# 2019 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 2019 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mountaineers played their home games at the Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, in Morgantown, West Virginia, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Neal Brown, who previously coached at Troy University. They finished the season 5–7, 3–6 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for seventh place.

## Preseason
### Big 12 media poll

The 2019 Big 12 media days were held July 15–16, 2019 in Frisco, Texas. In the Big 12 preseason media poll, West Virginia was predicted to finish in eighth in the standings.
Big 12 media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Oklahoma | 761 (68) |
| 2 | Texas | 696 (9) |
| 3 | Iowa State | 589 |
| 4 | TCU | 474 |
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 460 |
| 6 | Baylor | 453 |
| 7 | Texas Tech | 281 |
| 8 | West Virginia | 241 |
| 9 | Kansas State | 191 |
| 10 | Kansas | 89 |

### Preseason All-Big 12 teams

To be released

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 2 (FCS) James Madison* | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV | AT&TSN Pitt | W 20–13 | 61,891 |
| September 7 | Noon | at Missouri* | Faurot FieldColumbia, MO | ESPN2 | L 7–38 | 51,215 |
| September 14 | Noon | NC State* | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV (Gold Rush) | FS1 | W 44–27 | 57,052 |
| September 21 | 4:30 p.m. | at Kansas | David Booth Kansas Memorial StadiumLawrence, KS | ESPN+ | W 29–24 | 35,816 |
| October 5 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 11 Texas | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV (Stripe the Stadium) | ABC | L 31–42 | 62,069 |
| October 12 | 4:00 p.m. | Iowa State | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV | ESPN | L 14–38 | 51,836 |
| October 19 | Noon | at No. 5 Oklahoma | Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | FOX | L 14–52 | 82,620 |
| October 31 | 8:00 p.m. | at No. 12 Baylor | McLane StadiumWaco, TX | ESPN | L 14–17 | 46,379 |
| November 9 | Noon | Texas Tech | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV (True Blue) | ESPN2 | L 17–38 | 56,573 |
| November 16 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 24 Kansas State | Bill Snyder Family StadiumManhattan, KS | ESPN | W 24–20 | 46,332 |
| November 23 | Noon | No. 21 Oklahoma State | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV | ESPN2 | L 13–20 | 46,022 |
| November 29 | 4:15 p.m. | at TCU | Amon G. Carter StadiumFort Worth, TX | ESPN | W 20–17 | 40,126 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 5 released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

* Head coach
       Neal Brown
* Assistant coaches
       Jahmile Addae– Defensive Backs
       Xavier Dye – Wide Receivers
       Vic Koenning – Defensive Coordinator
       Jordan Lesley – Defensive Line
       Matt Moore – Co-Offensive Coordinator, Offensive Line
       Al Pogue – Outside Linebackers
       Sean Reagan – Quarterbacks
       Chad Scott – Co-Offensive Coordinator, Running Backs
       Blake Seiler – Inside Linebackers
       Travis Trickett – Tight Ends, Inside Receivers

## Game summaries
### James Madison

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 (FCS) Dukes | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Mountaineers | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 20 |

### At Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountaineers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Tigers | 10 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 38 |

### NC State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wolfpack | 7 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 27 |
| Mountaineers | 14 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 44 |

### At Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountaineers | 7 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 29 |
| Jayhawks | 0 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 24 |
West Virginia was expected to take advantage of observing the Jayhawks offensive performance the prior week where Kansas had beaten Boston College. When the game rolled around, the Jayhawk offense made two specific mistakes that impacted the game: A lost fumble and a fourth quarter interception. Kansas averaged 7.4 yards per play on offense. It also appeared that KU kicker Liam Jones faked an injury after a field goal to make way for Jacob Borcila to "replace" him at the next kickoff to execute an onside kick—which they recovered but then lost due to a penalty. West Virginia won the game 29-24.

### Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Longhorns | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 | 42 |
| Mountaineers | 7 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 31 |

### Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cyclones | 0 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 38 |
| Mountaineers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### At Oklahoma

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountaineers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| No. 5 Sooners | 14 | 14 | 21 | 3 | 52 |

### At Baylor

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountaineers | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| No. 12 Bears | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 17 |

### Texas Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Red Raiders | 21 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 38 |
| Mountaineers | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### At Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountaineers | 14 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
| No. 24 Wildcats | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
West Virginia's Jarret Doege started at quarterback and threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns. This was the first start at West Virginia for Doege who transferred from Bowling Green, as Austin Kendall had been the starting quarterback all season for the Mountaineers. Doege's biggest throw was a 50-yard touchdown pass on third-and-22 in the fourth quarter to take the lead.
Kansas State started strong, holding West Virginia to "three-and-out" and then Skylar Thompson threw a 68-yard touchdown pass on their first play from scrimmage. Thompson ended up 24 of 39 for 299 yards passing with a touchdown but also gave up two interceptions. On the ground, the Wildcats ran the ball 32 times but averaged only 3.2 yards per attempt.
West Virginia cornerback Hakeem Bailey intercepted Skylar Thompson’s pass toward the end zone in the closing seconds of the game. The Mountaineers left Manhattan with a 24-20 upset of the Wildcats.

### Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 21 Cowboys | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 20 |
| Mountaineers | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |

### At TCU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountaineers | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
| Horned Frogs | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 5 | 152 | Kenny Robinson | S | Carolina Panthers |
| 5 | 153 | Colton McKivitz | OT | San Francisco 49ers |