The 1988 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

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 Donald Eugene Nehlen (born January 1, 1936) is a former American football player and coach. He was head football coach at Bowling Green State University (1968–1976) and at West Virginia University (1980–2000). Nehlen retired from coaching ...

, in his ninth year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as th ...

. 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 The 1989 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl, played on Monday, January 2, was the 18th edition of the Fiesta Bowl. It featured the top-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the third-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers. With both teams undefeated, the Fiesta Bowl ...

for the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

Schedule

Rankings

1988 season

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 The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

berth, after a 1–3 start. The '88 season opened with coach

's alma mater,

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

. 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 The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

. 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 Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

. The game was a defensive struggle, until running back 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 Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, and won 22–10, even though they produced four fumbles in the game. The next two games, a win at

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

, and a 59-point win at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, gave West Virginia a 7–0 record. Next, the late October matchup vs

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

at Mountaineer Field is widely regarded as one of the greatest games in Mountaineer football history. Before a nationwide CBS audience, the Mountaineers were up 34–8 before the half. On a draw play, runningback Undra Johnson ran 55 yards for the touchdown to end the half. The game also included a touchdown run by Major Harris, which is remembered in West Virginia lore as "The Run". The next game was at the

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...

, where the Mountaineers started slow in the first half. Receiver

Reggie Rembert Reginald Bernard "Reggie" Rembert (born December 25, 1966) is a retired American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He was drafted in the second round (28th overall) of the 1990 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He played co ...

scored three times, and the Mountaineers won by scoring 24 points in the third quarter. The Mountaineers traveled to

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...

to play

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

, who had beat Penn St., Boston College, and

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. The Mountaineers played poor, but came out with the win. The final regular season game of the season was at home, against the Syracuse Orangemen. The Orangemen were 8–2, while the Mountaineers were 10–0. The highlight of the game was a 49-yard interception by

Willie Edwards Willie Edwards Jr. (November 13, 1932 – January 23, 1957) was a 24-year-old African American, husband and father, who was murdered by members of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. He is buried at New Pleasant Valley Cemetery in Letohatchee, Alabama ...

that was taken for a touchdown. The Mountaineers won 31–9, and took a famous lap around the stadium to entertain the 65,000 fans in Morgantown.

National championship

West Virginia traveled to the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

to play the only other undefeated team in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

. Free-safety

Darrell Whitmore Darrell Lamont Whitmore (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball player for the Cleveland Indians and Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB) and was a college football and baseball player for the West Virgini ...

was out for the Mountaineers, but Nehlen moved star Bo Orlando from strong safety to free to fill the hole. Nehlen recalled the move as "our first mistake...". "Another mistake I made is that I let the media overrun us." West Virginia's offense was doomed from the third play of the game. Major Harris separated his shoulder on the third play when he was slammed to the ground by Irish Linebacker Michael Stonebreaker. He couldn't throw well for the rest of the game. The WVU coaches also abandoned their plans to run a lot of option football out of fear of further injuring Harris. Linemen John Stroia and Bob Kovach were injured for the Mountaineers in that game as well. NG Jim Gray would also suffer an early injury in the game. Notre Dame completely dominated the game. West Virginia only made one serious threat. Willie Edwards (Now coaching at

Morgantown High School Morgantown High School is a public high school in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. It is one of three secondary schools in the Monongalia County School District. Athletic teams compete as the Morgantown Mohigans in the West Virginia Seco ...

* class of 1984) picked off a Tony Rice pass in the 3rd quarter. ND led by 13 points at the time. A Harris incompletion and two ND sacks took WVU out of field goal range, and the threat was over. ND opened up a 21-point lead before a late WVU touchdown made the score respectable. WVU lost 34–21, it was their first loss of the season for the national championship.

Roster

West Virginia's '88 team was highlighted with an explosive offense, led by Major Harris. Harris, only a sophomore, threw an exceptional deep ball in addition to his remarkable scrambling ability. Running backs A.B. Brown, Undra Johnson, Eugene Napoleon, and Craig Taylor at fullback highlighted the run game. The runners were led by Rick Phillips and Brian Smider on the offensive line, along with Stroia and Kovach, while Kevin Koken led the line at center. Early in the season, Keith Winn was moved from receiver to tight end, providing help to the run game, but was more famous as a deep-pass threat. The receivers catching the balls from Harris were led by

, who was accompanied by Calvin Phillips and Grantis Bell. Coach Don Nehlen credited West Virginia's '88 team's defense as being the main factor to their success. The linebacking core included

Renaldo Turnbull Renaldo Antonio Turnbull (born January 5, 1966) is a former professional American football defensive end and outside linebacker who played for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League Was the Saints 1st round (14th overall) in the 1 ...

, Chris Haering, Steve Grant, Dale Jackson, Theron Ellis, and Robert Pickett. Mike Fox and Chris Parker headed the defensive line, along with Chris Haering. The secondary was one of the best in West Virginia history, led by Bo Orlando and

. Orlando had a good pro career with the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

and

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, while Darrell went pro in baseball.

played corner along with

Alvoid Mays Alvoid Wilson Mays (born July 10, 1966) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at West Virginia. He was drafted in the eighth round (172nd overall) of the 1989 NFL draft by the Houston Oilers. He also played for th ...

, who went pro as well, and Lawrence Drumgoole and David Lockwood played solid backup corner.

was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

while being assisted by assistant head coach, wide receivers coach, and recruiting coordinator

Doc Holliday John Henry Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887), better known as Doc Holliday, was an American gambler, gunfighter, and dentist. A close friend and associate of lawman Wyatt Earp, Holliday is best known for his role in the event ...

Game summaries

vs. Bowling Green

Statistics

vs. Cal State Fullerton

Statistics

vs. Maryland

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at Pittsburgh

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at Virginia Tech

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at East Carolina

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vs. Boston College

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vs. Penn State

Statistics

at Cincinnati

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at Rutgers

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vs. Syracuse

Statistics

vs. Notre Dame (Sunkist Fiesta Bowl)

Statistics

Honors

References

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West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

West Virginia Mountaineers football seasons Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy seasons

West Virginia Mountaineers football The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University (also referred to as "WVU" or "West Virginia") in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. West Virginia plays its home games at Milan Puskar ...