1977 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 1977 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. It was the Mountaineers' 85th overall season and they competed as an independent. The team was led by head coach Frank Cignetti Sr., in his secondyear, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record 5–6.

1977 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–6
Head coach	Frank Cignetti Sr. (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Pendry (2nd season)
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field
Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 NCAA Division I independents football records
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
Colgate		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
North Texas State *		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
No. 16 San Diego State		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–				8	–	1	–	1
No. 14 Florida State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Pittsburgh		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
East Carolina		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Army		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	4	–	2
Georgia Tech		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Northwestern State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
William & Mary		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Hawaii		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	7	–	0
Utah State		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Villanova		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Virginia Tech		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Miami (FL)		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Tulane		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		–				2	–	8	–	1
Holy Cross		–		–				2	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
North Texas State (originally 9–2) awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player.^[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	Richmond		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 36–0	35,545	^[2]
September 17	at No. 11 Maryland		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)	W 24–16	45,123
September 24	at Kentucky	No. 17	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	L 13–28	57,796
October 1	at Virginia		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	W 13–0	13,000
October 8	Temple		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 38–16	32,822
October 15	Boston College		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	L 24–28	36,211
October 22	at No. 10 Penn State		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	L 28–49	62,108
October 29	Villanova		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	L 36–41	31,175
November 5	No. 12 Pittsburgh		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	L 3–44	37,031
November 12	Virginia Tech		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Black Diamond Trophy)	W 20–14	29,041	^[3]
November 19	at Syracuse		Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy)	L 9–28	16,118
Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1977 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Robert Alexander Fr RB 37 Terry Bowden Sr FB 46 Walter Easley So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 22 Tom Pridemore Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Frank Cignetti Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

References

1. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1977-standings.html
2. "West Virginia's offense too much for Richmond, 36–0". Pensacola News Journal. September 11, 1977. Retrieved October 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Alexander's great again, 20–14". Sunday Gazette-Mail. November 13, 1977. Retrieved December 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.