1896 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 1896 West Virginia Mountaineers football team was an American football team that represented West Virginia University during the 1896 college football season. In its first and only season under head coach Thomas Trenchard, the team compiled a 3–7–2 record and was outscored by a combined total of 101 to 14.^[1] Three of the team's losses were to the Lafayette team that has been recognized as the co-national champion for 1896. George Krebs was the team captain.^[2]

1896 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Conference	Independent
Record	3–7–2
Head coach	Thomas Trenchard (1st season)
Captain	George Krebs
Seasons ← 1895 1897 →

1896 Southern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Centre			–					6	–	0	–	1
Texas A&M			–					2	–	0	–	1
Oklahoma			–					2	–	0	–	0
North Carolina A&M			–					1	–	0	–	0
Virginia			–					7	–	2	–	2
VPI			–					5	–	2	–	1
Navy			–					5	–	3	–	0
Arkansas			–					2	–	1	–	0
Clemson			–					2	–	1	–	0
Columbian			–					2	–	1	–	0
Georgia Tech			–					2	–	2	–	1
Add-Ran			–					1	–	1	–	1
Centenary			–					1	–	1	–	0
VMI			–					3	–	4	–	0
North Carolina			–					3	–	4	–	1
Furman			–					2	–	3	–	0
Ole Miss			–					1	–	2	–	0
West Virginia			–					3	–	7	–	2
South Carolina			–					1	–	3	–	0
Erskine			–					0	–	1	–	0
William & Mary			–					0	–	2	–	0
Davidson			–					0	–	1	–	0
Delaware			–					0	–	6	–	0

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26		Geneva	Morgantown, WV	W 6–0	800	[3]
October 15		vs. Lafayette	Fairmont, WV	L 0–18
October 16		vs. Lafayette	Parkersburg, WV	L 0–6
October 17		vs. Lafayette	Wheeling, WV	L 0–34
October 24		at Pittsburgh Athletic Club	Pittsburgh, PA	W 4–0
November 7		at Duquesne Country and Athletic Club	Exposition Park Allegheny, PA	T 0–0	1,000-2,000+	[4][5]
November 13		at Latrobe Independents	Latrobe, PA	L 0–5
November 14		at Latrobe Independents	Latrobe, PA	W 4–0		[6]
November 21	3:35 p.m.	at Duquesne Country and Athletic Club	Exposition Park Allegheny, PA	L 0–6	1,000–2,500	[7][8]
November 26[a]		at Pittsburgh Athletic Club	Pittsburgh, PA	T 0–0	4,000	[10]
November 26[a]		at Mahoning Cycle Club	Youngstown, OH	L 0–26	3,000	[11]
November 30		vs. Centre	Charleston, WV	L 0–6		[12][13]
All times are in Eastern time

1. In an effort to get out of debt, the team arranged two Thanksgiving games, sending its first-stringers to Pittsburgh to play the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and a group of substitutes (along with player-coach Trenchard) to Youngstown to play the Mahoning Cycle Club.^[9] WVU counts both games toward its 1896 season record.