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
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 18
APNo. 17
Record9–3
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGary Tranquill (2nd season)
Home stadiumMountaineer Field
(Capacity: 50,000)
1981 Major eastern college football independents records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 3 Penn State $ 6 –0 –010 –2 –0
No. 4 Pittsburgh 5 –1 –011 –1 –0
No. 17 West Virginia 3 –3 –09 –3 –0
Temple 2 –3 –05 –5 –0
Syracuse 2 –4 –04 –6 –1
Boston College 1 –4 –05 –6 –0
Rutgers 1 –4 –05 –6 –0
  • $ – Lambert Trophy Winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 4 Pittsburgh   –  – 11 –1 –0
No. 3 Penn State   –  – 10 –2 –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
DateOpponentSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 12at Virginia
W 32–1834,007[1]
September 19at Maryland
W 17–1338,300[2]
September 26Colorado State
W 49–348,716[3]
October 3at Boston College
W 38–1017,235[4][5][6]
October 10No. 4 Pittsburgh
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV (rivalry)
L 0–1754,280[7]
October 17Virginia Tech
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV (rivalry)
W 27–649,115[8]
October 24at No. 1 Penn State
L 7–3085,012[9]
October 31East Carolina
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 20–341,364[10]
November 7Temple
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 24–1940,342[11]
November 14Rutgers
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 20–344,395[12]
November 21at Syracuse
ABCL 24–2733,117[13]
December 31vs. Florida
CBSW 26–637,582[14]
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster
1981 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 1 Gary Mullen Fr
QB 10 Oliver Luck Sr
FB 36 Ron Wolfley Fr
WR 48 Willie Drewrey Fr
G 79 Mike Durrette Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 50 Dennis Fowlkes Jr
LB 90 Darryl Talley Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References
  1. "Cavs grounded". The Times & World-News. September 13, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Terps struggle again, lose to West Virginia". The Charlotte Observer. September 20, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "West Virginia romps 49–3". The Times Recorder. September 27, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "West Virginia rolls to 4–0, crushes Boston College". The News and Advance. October 4, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Undefeated West Virginia knocks off Boston College". Tallahassee Democrat. October 4, 1981. p. 4F – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "West Virginia 38, Boston College 10". St. Petersburg Times. October 4, 1981. p. 8C – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Pitt shelves air attack, wins, 17–0". The Miami Herald. October 11, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Virginia Tech gets lesson in Luck, 27–6". The Pittsburgh Press. October 18, 1981. Retrieved December 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Warner substitute leads Penn State past W. Va". Sunday News Journal. October 25, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "W. Virginia gets by East Carolina, 20–3". The Pittsburgh Press. November 1, 1981. Retrieved March 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "W. Va.'s Luck good; Owls' bad". The Courier-Post. November 8, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "West Virginia rips sputtering Scarlet". The Home News. November 15, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Syracuse, 4–6, upsets W. Va., 8–3". The Sunday News. November 22, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "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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