Since Fox has started their Big Noon Kickoff back in 2019, the Mountaineers have yet to play in a game being featured by the network. Like ESPN’s College Gameday, Fox sends a crew of former coaches and players on-site to the network’s prime noon game to get fans ready to kick it off.
This year, Fox has chosen the week one WVU vs Penn State game in Morgantown to host the festivities and fans can arrive early to watch Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, Matt Leinart, and Brady Quinn break down the week’s action.
While this is the first time that WVU has ever big in the Big Noon Kickoff game, they have been featured multiple times in ESPN’s College Gameday game of the week. However, no network has been on site in Morgantown since 2014 when TCU game to town.
Let’s take a look at the history of College Gameday and WVU.
Sept. 24, 2011 – Morgantown, WV No. 2 LSU at No. 16 West Virginia
This was the first ever time that ESPN took their show to Morgantown for a ranked battle in a gold rush night game at Mountaineer Field. The game featured some of the all-time Mountaineer greats such as Geno Smith, Tavon Austin, and Stedman Bailey.
LSU featured, Odell Beckham Jr, Tyrann Mathieu and would ultimately beat WVU with a final score of 47-21.
Nov. 1, 2014 – Morgantown, WV No. 10 TCU vs No. 20 West Virginia
ESPN decided to take the show back to Morgantown three years after the LSU game for a top 20 Big 12 matchup against TCU. The game was back and forth with WVU leading for all but the final second of the game when TCU hit a 37 yard field goal as time expired to win 31-30.
The Horned Frogs at the time were one of the top teams in the country led by quarterback Trevone Boykin. This would be the last time College Gameday has been to Morgantown.
Oct. 7, 2017 – Fort Worth, TX No. 8 TCU vs No. 23 West Virginia
In a rematch of the 2014 College Gameday game, once again ESPN choose a TCU vs WVU matchup, this time in Forth Worth for another top 25 showdown.
Will Grier would walk into Forth Worth and throw for 366 yards and three touchdowns, but it wouldn’t be enough as WVU would fall again 31-24 after TCU scored a touchdown to take the lead in the final minutes of the game.
Sept 1, 2022 – Pittsburgh, PA No. 17 Pittsburgh vs West Virginia
The most recent and potentially most heartbreaking College Gameday experience for WVU fans was the revival of the Backyard Brawl two seasons ago. Coming off an ACC Championship, Pitt was ranked in the top 25 and WVU had a lot of hype around new transfer QB, JT Daniels.
After leading by seven points in the fourth quarter with the ball, WVU would let Pitt back into it and give them the lead with a pick-six in the final minutes of the game. In heartbreaking fashion WVU would lose 38-31.
Fans can however look on the bright side of the game where the Mountaineers discovered star running back CJ Donaldson has a freshman who ran for 125 yards and a touchdown on seven carries in the contest.
The 0-4 record all-time is not a good look for WVU when it comes to networks sending pregame coverage to their matchup. However, those were all ESPN’s College Gameday. The week one matchup between WVU and Penn State will be the first time in the history of the program, that the Mountaineers will be a Big Noon Kickoff. New history can be made.
