1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

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.

1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Peach Bowl champion
Peach Bowl, W 26–6 vs. Florida
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 17
1981 record	9–3
Head coach	Don Nehlen (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Gary Tranquill (2nd season)
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field (Capacity: 50,000)

1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Penn State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 4 Pittsburgh		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 8 Miami (FL)		–		–				9	–	2	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
No. 17 West Virginia		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Colgate		–		–				7	–	3	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Florida State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Tulane		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
UNLV		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Temple		–		–				5	–	5	–	0
Boston College		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Louisville		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
William & Mary		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				4	–	6	–	1
Richmond		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Army		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
North Texas State		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12		at Virginia	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA		W 32–18	34,007
September 19		at Maryland	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)		W 17–13	38,300
September 26		Colorado State	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV		W 49–3	48,716
October 3		at Boston College	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 38–10	23,500
October 10	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Pittsburgh	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)		L 0–17	54,280
October 17		Virginia Tech	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Black Diamond Trophy)		W 27–6	49,115
October 24		at No. 1 Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		L 7–30	85,012
October 31		East Carolina	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV		W 20–3	41,364
November 7		Temple	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV		W 24–19	40,342
November 14		Rutgers	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV		W 20–3	44,395
November 21		at Syracuse	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy)	ABC	L 24–27	33,117
December 31		vs. Florida	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	CBS	W 26–6	37,582
Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Reference:[1]

Season recap

Oliver Luck was the starting quarterback for the Mountaineers. He led the team with 2448 passing yards and 16 touchdowns. Leading the team in rushing was Curlin Beck with 537 net yards. Rich Hollins led the team in receiving with 37 receptions for 764 yards.

The first game pitted the Mountaineers against the Virginia Cavaliers. The Mountaineers won the opener 32–18 in Charlottesville. WVU then traveled to College Park, where they took on the Maryland Terrapins. WVU held on for a 17–13 road victory.

Their home opener was against Colorado State, who they thrashed 49–3. They then traveled to Boston College, where they won 38–10. Their first loss of the season came at the hands of archrival Pitt 17–0 at home. They rebounded with a resounding 27–6 win over Virginia Tech. They played at Penn State, but lost 7–30, to the number 1 team in the nation.

The Mountaineers returned home for a game with East Carolina, in which they won 20–3. They later on beat Temple by a 24–19 margin. Rutgers was next up, and lost 20–3.

West Virginia barely lost on the road to Syracuse, 24–27, but more than made up for it with a 26–6 thumping of the Florida Gators in the Peach Bowl.

Roster

1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 10 Oliver Luck Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 90 Darryl Talley Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Don Nehlen Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "WVU 1981 Schedule". The West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved June 23, 2012.