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
Meineke Car Care Bowl, W 31–30 vs. North Carolina
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 23
Record	9–4 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach	Bill Stewart (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Mullen (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Jeff Casteel (7th season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (Capacity: 60,000)
Seasons ← 2007 2009 →

2008 Big East Conference football standings

v t e	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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	3:30 p.m.	Villanova*	No. 8	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN+	W 48–21	60,566	[1]
September 6	4:30 p.m.	at East Carolina*	No. 8	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPN	L 3–24	43,610
September 18	8:30 p.m.	at Colorado*	No. 24	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ESPN	L 14–17 OT	51,883
September 27	3:30 p.m.	Marshall*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Friends of Coal Bowl)	ESPN+	W 27–3	60,154
October 4	Noon	Rutgers		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN+	W 24–17	59,122
October 11	Noon	Syracuse		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPNU	W 17–6	58,133
October 23	7:30 p.m.	Auburn*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Gold Rush)	ESPN	W 34–17	60,765
November 1	Noon	at Connecticut		Rentschler Field East Hartford, CT	ESPN+	W 35–13	40,000
November 8	7:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	No. 23	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPNU	L 23–26 OT	59,834
November 22	Noon	at Louisville		Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ESPN	W 35–21	34,796
November 28	Noon	at Pittsburgh	No. 25	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA (Backyard Brawl)	ABC	L 15–19	63,019
December 6	8:00 p.m.	South Florida		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (White Out - Pat White's final home game)	ESPN2	W 13–7	48,019
December 27	1:00 p.m.	vs. North Carolina*		Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, NC (Meineke Car Care Bowl)	ESPN	W 31–30	73,712
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Coaching staff

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

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

College recruiting information
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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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

See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	8	8	25	21	—	—	—	—	—	—	20	—	—	—	—	—	23
Coaches	8	8	24	22	—	—	—	—	—	—	23	—	—	25	—	—	—
Harris	Not released				—	—	—	—	—	—	22	—	—	—	—	—	Not released
BCS	Not released							—	—	—	25	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

Game summaries

Syracuse

1 2 3 4 Total Syracuse 3 3 0 0 6 • West Virginia 0 7 0 10 17 Date: October 11 Location: Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV Game start: Noon EST Television network: ESPNU

Scoring summary Q1 5:11 SYR Shadle 26 yard field goal SYR 3–0 Q2 7:39 WVU Sanders 12 yard pass from Brown (McAfee kick) WVU 7–3 Q2 1:03 SYR Shadle 53 yard field goal WVU 7–6 Q4 11:41 WVU McAfee 33 yard field goal WVU 10–6 Q4 4:16 WVU Devine 92 yard run (McAfee kick) WVU 17–6

• Noel Devine 18 Rush, 188 Yds^[3]

Auburn

1 2 3 4 Total Auburn 3 14 0 0 17 • West Virginia 0 10 10 14 34 Date: October 23 Location: Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV Game start: 7:30 p.m. EST Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary Q1 2:05 AUB Byrum 19 yard field goal AUB 3–0 Q2 13:25 AUB Lester 16 yard pass from Burns (Byrum kick) AUB 10–0 Q2 10:58 WVU McAfee 23 yard field goal AUB 10–3 Q2 10:20 AUB Burns 9 yard run (Byrum kick) AUB 17–3 Q2 6:37 WVU Arnett 44 yard pass from White (McAfee kick) AUB 17–10 Q3 10:45 WVU McAfee 42 yard field goal AUB 17–13 Q3 4:06 WVU Jalloh 2 yard pass from White (McAfee kick) WVU 20–17 Q4 11:44 WVU Jalloh 32 yard pass from White (McAfee kick) WVU 27–17 Q4 2:26 WVU Devine 30 yard run (McAfee kick) WVU 34–17

^[4]

Statistics

Team

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

1 2 3 4 Total WVU 0 Opponents 0

Offense

Rushing

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

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

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

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

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

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.