1989 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 1989 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Mountaineers' 97th overall season and they competed as a Division I-A Independent. The team was led by head coach Don Nehlen, in his tenth year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record of eight wins, three losses and one tie (8–3–1 overall), and earned a Gator Bowl berth against No. 14 Clemson, where they were defeated 27–7.

1989 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Gator Bowl, L 7–27 vs. Clemson
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 21
1989 record	8–3–1
Head coach	Don Nehlen (10th season)
Offensive scheme	Option
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field (Capacity: 63,500)

1989 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)			–					11	–	1	–	0
No. 2 Notre Dame			–					12	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Florida State			–					10	–	2	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Penn State			–					8	–	3	–	1
No. 17 Pittsburgh			–					8	–	3	–	1
No. 21 West Virginia			–					8	–	3	–	1
Syracuse			–					8	–	4	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana			–					7	–	4	–	0
Akron			–					6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina			–					6	–	4	–	1
Virginia Tech			–					6	–	4	–	1
Louisiana Tech			–					5	–	4	–	1
Army			–					6	–	5	–	0
Louisville			–					6	–	5	–	0
East Carolina			–					5	–	5	–	1
Tulsa			–					6	–	6	–	0
Southern Miss			–					5	–	6	–	0
Tulane			–					4	–	8	–	0
Navy			–					3	–	8	–	0
Rutgers			–					2	–	7	–	2
Boston College			–					2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State			–					2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati			–					1	–	9	–	1
Temple			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 2	Ball State*	No. 17	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 35–10	57,866[1]
September 9	at Maryland*	No. 17	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (MD-WV Rivalry)	W 14–10	45,000[1]
September 16	South Carolina*	No. 12	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 45–21	66,015[1]
September 23	at Louisville*	No. 9	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	W 30–21	39,132[1]
September 30	No. 10 Pitt*	No. 9	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	T 31–31	68,938[1]
October 7	Virginia Tech*	No. 9	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (VT-WV Rivalry)	L 10–12	62,563[1]
October 21	Cincinnati*	No. 18	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 69–3	47,176[1]
October 28	at Boston College*	No. 15	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	W 44–30	32,000[1]
November 4	at No. 16 Penn State*	No. 13	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	L 9–19	85,911[1]
November 11	Rutgers*	No. 19	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 21–20	61,336[1]
November 24	at Syracuse*	No. 17	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	W 24–17	46,757[1]
December 30	vs. No. 14 Clemson*	No. 17	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	L 7–27	82,911[1]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Season summary

Coming off of its first ever 11-win season and with junior Major Harris returning to lead a potent offense, West Virginia entered the 1989 season ranked 17th in the AP Poll and with high expectations. The Mountaineers started the season accordingly, racing to a 4-0 record and to #9 in the AP Poll. In Week 5 against #10 Pitt, however, West Virginia fell victim to another memorable collapse in the Backyard Brawl. Trailing 31-9 in the 4th quarter, Pitt scored 22 unanswered points and kicked a game-tying field goal as time expired to force a 31-31 tie.[2] The Mountaineers would suffer another heartbreaking result the following week with a 12-10 home loss to Virginia Tech, as well as a 19-9 loss to #16 Penn State in State College. Despite those disappointing defeats, WVU finished the regular season at 8-2-1, a #17 ranking in the AP Poll, and a trip to the Gator Bowl to face #14 Clemson. The Mountaineers faltered, however, losing 27-7 and finished the season at 8-3-1 with a #21 ranking in the final AP Poll.[3]

Roster

1989 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR Reggie Rembert Sr WR 2 Greg Dykes Sr QB 9 Major Harris Jr WR 11 Wes Jackson Jr WR 16 David Miers Sr QB 16 Chris Gray So QB 17 James Breitbeil So FB 20 Craig Taylor Sr FB 36 Aaron Evans Jr RB 37 Jim Pastorkovich Sr G 74 Larry Cook Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 14 Jay Darr Jr DT 61 Mike Fox Sr DE 87 Renaldo Turnbull Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Don Nehlen Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Statistical leaders

All stats are courtesy of WVUStats.com unless otherwise cited.[4]

• Passing:

Major Harris - 142/245, 2,058 yards, 17 touchdowns, 11 interceptions

• Rushing:

Major Harris - 155 carries, 936 yards, 6.0 average per carry, six touchdowns

Garrett Ford, Jr. - 148 carries, 733 yards, 5.0 average per carry, six touchdowns

• Receiving:

Reggie Rembert - 47 receptions, 850 yards, 11 touchdowns

• Interceptions:

Preston Waters - 7 interceptions

References

1. DeVault, Mark. "WVU 1989 Schedule". WVU Stats (West Virginia University Athletics). Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
2. Antonik, John; Scuillo, Sam (December 1, 2007). "Tales from the Backyard Brawl". MSN Sportsnet (West Virginia University Athletics). Retrieved January 13, 2012.
3. DeVault, Mark. "WVU 1989 Schedule". WVU Stats (West Virginia University Athletics). Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
4. DeVault, Mark. "WVU 1989 Statistics". WVU Stats (West Virginia University Athletics). Archived from the original on 2012-05-25. Retrieved January 17, 2012.