1983 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

1983 West Virginia Mountaineers football

Hall of Fame Classic Champions
Hall of Fame Classic, W 20–16 vs. Kentucky
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	#16
AP	#16
1983 record	9–3
Head coach	Don Nehlen
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field (Capacity: 50,000)

	Conf					Overall
1983 Division I-A independents football records
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#1 Miami		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		9	–	2	–	0
#19 Boston College		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
#16 West Virginia		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
#20 East Carolina		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
#18 Pittsburgh		–		–		8	–	3	–	1
Penn State		–		–		8	–	4	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Memphis		–		–		6	–	4	–	1
Florida State		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
William & Mary		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–		4	–	6	–	0
Temple		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Army		–		–		2	–	9	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Mountaineers' 91st overall season and they competed as a Division I-A Independent. The team was led by head coach Don Nehlen, in his 4th 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 Kentucky in the Hall of Fame Classic.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	Ohio		Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV		W 55–3	54,612
September 10	Pacific		Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV		W 48–7	54,581
September 17	at #17 Maryland	#20	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD (Rivalry)	WTBS	W 31–21	54,715
September 24	at #19 Boston College	#12	Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, MA	ABC	W 27–17	32,000
October 1	Pittsburgh	#7	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	CBS	W 24–21	64,076
October 15	Virginia Tech	#4	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Black Diamond Trophy)	CBS	W 13–0	57,181
October 22	at Penn State	#4	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)		L 23–41	86,309
October 29	at #7 Miami (FL)	#12	Orange Bowl Stadium • Miami,FL		L 3–20	62,600
November 5	Temple	#17	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV		W 27–9	50,514
November 12	Rutgers	#15	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV		W 35–7	51,317
November 19	at Syracuse	#14	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY (Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy)	ABC	L 16–27	36,661
December 23	vs. Kentucky	#18	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (Hall of Fame Classic)	WTBS	W 20–16	42,000
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. All times are in Eastern Time.

Reference:^[1]

Season summary

Jeff Hostetler was the starting quarterback for the Mountaineers. He led the team with 2345 passing yards and 16 touchdowns. Leading the team in rushing was Tom Gray with 498 net yards. Rich Hollins led the team in receiving with 50 receptions for 781 yards. Paul Woodside was also a reliable commodity for the Mountaineers. The Mountaineer offense was rolling after its first two games. They had beaten their first two opponents by a combined 103–10 score, with a 55–3 win over Ohio, and a 48–7 win over Pacific. Their first test of the season came on the road against #17 Maryland, where the Mountaineers emerged victorious 31–21.The next week, the Mountaineers played on the road, against a second straight ranked opponent in #19 Boston College. Again, the Mountaineers emerged victorious 27–17. They then avenged a heartbreaking 13–16 loss at Pittsburgh the year before, by beating the Panthers 24–21 at home. The next week, they posted a second consecutive win over a major rival by shutting out Virginia Tech 13–0 at home. The win moved WVU's ranking up to 3rd in the major polls.The Mountaineers suffered a heartbreaking loss at Penn State, the next week, ruining their national title hopes. It is very possible, that had the Mountaineers won that, they would be playing for the national championship. They were still hung over the week after, losing to Miami 20–3, giving them 2 straight losses.WVU came back with a 27–9 win over Temple, and a 35–7 win over Rutgers. They lost at Syracuse the next week 27–16, and closed out the season with a 20–16 win over Kentucky in the Hall of Fame Bowl.

Game notes

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pittsburgh	14	7	0	0	21
• West Virginia	7	7	3	7	24

Date: October 1
Location: Mountaineer Field, Morgantown, WV

Source:

Scoring summary

1	WVU	Brown 19-yard pass from Hostetler (Woodside kick)	WVU 7-0

1	PITT	Quense 75-yard fumble return (Schubert kick)	Tied 7-7

1	PITT	Scales 21-yard run (Schubert kick)	PITT 14-7

2	WVU	Harvey 1-yard run (Woodside kick)	Tied 14-14

2	PITT	Wallace 35-yard pass from Congemi (Schubert kick)	PITT 21-14

3	WVU	Woodside 49-yard field goal	PITT 21-17

4	WVU	Hostetler 6-yard run (Woodside kick)	WVU 24-21

References

↑ "WVU 1983 Schedule". The West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved June 23, 2012.

West Virginia Mountaineers football

Venues	Mountaineer Field (1924–1979) Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (1980–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Marshall Maryland Penn State Pittsburgh Syracuse Virginia Tech

Culture & lore	The Mountaineer West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015