Wikipedia

2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football team competed on behalf of West Virginia University during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Bill Stewart, who took over after he led the Mountaineers to a 2008 Fiesta Bowl victory over the #3 Oklahoma Sooners as the interim head coach after the departure of former head coach Rich Rodriguez. The team finished the season with a 9–4 record and a win over North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Meineke Car Care Bowl champion
ConferenceBig East Conference
Ranking
APNo. 23
Record9–4 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJeff Mullen (1st season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorJeff Casteel (7th season)
Base defense3–3–5
Home stadiumMountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium
(Capacity: 60,000)
Seasons
← 2007
2009 →
2008 Big East Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 17 Cincinnati $   6 – 1     11 – 3  
Pittsburgh   5 – 2     9 – 4  
No. 23 West Virginia   5 – 2     9 – 4  
Rutgers   5 – 2     8 – 5  
Connecticut   3 – 4     8 – 5  
South Florida   2 – 5     8 – 5  
Louisville   1 – 6     5 – 7  
Syracuse   1 – 6     3 – 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 303:30 p.m.Villanova*No. 8
ESPN+W 48–2160,566[1]
September 64:30 p.m.at East Carolina*No. 8
ESPNL 3–2443,610
September 188:30 p.m.at Colorado*No. 24
ESPNL 14–17 OT51,883
September 273:30 p.m.Marshall*
ESPN+W 27–360,154
October 4NoonRutgers
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
ESPN+W 24–1759,122
October 11NoonSyracuse 
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
ESPNUW 17–658,133
October 237:30 p.m.Auburn*
ESPNW 34–1760,765
November 1Noonat Connecticut
ESPN+W 35–1340,000
November 87:00 p.m.CincinnatiNo. 23
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
ESPNUL 23–26 OT59,834
November 22Noonat Louisville
ESPNW 35–2134,796
November 28Noonat PittsburghNo. 25
ABCL 15–1963,019
December 68:00 p.m.South Florida
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV (White Out - Pat White's final home game)
ESPN2W 13–748,019
December 271:00 p.m.vs. North Carolina*
ESPNW 31–3073,712

Coaching staff

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Head coach Bill Stewart is the Mountaineers 32nd head coach in school history. He returns defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel and defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich. His new hirings are associate head coach, recruiting coordinator, fullback, and tight ends coach Doc Holliday, assistant head coach and safeties coach Steve Dunlap, running backs coach Chris Beatty, offensive line coach Dave Johnson, and cornerbacks coach David Lockwood. Jeff Mullen, former quarterbacks coach at Wake Forest, was announced as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The receivers coach was named on January 29, Lonnie Galloway, the receivers coach from Appalachian State.[2]

Spring Game

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The Gold & Blue Spring Game was held on Saturday, April 19, 2008, at Mountaineer Field. A record crowd of over 25,000 fans attended as the Gold defeated the Blue 59–15. Kicker Pat McAfee was four-for-four on field goals with a long of 47 yards, and starting quarterback Pat White and backup Jarrett Brown both had touchdown passes. Brown also had a four-yard touchdown run and two backup kickers hit a field goal each. The defense recorded six sacks in total, and walk-on defensive back Darnell Christianled all corners with 3 passes deflected. Sophomore linebacker Pat Lazear had the only interception on the game off of a White pass. Backup runningback led all ballcarriers with 54 yards on 17 carries while sophomore Brandon Hogan led all receivers with 49 yards on 6 catches.

Recruiting class

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US college sports recruiting information for recruits
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
John Bassler
OL 		Union Bridge, MD Francis Scott Key HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 285 lb (129 kg) 5.40 Jul 3, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Tyler Bitancurt
K 		Springfield, VA West Springfield HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) N/A Dec 9, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Brantwon Bowser
DB 		Phoenix, AZ Phoenix Community College 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 4.50 Jan 7, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Jeff Braun
DT 		Westminster, MD West Hills HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 300 lb (140 kg) 5.50 Nov 25, 2006 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 74
Ryan Clarke
FB 		Hyattsville, MD Dematha Catholic HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Feb 3, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
J.J. Dorsey
ATH 		Winchester, VA John Handley HS 620 ft 1 in (189.00 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 4.60 May 23, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Tevita Finau
DL 		Phoenix, AZ Phoenix Community College 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 4.80 Feb 1, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Larry Ford
DL 		Coffeyville, KS Coffeyville Community College 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 250 lb (110 kg) 4.80 Oct 16, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Corey Freeman
DL 		University Heights, OH Cleveland Heights HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 4.52 Jan 24, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Zach Hulce
HB 		Puyallup, WA Glendale Junior College 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 4.41 Feb 27, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Josh Jenkins
OL 		Parkersburg, WV Parkersburg HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 303 lb (137 kg) Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 80
Benji Kemoeatu
OL 		Kahuku, HI Kahuku HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 315 lb (143 kg) Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 76
Terence Kerns
RB 		Chatham, VA Hargrave Military Academy 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 4.55 Apr 12, 2006 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 77
Joey Madsen
OL 		Chardon, OH Chardon HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 5.00 Jul 12, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Donovan Miles
LB 		Stafford, VA Brooke Point HS 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 4.50 Jun 5, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Jatavious Miller
LB 		Pahokee, FL Pahokee HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 67
Chris Palmer
DL 		Philadelphia, PA St. John Neumann HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 292 lb (132 kg) 5.01 Jun 29, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 73
Mark Rodgers
RB 		Lawndale, CA Leuzinger HS 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 4.55 Apr 1, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Robert Sands
LB 		North Bergen, NJ North Bergen HS 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 196 lb (89 kg) 4.59 Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
D.J. Shaw
DL 		Wesson, MS Copiah-Lincoln 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 285 lb (129 kg) Jan 28, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Bernard Smith
LB 		Atlanta, GA Mays HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 4.71 Jan 27, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 75
Courtney Stuart
DB 		Phoenix, AZ Phoenix Community College 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 4.45 Jan 23, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Jerome Swinton
DB 		Daytona Beach, FL Seabreeze Beach HS 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Feb 6, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Tyler Urban
FB 		North Huntingdon, PA Norwin SHS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 240 lb (110 kg) Feb 2, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 74
Coley White
QB 		Daphne, AL Daphne HS 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 4.50 Feb 5, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
J.D. Woods
WR 		Naples, FL Golden Gate HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 4.50 Feb 5, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Jorge Wright
DL 		Miami, FL Dr. Michael M. Krop HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 260 lb (120 kg) Jan 30, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 36   Rivals: 43
  • ‡ Refers to 40 yard dash
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "West Virginia Commit List for 2008". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 20, 2008.
  • "Scout.com Football Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved February 20, 2008.
  • "RecruitTracker 2008: West Virginia". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 20, 2008.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved February 20, 2008.
  • "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 20, 2008.

Rankings

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See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP882521——————20—————23
Coaches882422——————23——25———
HarrisNot released——————22—————Not released
BCSNot released———25—————Not released

Game summaries

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Syracuse

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1 234Total
Syracuse 3 300 6
• West Virginia 0 7010 17
Scoring summary
Q15:11SYRShadle 26 yard field goalSYR 3–0
Q27:39WVUSanders 12 yard pass from Brown (McAfee kick)WVU 7–3
Q21:03SYRShadle 53 yard field goalWVU 7–6
Q411:41WVUMcAfee 33 yard field goalWVU 10–6
Q44:16WVUDevine 92 yard run (McAfee kick)WVU 17–6

Auburn

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1 234Total
Auburn 3 1400 17
• West Virginia 0 101014 34
Scoring summary
Q12:05AUBByrum 19 yard field goalAUB 3–0
Q213:25AUBLester 16 yard pass from Burns (Byrum kick)AUB 10–0
Q210:58WVUMcAfee 23 yard field goalAUB 10–3
Q210:20AUBBurns 9 yard run (Byrum kick)AUB 17–3
Q26:37WVUArnett 44 yard pass from White (McAfee kick)AUB 17–10
Q310:45WVUMcAfee 42 yard field goalAUB 17–13
Q34:06WVUJalloh 2 yard pass from White (McAfee kick)WVU 20–17
Q411:44WVUJalloh 32 yard pass from White (McAfee kick)WVU 27–17
Q42:26WVUDevine 30 yard run (McAfee kick)WVU 34–17

[4]

Statistics

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Team

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Team Opp
Scoring    
  Points per Game    
First Downs    
  Rushing    
  Passing    
  Penalty    
Total Offense    
  Avg per Play    
  Avg per Game    
Fumbles-Lost    
Penalties-Yards    
  Avg per Game    
Team Opp
Punts-Yards    
  Avg per Punt    
Time of Possession/Game    
3rd Down Conversions    
4th Down Conversions    
Touchdowns Scored    
Field Goals-Attempts-Long    
PAT-Attempts    
Attendance    
  Games/Avg per Game    

Scores by quarter

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1 2 3 4 Total
WVU 0
Opponents 0

Offense

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Rushing

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Name GP-GS Att Yards Avg TD Long Avg/G
Noel Devine 8–8 132 909 6.9 3 92 113.3
Pat White 7–7 102 545 5.3 44 4 77.9
Jock Sanders 8–8 30 168 5.6 19 2 21
Jarrett Brown 5–1 32 157 4.9 35 1 31.4
Mark Rodgers 5–0 12 69 5.8 19 0 13.8
Total            
Opponents            

Passing

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Name GP-GS Cmp-Att-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G
Pat White 7–7 99–142–3 69.7 885 13 44 126.4
Jarrett Brown 5–1 22–30–1 73.3 114 1 25 22.8
Total              
Opponents              

Receiving

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Name GP-GS Rec. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G
Jock Sanders 8–8 35 263 7.5 6 25 32.9
Alric Arnett 8–8 19 226 11.9 3 44 28.3
Dorrell Jalloh 8–8 17 202 11.9 3 35 25.3
Noel Devine 8–8 22 96 4.4 0 17 12
Wes Lyons 4–0 9 90 10 0 19 22.5
Will Johnson 4–2 7 48 6.9 1 12 12
Tito Gonzales 3–0 4 35 8.8 0 11 11.6
Tyler Urban 2–0 1 25 25 2 25 12.5
Bradley Starks 3–0 4 20 5 0 13 6.6
Total              
Opponents              

Defense

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Name GP Tackles Sacks Pass Def. Interceptions Fumbles Blkd
Kick
Solo Ast Total TFL-Yds No-Yds BU No.-Yds Avg TD Rcv-Yds FF No.
Mortty Ivy 8 24 37 61 4.0 – 10 .5 – 3 2 3–48 16 0 1–30 0 0
Quinton Andrews 8 28 26 54 2.0 – 4 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sidney Glover 8 23 22 45 4.5 – 18 1.0 – 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ellis Lankster 8 27 17 44 1.5 – 11 0 4 1–31 31 0 0 0 0
Anthony Leonard 8 12 31 43 1.5 – 4 .5 – 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
J.T. Thomas 8 12 25 37 3.5 – 24 1.5 – 15 3 0 0 0 0 2 1
Chris Neild 8 9 23 32 2.5 – 6 1.5 – 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Brandon Hogan 8 15 13 28 0 0 3 2–50 25 0 2–0 0 0
Franchot "Boogie" Allen 8 13 13 26 2.5 – 4 1.0 – 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Eain Smith 8 10 15 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
John Holmes 8 7 13 20 3.5 – 25 3.0 – 24 1 1 0 0 0 2 0
Robert Sands 8 8 11 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Doug Slavonic 8 3 15 18 2.5 – 9 2.5 – 9 1 0 0 0 1–0 1 0
Ovid Goldbourne 8 5 12 17 .5 – 3 .5 – 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Reed Williams 4 6 11 17 2.0 – 4 0 1 1–11 11 0 0 0 0
Pat Lazear 8 4 11 15 1.0 – 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kent Richardson 8 8 5 13 1.0 – 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nate Sowers 7 7 6 13 .5 – 1 0 1 1–0 0 0 0 0 0
Pat Liebig 5 1 10 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Guesly Dervil 7 4 5 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Zac Cooper 8 3 5 8 1.0 – 8 1.0 – 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total

Special teams

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Name Kicking Punting
XPM XPA XP% FGM FGA FG% LG No. Yds Avg. TB -20 LG
Pat McAfee 25 25 100 9 10 90 52 37 1643 44.4 5 18 65
Total
Name Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long No. Yds Avg TD Long
Ellis Lankster 20 171 8.6 0 36 3 67 22.3 0 31
Brandon Hogan 2 17 8.5 11 0
Mark Rodgers 13 301 23.2 0 44
Jock Sanders 1 0 0 0 0 5 108 21.6 0 32
Total

References

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  1. ^ "White has record day in victory". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 31, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ West Virginia Mountaineers football article
  3. ^ ESPN. Retrieved 2014-Oct-06.
  4. ^ ESPN. Retrieved 2014-Oct-06.
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