The Mountaineers start rewriting history on Wednesday, as they take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Historically, West Virginia has a fair, yet unenviable, bowl reputation. In 39 bowl appearances across 100 years, WVU has a 16-23 record, primarily due to various losing streaks.
In eight bowl selections from 1987 to 1998, the Mountaineers failed to win a single game. They found themselves in a three game losing streak on two other occasions as well, from 2002 to 2005 and from 2016 to 2018.
When compared to the opposing UNC, however, history favors West Virginia. The Tar Heels are 15-22 in bowl games and are currently in their fifth three-game losing streak, giving WVU the perfect matchup to start reframing its bowl history.
Doing so must begin in Charlotte, though, as the Mountaineers have done little in recent years to change perception on this front. As they approach a new future, this is how WVU fared in this most recent era of bowl game appearances.
2014 and 2020: Mountaineers split second and third Liberty Bowl appearances
WVU’s seven-game bowl history in this decade opened just as the school’s all-time record would suggest, with a loss.
In its second bowl appearance representing the Big 12, the 7-5 Mountaineers took on Texas A&M in Memphis. The game was the first and only matchup between the two teams in history, which, as of now, sits in favor of the Aggies after their 45-37 win in the 2014 game.
The game’s opening quarter came packed with scoring, with two touchdowns for each team. WVU’s came in different ways, with Mario Alford catching a 45-yard reception from Skyler Howard for the first and K.J. Dillon intercepting a pass less than 20 seconds later for a 35-yard touchdown return. Kicker Josh Lambert made two field goals in the quarter to give WVU an edge over Kyle Allen’s two touchdown passes, leaving WVU up 20-14 entering the second quarter.
The Aggies managed one touchdown more than WVU to end the half leading 28-27. From there, West Virginia fell apart. The Mountaineers allowed three scores in a row on Aggies while before finally converting on their own possession with a field goal to end the quarter. The Aggies’ 17-3 advantage in the period put Texas A&M on top for good, even after WVU scored the only touchdown of the fourth quarter.
Freshman quarterback Kyle Allen won the quarterback battle over sophomore transfer Skyler Howard in the 45-37 win. Allen completed 22 of 35 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns and threw one interception. In the run game Allen managed a 33-yard gain and a touchdown in 10 carries. Howard threw three touchdowns on a 20/45 completion rate.
In 2020, the Mountaineers made it back to Memphis, now facing the Army Black Knights.
With a 5-4 record in the shortened season, the Mountaineers had significantly less success than Army, as the Black Knights went 9-2 for the year. Army filled in for the 3-7 Tennessee Volunteers after Tennessee players tested COVID-19 positive the day after the game was announced. As such, WVU was left with a very different opponent in sight for the New Year’s Eve bowl game, but the Mountaineers got the job done, nevertheless.
While Army played around with an extremely altered lineup due to injuries and COVID ineligibilities, WVU scored through every phase of the game to outdo Army’s three touchdowns between the second and third quarter. Jarret Doege split quarterback duties in his final game at WVU with junior backup Austin Kendall, who also left West Virginia after the season. Doege threw 15/25 for 159 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the first half before Kendall took over for an 8/17 outing that saw him throw for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
As a whole, WVU outdid Tyhler Tyler’s three rushing touchdowns in 24 carries, so the Mountaineers won the Liberty Bowl for the first time, 24-21. The win was West Virginia’s second and final bowl victory of the past decade.
2016-2018: Holgorsen ends era at WVU with three straight bowl losses
After a 43-42 win in the Cactus Bowl to end the 2015 season, the Mountaineers, coached still by newly-fired Houston coach Dana Holgorsen, fell in three bowl appearances.
The Mountaineers had a different season record in each of the three seasons, but none featured a bowl victory. In 2016, the Mountaineers entered the Russell Athletic Bowl 10-2 and ranked No. 14 in the NCAA. The 8-4 Miami Hurricanes got the best of WVU in the matchup, though, for a shocking 31-14 win. Kennedy McKoy and Skyler Howard ran for WVU’s two short touchdowns of the game, coming from the first and third quarter respectively. Miami outscored West Virginia 21-0 in the second quarter and 10-7 in the third to prove its status as favorites in the matchup.
In 2017, the 6-6 Utah Utes took out the 7-5 Mountaineers in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The game once again had a wide scoring margin, as WVU failed to score a touchdown until the final quarter. Current NFL kicker Matt Gay made three field goals for Utah in the 30-14 win over the Mountaineers.
The losing streak closed in a different bowl with a different team record but, once again, with a very similar final score. The No. 18 Syracuse Orange took out No. 16 WVU 34-18 in the Camping Bowl for the slight upset. Each team lost three games in the regular season, though WVU finished with just eight wins due to a cancellation.
The game nearly featured scoring from both teams in each quarter, with WVU leading 18-17 after three quarters, but Syracuse shut down West Virginia in the fourth quarter 17-0 for the 34-18 win. The loss was Holgorsen’s final game as the Mountaineers’ head coach.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
