American college football season
The 1971 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1971 NCAA University Division football season . It was the Mountaineers' 79th overall season and they competed as an independent . The team was led by head coach Bobby Bowden , in his second year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia . They finished the season with a record of 7–4.
Schedule
Date Opponent Site Result Attendance Source September 11 Boston College W 45–1431,500 [1]
September 18 at California L 10–2023,001–25,000 [2] [3]
September 25 at Richmond W 16–311,000 [4]
October 2 Pittsburgh Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry ) W 20–938,500 [5]
October 9 at William & Mary W 28–2315,000 [6]
October 16 East Carolina Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV W 44–2127,000 [7]
October 23 Temple Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV W 43–3325,000 [8]
October 30 No. 5 Penn State Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry ) L 7–3537,000 [9]
November 6 at Duke L 15–3130,150 [10]
November 13 VMI Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV W 28–324,000 [11]
November 20 at Syracuse L 24–2818,049 [12]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Game summaries
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
1
2 3 4 Total
Pittsburgh
3
6 0 0
9
• West Virginia
13
0 0 7
20
Date: October 2Location: Morgantown, West VirginiaGame attendance: 38,500
Scoring summary 1 PITT Knisley 35 yard field goal PITT 3-0
1 WVU Marbury 10 yard run (kick failed) WVU 6-3
1 WVU Marbury 2 yard run (Nester kick) WVU 13-3
2 PITT Gindin 25 yard pass from Havern (run failed) WVU 13-9
4 WVU Galiffa 4 yard run (Nester kick) WVU 20-9
References
^ "West Virginia defeats BC" . The Times and Democrat . September 12, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Cal zaps Mountaineers" . Oakland Tribune . September 19, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "California vs West Virginia Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF) . NCAA Football Statistics . NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018 .
^ "UR defense stands out despite loss" . Richmond Times-Dispatch . September 26, 1971. Retrieved October 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "WVU gets revenge 20–9" . Beckley Post-Herald & Register . October 3, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "West Virginia rallies past William & Mary" . The News and Observer . October 10, 1971. Retrieved January 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "WVU defense intercepts four E. Carolina passes" . Beckley Post-Herald and Register . October 17, 1971. Retrieved March 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Speed gives WVU edge" . The Dominon News . October 24, 1971. p. 1C – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Mitchell, Harris boost Penn State" . The State . October 31, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Searl sparks Duke to win" . Asheville Citizen-Times . November 7, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "WVU downs stubborn VMI" . The Pittsburgh Press . November 14, 1971. Retrieved February 1, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Orange nips Mountaineers" . The Tampa Tribune . November 21, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .