2021 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

2021 Big 12 Conference football standings
	Championship: Baylor 21, Oklahoma State 16
	$ – Conference champion; y – Championship game participant; As of December 30, 2021; Rankings from CFP Rankings

2021 West Virginia Mountaineers football
2021 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Guaranteed Rate Bowl, L 6–18 vs. Minnesota
Conference	Big 12 Conference
2021 record	6–7 (4–5 Big 12)
Head coach	Neal Brown (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Gerad Parker (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Chad Scott (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jordan Lesley (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	ShaDon Brown (1st season)
Home stadium	Milan Puskar Stadium; (Capacity: 60,000)
	Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University during the current 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mountaineers played their home games at the Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. The team was led by third-year head coach Neal Brown.

Previous season[]

The Mountaineers finished the 2020 regular season 6–4 and 4–4 in Big 12 play to finish sixth in the conference. They were eligible to play in the post season and was invited to play in the 2020 Liberty Bowl against the Army Black Knights.^[1] West Virginia won the game by three points against the Black Knights.^[2]

Schedule[]

The 2021 schedule consists of 6 home and 6 away games in the regular season.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	3:30 p.m.	at Maryland*	Maryland Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)	ESPN	L 24–30	43,811
September 11	5:00 p.m.	LIU*	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN+	W 66–0	50,911
September 18	12:00 p.m.	No. 15 Virginia Tech*	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	FS1	W 27–21	60,222
September 25	7:30 p.m.	at No. 4 Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	L 13–16	84,353
October 2	3:30 p.m.	Texas Tech	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN2	L 20–23	54,090
October 9	12:00 p.m.	at Baylor	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	FS1	L 20–45	43,569
October 23	7:30 p.m.	at TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	ESPNU	W 29–17	37,288
October 30	2:00 p.m.	No. 22 Iowa State	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN+	W 38–31	45,613
November 6	3:30 p.m.	No. 11 Oklahoma State	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN	L 3–24	50,109
November 13	12:00 p.m.	at Kansas State	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	FS1	L 17–34	43,932
November 20	12:00 p.m.	Texas	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN2	W 31–23	48,755
November 27	7:00 p.m.	at Kansas	David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FS1	W 34–28	23,117
December 28	10:15 p.m.	vs. Minnesota*	Chase Field Phoenix, AZ (Guaranteed Rate Bowl)	ESPN	L 6–18	21,220
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 2 prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source:^[3]

Game Summaries[]

at Maryland[]

West Virginia Mountaineers (0–0) vs. Maryland Terrapins (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
West Virginia	14	7	0	3	24
Maryland	17	3	0	10	30

at Maryland Stadium • College Park, MD

Date: Saturday, September 4, 2021
Game time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Game weather: sunny • Temperature: 79°F
Game attendance: 43,811
Referee: Brandon Cruse
TV announcers (ESPN): Anish Shroff, Mike Golic Jr., Taylor McGregor
Pregame line: West Virginia -3

Game information

First Quarter

(11:46) UMD – Joseph Petrino 45 yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 47 yards, 3:14; UMD 3–0)
(8:52) WVU – Leddie Brown 20 yard pass from Jarret Doege, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 7 plays, 78 yards, 2:59; WVU 7–3)
(7:57) UMD – Dontay Demus 66 yard pass from Taulia Tagovailoa, Joseph Petrino kick (Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards, 0:50; UMD 10–7)
(0:53) UMD – Chigoziem Okonkwo 18 yard pass from Taulia Tagovailoa, Joseph Petrino kick (Drive: 8 plays, 70 yards, 3:03; UMD 17–7)
(0:35) WVU – Leddie Brown 2 yard run, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 1 play, 2 yards, 0:04; UMD 17–14)

Second Quarter

(11:30) WVU – Leddie Brown 9 yard run, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 6 plays, 74 yards, 3:00; WVU 21–17)
(0:27) UMD – Joseph Petrino 21 yard field goal (Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards, 1:31; WVU 21–20)

Fourth Quarter

(9:16) UMD – Joseph Petrino 26 yard field goal (Drive: 14 plays, 58 yards, 5:53; UMD 23–21)
(6:25) UMD – Rakim Jarrett 60 yard pass from Taulia Tagovailoa, Joseph Petrino kick (Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards, 1:51; UMD 30–21)
(2:53) WVU – Casey Legg 23 yard field goal (Drive: 14 plays, 69 yards, 3:32; UMD 30–24)

Statistics	WVU	UMD
First downs	18	22
Total yards	319	495
Rushes/yards	21/42	44/163
Passing yards	277	332
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	24–40–2	26–36–0
Time of possession	25:57	34:03

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
West Virginia	Passing	Jarret Doege	24–40, 277 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Leddie Brown	16 carries, 69 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Sam James	5 receptions, 65 yards
Maryland	Passing	Taulia Tagovailoa	26–36, 332 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Tayon Fleet-Davis	18 carries, 123 yards
	Receiving	Dontay Demus, Jr.	6 receptions, 133 yards, 1 TD

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	NR	NR	RV	NR
Coaches	RV	NR	NR	RV	NR
CFP	Not released															Not released

Coaching staff[]

Coach	Title	Year at West Virginia	Previous job
Neal Brown	Head Coach	3rd	Troy
	Assistant Head Coach/OL	3rd	Troy Co-OC/OL
Gerad Parker	OC/WR	2nd	Penn State (WR/PGC)
	Co-OC/RB	3rd	Louisville (RB)
	ILB/ST	2nd	Ole Miss (ILB)
	Co-DC/OLB	3rd	Troy (DL)
	DL	1st	Old Dominion (DL)
	QB	3rd	Troy (Co-OC/QB)
	TE/IWR	3rd	Georgia State (OC/QB)
	Co-DC/DB	1st	Louisville (DB)
	S	2nd	Western Michigan (S)

References[]

^ Scarborough, Alex (December 21, 2020). "Army to face West Virginia in Liberty Bowl, replacing Tennessee". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
^ "West Virginia Rallies to Deny Army 10th Win in Liberty Bowl". AP. Sports Illustrated. December 31, 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
^ "2021 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Schedule". FBSchedule. Retrieved February 9, 2021.

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[1] Scarborough, Alex (December 21, 2020). "Army to face West Virginia in Liberty Bowl, replacing Tennessee". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 9, 2021.

[SI-2] "West Virginia Rallies to Deny Army 10th Win in Liberty Bowl". AP. Sports Illustrated. December 31, 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.

[3] "2021 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Schedule". FBSchedule. Retrieved February 9, 2021.

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[2]

[3]

v t 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 Marching band "Take Me Home, Country Roads" 1921 Backyard Brawl (first college football game to be radio broadcasted) 2007 Backyard Brawl
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 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

2021 Big 12 Conference football standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
No. 9 Oklahoma State y		8	–	1		11	–	2
No. 7 Baylor y$		7	–	2		11	–	2
No. 16 Oklahoma		7	–	2		11	–	2
Iowa State		5	–	4		7	–	6
Kansas State		4	–	5		7	–	5
West Virginia		4	–	5		6	–	7
Texas		3	–	6		5	–	7
TCU		3	–	6		5	–	7
Texas Tech		3	–	6		7	–	6
Kansas		1	–	8		2	–	10
Championship: Baylor 21, Oklahoma State 16
$ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant As of December 30, 2021; Rankings from CFP Rankings