American college football season
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
Date Opponent Site TV Result Attendance Source September 12 at Virginia W 32–1834,007 [ 1]
September 19 at Maryland W 17–1338,300 [ 2]
September 26 Colorado State W 49–348,716 [ 3]
October 3 at Boston College W 38–1017,235 [ 4] [ 5] [ 6]
October 10 No. 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 24 at 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 21 at Syracuse ABC L 24–2733,117 [ 13]
December 31 vs. Florida CBS W 26–637,582 [ 14]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Roster
1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
References
^ "Cavs grounded" . The Times & World-News . September 13, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Terps struggle again, lose to West Virginia" . The Charlotte Observer . September 20, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "West Virginia romps 49–3" . The Times Recorder . September 27, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "West Virginia rolls to 4–0, crushes Boston College" . The News and Advance . October 4, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Undefeated West Virginia knocks off Boston College" . Tallahassee Democrat . October 4, 1981. p. 4F – via Newspapers.com .
^ "West Virginia 38, Boston College 10" . St. Petersburg Times . October 4, 1981. p. 8C – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Pitt shelves air attack, wins, 17–0" . The Miami Herald . October 11, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Virginia Tech gets lesson in Luck, 27–6" . The Pittsburgh Press . October 18, 1981. Retrieved December 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Warner substitute leads Penn State past W. Va" . Sunday News Journal . October 25, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "W. Virginia gets by East Carolina, 20–3" . The Pittsburgh Press . November 1, 1981. Retrieved March 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "W. Va.'s Luck good; Owls' bad" . The Courier-Post . November 8, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "West Virginia rips sputtering Scarlet" . The Home News . November 15, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Syracuse, 4–6, upsets W. Va., 8–3" . The Sunday News . November 22, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "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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