2021 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 2021 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University during the current 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mountaineers played their home games at the Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. The team was led by third-year head coach Neal Brown.

2021 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Guaranteed Rate Bowl, L 6–18 vs. Minnesota
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	6–7 (4–5 Big 12)
Head coach	Neal Brown (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Gerad Parker (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Chad Scott (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jordan Lesley (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	ShaDon Brown (1st season)
Home stadium	Milan Puskar Stadium (Capacity: 60,000)
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

2021 Big 12 Conference football standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 7 Oklahoma State y		8	–	1					12	–	2
No. 5 Baylor y$		7	–	2					12	–	2
No. 10 Oklahoma		7	–	2					11	–	2
Iowa State		5	–	4					7	–	6
Kansas State		4	–	5					8	–	5
West Virginia		4	–	5					6	–	7
Texas		3	–	6					5	–	7
TCU		3	–	6					5	–	7
Texas Tech		3	–	6					7	–	6
Kansas		1	–	8					2	–	10
Championship: Baylor 21, Oklahoma State 16
$ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

Main article: 2020 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The Mountaineers finished the 2020 regular season 6–4 and 4–4 in Big 12 play to finish sixth in the conference. They were eligible to play in the post season and was invited to play in the 2020 Liberty Bowl against the Army Black Knights.^[1] West Virginia won the game by three points against the Black Knights.^[2]

Schedule

The 2021 schedule consists of 6 home and 6 away games in the regular season.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	3:30 p.m.	at Maryland*	Maryland Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)	ESPN	L 24–30	43,811
September 11	5:00 p.m.	LIU*	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN+	W 66–0	50,911
September 18	12:00 p.m.	No. 15 Virginia Tech*	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	FS1	W 27–21	60,222
September 25	7:30 p.m.	at No. 4 Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	L 13–16	84,353
October 2	3:30 p.m.	Texas Tech	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN2	L 20–23	54,090
October 9	12:00 p.m.	at Baylor	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	FS1	L 20–45	43,569
October 23	7:30 p.m.	at TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	ESPNU	W 29–17	37,288
October 30	2:00 p.m.	No. 22 Iowa State	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN+	W 38–31	45,613
November 6	3:30 p.m.	No. 11 Oklahoma State	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN	L 3–24	50,109
November 13	12:00 p.m.	at Kansas State	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	FS1	L 17–34	43,932
November 20	12:00 p.m.	Texas	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	ESPN2	W 31–23	48,755
November 27	7:00 p.m.	at Kansas	David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FS1	W 34–28	23,117
December 28	10:15 p.m.	vs. Minnesota*	Chase Field Phoenix, AZ (Guaranteed Rate Bowl)	ESPN	L 6–18	21,220
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 2 prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source:^[3]

Game Summaries

at Maryland

See also: 2021 Maryland Terrapins football team

West Virginia Mountaineers (0–0) vs. Maryland Terrapins (0–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
West Virginia	14	7	0	3	24
Maryland	17	3	0	10	30

at Maryland Stadium • College Park, MD

• Date: Saturday, September 4, 2021
• Game time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: sunny • Temperature: 79°F
• Game attendance: 43,811
• Referee: Brandon Cruse
• TV announcers (ESPN): Anish Shroff, Mike Golic Jr., Taylor McGregor
• Pregame line: West Virginia -3

Game information

First Quarter (11:46) UMD – Joseph Petrino 45 yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 47 yards, 3:14; UMD 3–0) (8:52) WVU – Leddie Brown 20 yard pass from Jarret Doege, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 7 plays, 78 yards, 2:59; WVU 7–3) (7:57) UMD – Dontay Demus 66 yard pass from Taulia Tagovailoa, Joseph Petrino kick (Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards, 0:50; UMD 10–7) (0:53) UMD – Chigoziem Okonkwo 18 yard pass from Taulia Tagovailoa, Joseph Petrino kick (Drive: 8 plays, 70 yards, 3:03; UMD 17–7) (0:35) WVU – Leddie Brown 2 yard run, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 1 play, 2 yards, 0:04; UMD 17–14) Second Quarter (11:30) WVU – Leddie Brown 9 yard run, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 6 plays, 74 yards, 3:00; WVU 21–17) (0:27) UMD – Joseph Petrino 21 yard field goal (Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards, 1:31; WVU 21–20) Fourth Quarter (9:16) UMD – Joseph Petrino 26 yard field goal (Drive: 14 plays, 58 yards, 5:53; UMD 23–21) (6:25) UMD – Rakim Jarrett 60 yard pass from Taulia Tagovailoa, Joseph Petrino kick (Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards, 1:51; UMD 30–21) (2:53) WVU – Casey Legg 23 yard field goal (Drive: 14 plays, 69 yards, 3:32; UMD 30–24)

Statistics	WVU	UMD
First downs	18	22
Total yards	319	495
Rushes/yards	21/42	44/163
Passing yards	277	332
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	24–40–2	26–36–0
Time of possession	25:57	34:03

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
West Virginia	Passing	Jarret Doege	24–40, 277 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Leddie Brown	16 carries, 69 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Sam James	5 receptions, 65 yards
Maryland	Passing	Taulia Tagovailoa	26–36, 332 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Tayon Fleet-Davis	18 carries, 123 yards
	Receiving	Dontay Demus, Jr.	6 receptions, 133 yards, 1 TD

LIU

See also: 2021 LIU Sharks football team

LIU Sharks (0–1) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (0–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
LIU	0	0	0	0	0
West Virginia	21	17	21	7	66

at Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV

• Date: Saturday, September 11, 2021
• Game time: 5:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: sunny • Temperature: 73°F
• Game attendance: 50,911
• Referee: Scott Campbell
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Bill Spaulding, Barrett Brooks
• Pregame line: West Virginia -50

Game information

First Quarter (14:49) WVU – Winston Wright Jr. 90 yard Kickoff Return, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 1 plays, 90 yards, 0:11; WVU 7–0) (6:16) WVU – Leddie Brown 1 yard run, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 14 plays, 80 yards, 5:09; WVU 14-0) (7:57) WVU – Leddie Brown 2 yard run, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 6 plays, 39 yards, 2:07; WVU 21-0) Second Quarter (8:58) WVU – Garrett Greene 3 yard run, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 13 plays, 69 yards, 5:12; WVU 28–0) (3:07) WVU – Sam James 18 yard pass from Jarret Doege, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 11 plays, 56 yards, 3:46; WVU 35–0) (0:00) WVU – Casey Legg 44 yard field goal (Drive: 7 plays, 53 yards, 0:32; WVU 38-0) Third Quarter (12:34) WVU – Sean Ryan 39 yard pass from Jarret Doege, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 3 plays, 49 yards, 1:18; WVU 45-0) (11:16) WVU – Sam James 15 yard pass from Jarret Doege, Casey Legg kick (Drive: 3 plays, 26 yards, 0:44; WVU 52-0) (5:59) WVU – Garrett Greene 13 yard run, Evan Staley kick (Drive: 7 plays, 54 yards, 3:05; WVU 59-0) Fourth Quarter (5:25) WVU – A'Varius Sparrow 1 yard run, Evan Staley kick (Drive: 3 plays, 29 yards, 1:18; WVU 66-0)

Statistics	LIU	WVU
First downs	9	29
Total yards	95	542
Rushes/yards	35/31	55/198
Passing yards	60	344
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	11–21–0	20–32–0
Time of possession	24:53	35:07

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Long Island	Passing	Camden Orth	11–20, 60 yards
	Rushing	Jonathan DeBique	8 carries, 23 yards
	Receiving	Steven Chambers	2 receptions, 18 yards
West Virginia	Passing	Jarret Doege	14–22, 259 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Garrett Greene	14 carries, 98 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Sean Ryan	3 receptions, 77 yards, 1 TD

Rankings

Further information: 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	—	—	RV	—
Coaches	RV	—	—	RV	—
CFP	Not released															Not released

Coaching staff

Coach	Title	Year at West Virginia	Previous job
Neal Brown	Head Coach	3rd	Troy
Matt Moore	Assistant Head Coach/OL	3rd	Troy Co-OC/OL
Gerad Parker	OC/WR	2nd	Penn State (WR/PGC)
Chad Scott	Co-OC/RB	3rd	Louisville (RB)
Jeff Koonz	ILB/ST	2nd	Ole Miss (ILB)
Jordan Lesley	Co-DC/OLB	3rd	Troy (DL)
Andrew Jackson	DL	1st	Old Dominion (DL)
Sean Reagan	QB	3rd	Troy (Co-OC/QB)
Travis Trickett	TE/IWR	3rd	Georgia State (OC/QB)
Jahmile Addae	Co-DC/DB	1st	Louisville (DB)
Dontae Wright	S	2nd	Western Michigan (S)

References

1. Scarborough, Alex (December 21, 2020). "Army to face West Virginia in Liberty Bowl, replacing Tennessee". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
2. "West Virginia Rallies to Deny Army 10th Win in Liberty Bowl". AP. Sports Illustrated. December 31, 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
3. "2021 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Schedule". FBSchedule. Retrieved February 9, 2021.