2014 West Virginia Mountaineers football team


The 2014 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Playing as a member of the Big 12 Conference, the team was led by head coach Dana Holgorsen, in his fourth year. West Virginia played its home games at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season 7–6, 5–4 in Big 12 play to finish in a three way tie for fourth place. They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they lost to Texas A&M.

Coaching staff

Schedule

Alabama

went 24 for 33 for 250 yards, added 42 yards running, threw one interception in the fourth quarter, and took every offensive snap against West Virginia in a 33-23 win for the Crimson Tide. Coming off a 4-8 season, West Virginia was a 26 1/2-point underdog but led by Clint Trickett the Mountaineers almost pulled the upset against the number 2 team in the country. Trickett was 29 for 45 passing for 365 yards and a touchdown. Kevin White had a team leading 143 yards receiving and kicker Josh Lambert hit 3 field goals.
Attendance- 70,502
Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA

Towson

Coming off of a close loss to Alabama in week one, Clint Trickett and the Mountaineers put up 54 points on the Towson Tigers of the Football Championship Subdivision. Trickett threw for 348 yards and two touchdowns while also running in for a score. Kevin White added 101 yards receiving and Rushel Shell added 47 receiving yards and 71 rushing yards. The Tigers offense struggled against a West Virginia defense that is much improved from last year, only gaining 122 total yards of offense. This was West Virginia’s first shutout since playing Coastal Carolina in 2010 and the first shutout for the Mountaineers since joining the Big 12.
Attendance- 56,414
Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV

Maryland

Overall recordLast meetingResult
26–22–22013Mary, 37–0

Led by Clint Trickett 511 passing yards, West Virginia gave away a 22-point lead before Josh Lambert kicked a game winning 47-yard field goal to give West Virginia a 40-37 win over rival Maryland. Clint Trickett threw for 4 touchdowns in the win and Mario Alford was on the receiving end of two of those touchdowns. Kevin White had his best game of the season with 13 catches for 216 yards and a touchdown. West Virginia’s defense held the Terrapins to 4 of 15 on third downs and forced an interception. This win erased the bad memory for the Mountaineers of the 37-0 blowout in the 2013 installment of this rivalry.
Attendance- 48,154
Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD

Oklahoma

Overall recordLast meetingResult
2–42013OK, 16–7

Samaje Perine rushed for 242 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 4 Oklahoma to a 45-33 win in Morgantown over West Virginia. "They made good adjustments at halftime. They made a bunch of plays in the second half when the game was on the line" said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. Clint Trickett threw for 376 yards and two touchdowns for West Virginia, but he was intercepted twice and lost a fumble. His main target in the loss was senior receiver Kevin White who had 10 receptions for 173 yards and a touchdown.
Attendance- 61,908
Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV

Kansas

Overall recordLast meetingResult
2–12013Kansas, 31–19

Led by Clint Tricketts 302 passing yards and Mario Alford’s 94 yard kickoff return for a touchdown the Mountaineers beat Kansas 33-14. Rushel Shell ran for a season high 113 yards and a touchdown and Kevin White had 6 catches for 132 yards. West Virginia put up 557 yards of offense while the special teams played a very inconsistent game. After the Mountaineers' Jordan Thompson fumbled a punt on his 18 that led to a short touchdown run by the Jayhawks' Corey Avery, Alford took the ensuing kickoff into the endzone for a score to put West Virginia ahead 33-7 late in the third quarter.
Attendance- 52,164
Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV

Texas Tech

Overall recordLast meetingResult
1–22013Tech, 37–27

Sophomore Josh Lambert kicked a career-long 55-yard field goal at the end of the game to lead West Virginia to a 37-34 win over Texas Tech. The Red Raiders built an eleven point lead and carried that into halftime before being outscored 27 to 13 in the second half with the Mountaineers rallying from 14 points down in the fourth quarter. Clint Trickett was held to a season-low 301 yards but still completed 28 of 44 passes and had two touchdowns. Rushel Shell added two touchdowns, including the game tying one yard touchdown run late in the game. This was West Virginia’s first win against Texas Tech since joining the Big 12 conference 3 years ago.
Attendance- 58, 502
Jones AT&T Stadium • Lubbock, TX

Baylor

Overall recordLast meetingResult
1–12013Baylor, 73–42

When West Virginia needed another late push to pull out a win, Clint Trickett and Kevin White fought through the rain, turnovers, and the Bears defense to beat fourth ranked Baylor. Trickett threw two of his three touchdowns in the fourth quarter as West Virginia knocked off Baylor in Morgantown. Two of Tricketts touchdowns fell into the hands of senior receiver Kevin White, who caught 8 passes for 132 yards. This is the third top 5 opponent West Virginia has faced this season after previously losing to number 2 Alabama and number 4 Oklahoma. Against Baylor, Trickett went 23 of 35 for 322 yards, his eighth straight 300-yard game going to last season. The WVU defense, coached by Tony Gibson also stepped up holding the bears to only 7 second half points and 318 total yards.
Attendance- 60,758
Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV

Oklahoma State

Overall recordLast meetingResult
3–22013WVU, 30–21

TCU

Overall recordLast meetingResult
2–12013WVU, 30–27

ESPN's College Gameday made its second trip to Morgantown in its history.

Texas

Overall recordLast meetingResult
2–12013UT, 47–40

Kansas State

Overall recordLast meetingResult
1–32013KSU, 35–12

Iowa State

Overall recordLast meetingResult
2–12013ISU, 52–44

Texas A&M–Liberty Bowl

Rankings