1987 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

Summary

The 1987 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Mountaineers' 95th overall season and they competed as a Division I-A Independent. The team was led by head coach Don Nehlen, in his eighth year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record of six wins and six losses (6–6 overall), and with a loss against Oklahoma State in the 1987 Sun Bowl.

1987 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Sun Bowl, L 33–35 vs. Oklahoma State
ConferenceIndependent
Record6–6
Head coach
Home stadiumMountaineer Field
(Capacity: 63,500)
Seasons
← 1986
1988 →
1987 Major eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Syracuse $ 5 0 0 11 0 1
Penn State 4 2 0 8 4 0
Pittsburgh 3 3 0 8 4 0
West Virginia 2 3 0 6 6 0
Rutgers 2 4 0 6 5 0
Boston College 2 4 0 5 6 0
Temple 1 3 0 3 8 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1987 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Miami (FL)       12 0 0
No. 4 Syracuse       11 0 1
No. 2 Florida State       11 1 0
No. 15 South Carolina       8 4 0
Pittsburgh       8 4 0
Penn State       8 4 0
No. 17 Notre Dame       8 4 0
Southern Miss       6 5 0
Rutgers       6 5 0
Southwestern Louisiana       6 5 0
Memphis State       5 5 1
Northern Illinois       5 5 1
West Virginia       6 6 0
Tulane       6 6 0
Army       5 6 0
Boston College       5 6 0
East Carolina       5 6 0
Akron       4 7 0
Cincinnati       4 7 0
Louisville       3 7 1
Temple       3 8 0
Tulsa       3 8 0
Virginia Tech       2 9 0
Navy       2 9 0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule edit

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 5OhioW 23–346,744[1]
September 12at No. 5 Ohio StateL 3–2488,272[2]
September 19at MarylandL 20–2540,125[3]
September 26Pittsburgh
L 3–665,079[4]
October 3East Carolina
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 49–036,630[5]
October 17Cincinnati
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 45–1746,488[6]
October 24at Boston CollegeW 37–1631,500[7]
October 31at No. 18 Penn StateL 21–2585,108[8]
November 7Virginia Tech
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV (rivalry)
W 28–1647,322[9]
November 14Rutgers
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 37–1344,717[10]
November 21at No. 6 SyracuseL 31–3249,866[11]
December 25vs. No. 11 Oklahoma StateL 33–3543,240[12]
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[13]

Roster edit

1987 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 1 Grantis Bell Jr
WR 7 John Talley Sr
QB 9 Major Harris Fr
QB 12 Chuck LeVinus So
QB 13 Ben Reed Sr
QB 17 Mike Timko Sr
FB 20 Craig Taylor Jr
RB 28 A. B. Brown Jr
G 75 John Stroia Jr
WR 88 Reggie Rembert So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 3 Alvoid Mays Jr
DB 14 Jay Darr Fr
DB 22 Bo Orlando Jr
DT 61 Mike Fox So
DE 87 Renaldo Turnbull So
DT 98 David Grant Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 8 Charlie Baumann Jr
P 18 Lance Carion Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

References edit

  1. ^ "W. Va. gets by Ohio U." The Newark Advocate. September 6, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Bucks maul Mountaineers". Dayton Daily News. September 13, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Terps build character, beat W. Virginia, 25–20". The Baltimore Sun. September 20, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Pittsburgh tops West Virginia by field goal". The Charlotte Observer. September 27, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Offense comes alive for West Virginia in 49–0 triumph". The Pittsburgh Press. October 4, 1987. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "West Va. hammers Cincinnati". The Roanoke Times & World-News. October 18, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "BC gets thrashed by West Virginia". The Boston Globe. October 25, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Penn State rallies for 25–21 victory". The Morning Call. November 1, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "West Virginia trips Virginia Tech 28–16". Bristol Herald Courier. November 8, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "W. Virginia rips Rutgers, 37–13". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 15, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Syracuse gets sweet victory with 10 seconds left". Fort Lauderdale News. November 22, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Cowboys win Sun in the snow". The El Paso Times. December 26, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "1987 West Virginia Mountaineers Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 1, 2024.