Gold Rush is a staple of West Virginia football every season, and is usually the first home theme of the season. Even though it has become an iconic part of the program, the tradition is not that old, with the first one coming in 2007.
Then head coach Rich Rodriguez called for all fans to wear gold for their home matchup against Louisville, who the year before had a “blackout” for their game against the Mountaineers. West Virginia defeated Louisville in the first ever gold rush game 38-31, thanks to a last second touchdown by Pat White, who ran for 147 yards that evening.
The next season saw Auburn come to Morgantown, and potentially the first Gold Rush loss, when the Tigers jumped out to a 17-3 lead thanks to two early interceptions from White. Those would be the only points Auburn scored all game though, with 31 unanswered coming from the Mountaineers on the back of Noel Devine’s then career-high 207 rushing yards.
2009 would bring Colorado to Morgantown for the spectacle, where Devine would once again rush for a new career-high —this time 220 yards, in a 35-24 victory. The next year it would be Big East foe USF who were trying to hand WVU their first loss during a gold rush game. Instead, Geno Smith would rise to the occasion, throwing for 219 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interception in a 20-6 win.
2011 would bring the toughest challenge yet for the undefeated gold rush streak, with No. 2 LSU coming to town along with it being the first time College Gameday ever came to Morgantown, creating an atmosphere even other gold rush games could not match.
West Virginia would quickly fall behind 27-7, before storming back to make it 27-21 late in the third quarter, sparking hope of the unbeaten streak staying alive. It would fall apart from there though, with LSU scoring 20 unanswered points to end West Virginia’s streak. Geno Smith threw for 463 yards and two touchdowns, and Tavon Austin had 187 receiving yards in what would be a preview of things to come.
2012 would provide another iconic game, with No. 12 Oklahoma heading into Morgantown. Tavon Austin finished the game with 344 rushing yards and 82 receiving yards, Stedman Bailey finished with 205 receiving yards, and Geno Smith threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns. All that would not be enough though, as West Virginia was defeated 50-49 to lose their second straight gold rush game.
Luckily this is the last Gold Rush the Mountaineers have lost, although the opponents during the current win streak have gotten weaker overall. That wasn’t the case in 2013 though, when the No. 11 Oklahoma State Cowboys came to Morgantown. Florida State transfer quarterback Clint Trickett threw for 300 yards and a touchdown and the Mountaineers defense came up with multiple interceptions en route to a 30-21 upset win.
From 2014 to 2019 the Gold Rush opponents for the Mountaineers were Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, ECU, Kansas again, and NC State. The season records for those respective teams were, 3-9, 3-9, 4-8, 3-9, 3-9 and 4-8. The gold rush game did not feature an opponent who finished the season over .500 for six consecutive seasons and the game started to lose its luster. That was until in 2021, after no gold rush game in 2020 due to Covid, the opponent would be Virginia Tech for the Black Diamond Trophy.
Virginia Tech came into the game ranked No. 15 in the country, coming off a big upset over North Carolina the previous week. West Virginia held the lead for the entire game after Leddie Brown scored an 80-yard touchdown up the middle only two and a half minutes into the game, coming out with a 27-21 win. Virginia Tech would technically continue the Mountaineers streak of not playing a team that finished .500 or better on the season, but Virginia Tech did finish the season 6-6, before losing their bowl game.
The Mountaineers will look to continue their strong play against Kansas as they play the Jayhawks in the first night game at Milan Puskar Stadium since 2018.
