*** Welcome to piglix ***

1988 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

1988 West Virginia Mountaineers football
West Virginia Flying WV logo.svg
Fiesta Bowl, L 21–34 vs. Notre Dame
Conference Independent
Ranking
Coaches No. 6
AP No. 5
1988 record 11–1
Head coach Don Nehlen (9th year)
Offensive scheme Option
Home stadium Mountaineer Field
(Capacity: 63,500)
Seasons
← 1987
1989 →
1988 Division I-A independents football records
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#1 Notre Dame           12 0 0
#2 Miami (FL)           11 1 0
#3 Florida State           11 1 0
#5 West Virginia           11 1 0
Southern Miss           10 2 0
#13 Syracuse           10 2 0
Army           9 3 0
Louisville           8 3 0
South Carolina           8 4 0
Northern Illinois           7 4 0
Pittsburgh           6 5 0
Memphis State           6 5 0
Southwest Louisiana           6 5 0
Rutgers           5 6 0
Akron           5 6 0
Penn State           5 6 0
Tulane           5 6 0
Temple           4 7 0
Tulsa           4 7 0
Boston College           3 8 0
Cincinnati           3 8 0
East Carolina           3 8 0
Navy           3 8 0
Virginia Tech           3 8 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1988 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Mountaineers' 96th overall season and they competed as a Division I-A Independent. The team was led by head coach Don Nehlen, in his ninth year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record of eleven wins and one loss (11–1 overall), and a loss against No. 1 Notre Dame in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.

The 1987 season was the beginning of Major Harris as the starting quarterback for West Virginia. Only a redshirt-freshman, Harris led the Mountaineers to a Sun Bowl berth, after a 1–3 start.

The '88 season opened with coach Don Nehlen's alma mater, Bowling Green. The win marked the beginning of the run, winning 62–14. West Virginia beat their next opponent, Cal-Fullerton, 45–10. West Virginia's first challenge was against the Maryland Terrapins. West Virginia got behind the Terps 14–0, but pulled away at halftime, winning 55–24.

West Virginia's next game was at the Pittsburgh Panthers. The game was a defensive struggle, until runningback A.B. Brown, a Pitt transfer, ran a draw for 64-yards and the score. Scoring 14-points in the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers broke away. In the 1988 Backyard Brawl, West Virginia was installed as a one-point underdog by the odds makers. The Mountaineers rolled to a 31–10 victory over Pitt on the way to their first undefeated, untied regular season in school history. West Virginia then traveled to rival Virginia Tech, and won 22–10, even though they produced four fumbles in the game. The next two games, a win at East Carolina, and a 59-point win at Boston College, gave West Virginia a 7–0 record.


...
Wikipedia

...