TV – ESPN (Ron Franklin, Kevin Kiley and Chris Fowler)
After West Virginia scored a touchdown on its opening drive, the only other interesting aspect of the game was watching Major Harris’ mother complain to ESPN sideline reporter Chris Fowler and a national television audience about WVU’s poor blocking.
(MVP – LB Levon Kirkland)
(West Virginia 1½-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Dave Flemming, Rod Gilmore and Quint Kessenich)
The Mountaineers actually led 18-17 heading into the fourth quarter. Google it!
(MVP – QB Eric Dungey)
TV – CBS (Verne Lundquist, Dan Fouts and Michele Tafoya)
This clunker was played a day after the college football national championship game and a day prior to Miami’s AFC playoff tilt against Kansas City, meaning work crews were already cleaning the windows and painting the field – while the game was still going on! It was also South Carolina’s first bowl win in school history.
(MVP – QB Steve Tanneyhill)
TV – ABC (Harry Wismer and Johnny Lujack)
It was West Virginia’s first big moment in the sun. The Mountaineers were stronger and more physical. Georgia Tech was more agile and much, much faster. Speed prevailed.
(MVP – QB Pepper Rodgers)
TV – NBC (Tom Hammond and Pat Haden)
Maligned Florida State quarterback Chris Rix was the main story line going into the game, but it was the running of Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker that won it for the Seminoles.
(MVP – RB Leon Washington)
(West Virginia 1½-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Wayne Larivee, Randy Wright and Mike Gleason)
Mountaineer fans were upset Notre Dame backdoored them for the Gator Bowl bid, were madder after watching Virginia’s scramble band’s halftime performance and were beside themselves afterward driving home from Charlotte.
(MVP – RB Wali Lundy)
TV – NBC (Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy)
West Virginia came into the game boasting the nation’s top-ranked defense, but backup UNC quarterback Oscar Davenport found enough openings to score 17 second-quarter points in a 20-13 victory. If you want to impress people, name the North Carolina starting quarterback Davenport replaced.
(MVP – QB Oscar Davenport)
TV – ABC (Al Michaels, Lee Grosscup and Anne Simon)
Don Nehlen took his team down to Florida early to get in some extra work. Bobby Bowden, facing his old team for the first time, took it easy on his guys, but they didn’t take it easy on the favored Mountaineers in a driving rainstorm.
(MVP – RB Greg Allen)
(West Virginia 3-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Clay Matvick, Anthony Becht and Dawn Davenport)
The two teams combined to score 34 points in the first quarter, and the Aggies continued to score throughout the rest of the game.
(MVP – QB Kyle Allen)
TV – ESPN (Dave Barnett, Bill Curry and Dave Ryan)
Carlos Posey’s blocked field goal return for a touchdown set the tone for Missouri in a game the Tigers had to hang on to win at the end to give them their first bowl victory in 17 years.
(MVP – QB Corby Jones)
TV – TBS (Bob Neal and Mark May)
West Virginia couldn’t contain the passing and running of Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton, who threw for two touchdowns and ran for another.
(MVP – QB Joe Hamilton)
(Notre Dame 5-point favorite)
TV – NBC (Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen)
Quarterback Major Harris got hurt on the game’s third play, which basically ended West Virginia’s hopes of winning its first football national championship.
(MVPs – QB Tony Rice and LB Frank Stams)
(West Virginia 10-point favorite)
TV – WTBS (Bob Neal and Tim Foley)
West Virginia used a 10-point fourth quarter to rally from a halftime deficit to defeat six-win Kentucky on a frigid night at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama.
(MVP – QB Jeff Hostetler)
(West Virginia 9½-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Wes Durham, Roddy Jones and Eric Wood)
Backup quarterback Austin Kendall led a fourth-quarter rally to defeat underdog Army in the 62nd annual Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee. COVID-19 restrictions limited the stadium attendance to just 8,187.
(MVP – WR T.J. Simmons)
TV – CBS (Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson)
The Gator Bowl added seats to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium to allow 84,129 fans watch Bobby Bowden coach his final college football game. WVU appeared to be the spoilers until it mysteriously quit giving the football to Noel Devine. FSU outscored the Mountaineers 20-7 in the second half and Bowden’s football farewell included another victory against his old team.
(MVP – QB EJ Manuel)
(Arizona State 1-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Dave Neal, Matt Stinchcomb and Kayce Smith)
David Sills V’s 15-yard touchdown reception with 2:37 left was the deciding score in an exciting, back-and-forth game. The two teams combined for 1,196 yards of offense, but hardly anyone on the East Coast remained awake to see the finish.
(MVP – QB Skyler Howard and LB Shaq Petteway)
TV – CBS (Brent Musburger and Pat Haden)
Oklahoma State had a little more offensive firepower in this exciting, back-and-forth game that also featured a snow squall that helped WVU outscore the Cowboys 17-0 in the second quarter. Thurman Thomas was the star of the game, but his backup, Barry Sanders, wasn’t too shabby either.
(MVP – RB Thurman Thomas)
West Virginia recovered a Texas Tech fumble at the Red Raider 5, needed four runs to push the ball across the goal line and then got Kelly Moan’s PAT kick to go through the uprights. Texas Tech scored later in the quarter but missed its conversion kick. WVU’s Harry “Flash” Clarke would have had more than 200 yards rushing if his 92-yard touchdown run wasn’t called back for holding by referee Cooper Kinney.
It took West Virginia three days to travel across the country to play Gonzaga in the East-West Christmas Classic at Balboa Stadium in downtown San Diego. WVU led 21-0 after three quarters before Houston Stockton’s passing nearly brought the Zags back. And yes, Houston Stockton was the grandfather of future Gonzaga guard and NBA great John Stockton.
(TCU 3 ½-point favorite)
TV – Mizlou Network (Merle Harmon and Ed Biles)
All-American TCU running back Kenneth Davis injured his knee on the last play of the first quarter, and TCU’s one-high safety look on defense enabled West Virginia quarterback Kevin White to pass for 280 yards and three touchdowns in a surprisingly easy 17-point Mountaineer victory. At one point in the season, WVU was sitting at 7-1 before injuries decimated the Mountaineer defense.
(MVP – QB Kevin White)
West Virginia was the Sun Bowl’s replacement choice after Lafayette turned down an invitation when it learned its star halfback, David Showell, who was Black, would not be allowed to play in the game. WVU used some Jimmy Walthall passing and some Jim Devonshire running to upset the Texas Miners 21-12.
(West Virginia 3½-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Matt Barrie, Dan Mullen and Harry Lyles Jr.
West Virginia easily defeated North Carolina in a matchup that featured opt-outs, injuries and transfers on both sides. Quarterback Garrett Greene set the tone on the game’s first play when he hooked up with freshman Traylon Ray for a 75-yard touchdown. Afterward, West Virginia’s condiment-averse coach Neal Brown was bathed in mayonnaise.
(MVP – QB Garrett Greene)
TV – ESPN (Mark Jones, Gino Toretta and Rob Stone)
West Virginia jumped out to a commanding 42-9 third-quarter lead on the way to snapping its eight-game bowl losing streak in Don Nehlen’s final game coaching the Mountaineers. Trailing by 33 points, Ole Miss inserted freshman quarterback Eli Manning into the game and the Rebels responded with 22 fourth-quarter points.
(MVP – QB Brad Lewis)
TV – Mizlou Network (Jack Drees and Pat Summerall)
On the insistence of coach Jim Carlen, offensive coordinator Bobby Bowden was forced to secretly install the wishbone and West Virginia completely surprised ACC champion South Carolina in its 14-3 victory over the Gamecocks. WVU tried only two passes and ran for 346 yards, including a WVU bowl-record 208 from Eddie Williams, in quagmire playing conditions at Atlanta’s Grant Field.
(MVPs – RB Eddie Williams and MG Carl Crennel)
TV – ESPN (Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Rob Stone)
Quarterback Pat White capped his brilliant collegiate career by rallying West Virginia to a 31-30 victory over North Carolina before a capacity crowd at Bank of America Stadium. White won all four bowl games he played at WVU.
(MVP – QB Pat White)
TV – Mizlou Network (Jack Drees and Don Perkins)
Running back Artie Owens caught a 39-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left in the first half, and tight end Scott MacDonald won the game with a lumbering 50-yard touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter. Among the slow movers trying to track down MacDonald from behind was Wolfpack linebacker Bill Cowher.
(MVPs – QB Dan Kendra and LB Ray Marshall)
TV – CBS (Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson)
Quarterback Pat White demonstrated his true grit by carrying the football on nearly every play in the fourth quarter to preserve West Virginia’s come-from-behind 38-35 victory over Georgia Tech. At one point, WVU was trailing 35-17 in the third quarter.
(MVP – QB Pat White)
TV – CBS (Frank Glieber, Johnny Morris and Dick Stockton)
West Virginia so thoroughly dominated prohibitive favorite Florida that Gator coach Charley Pell ceremoniously burned the game film and buried it underneath the practice field at the start of spring football drills in 1982. Walk-on Paul Woodside booted four field goals and running back Mickey Walzcak caught WVU’s lone touchdown, a pass from quarterback Oliver Luck.
(MVPs – RB Mickey Walczak and DB Don Stemple)
(Clemson 3-point favorite)
TV – ESPN (Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Jon Gruden and Lisa Salters)
West Virginia’s 70 points were a bowl-game record that lasted six years, but it was Darwin Cook’s goal-line theft and touchdown return that turned the tables on 14th-ranked Clemson. Quarterback Geno Smith threw six touchdown passes in one of the most dominating offensive displays in bowl history.
(MVP – QB Geno Smith)
(Oklahoma 8-point favorite)
TV – FOX (Matt Vasgersian, Terry Donahue, Pat Haden and Laura Okmin)
Just a month after its devastating loss to Pitt, and only weeks after coach Rich Rodriguez left to coach Michigan, interim coach Bill Stewart “left no doubt” which team was the best one on the football field that night. Quarterback Pat White had 326 yards from scrimmage as the Mountaineers rolled up 525 yards of offense against the Sooners. A day after the game, Stewart was promoted to head coach.
(MVPs – QB Pat White and LB Reed Williams)
(Georgia 7-point favorite)
TV – ABC (Brad Nessler, Bob Griese and Lynn Swann)
West Virginia came out of a Trojan horse and jumped out to a surprising 28-0 second-quarter lead, and then had to hold on for dear life the rest of the way. The game wasn’t decided until Phil Brady successfully converted a fake punt near midfield with 1:26 remaining. The game was played at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome instead of the New Orleans Superdome because of damage it sustained earlier in the fall during Hurricane Katrina.
(MVP – RB Steve Slaton)
