# 2020 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 2020 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University during the 2020 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 second-year head coach Neal Brown.

## Offseason
### Coaching changes

Offensive coordinator Matt Moore was promoted to assistant head coach, and was replaced in his role as offensive coordinator by Penn State wide receivers coach Gerad Parker. Parker also replaced Xavier Dye, who departed for South Florida, as wide receivers coach. Additionally, the Mountaineers hired Jeff Koonz from Ole Miss to serve as inside linebackers and special team coach and later became co-defensive coordinator.
On July 22, Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning parted ways with West Virginia after allegations of mistreatment by West Virginia players. To replace him, they promoted three defensive coaches to become co-defensive coordinators: Jordan Lesley, Jahmile Addae, and Jeff Koonz. They also moved linebackers coach Dontae Wright to safeties coach along with promoting analyst Jeff Casteel to outside linebackers coach.

## Preseason
### Big 12 media days

The Big 12 media days were held on July 21–22, 2020 in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

### Big 12 media poll

Big 12 media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Oklahoma | 888 (88) |
| 2 | Oklahoma State | 742 (6) |
| 3 | Texas | 727 (4) |
| 4 | Iowa State | 607 |
| 5 | Baylor | 489 |
| 6 | TCU | 477 |
| 7 | Kansas State | 366 |
| 8 | West Virginia | 287 |
| 9 | Texas Tech | 267 |
| 10 | Kansas | 100 |

## Schedule
### Spring game

The West Virginia football spring "Blue-Gold game" was canceled due to COVID-19.

### Regular season

West Virginia released its 2020 schedule on October 21, 2019. The 2020 schedule originally consisted of 7 home games, 4 away games, and 1 neutral-site game in the regular season. The Mountaineers were to host two non-conference games against Eastern Kentucky and Maryland, and play a non-conference neutral site game against Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. West Virginia was to host Kansas State, TCU, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Baylor; and travel to Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma State, and Iowa State in regular-season conference play.
The Mountaineers' games against Florida State, scheduled for September 5, and Maryland, scheduled for September 19, were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 12 | 12:00 p.m. | Eastern Kentucky* | Milan Puskar StadiumMorgantown, WV | FS1 | W 56–10 | 976 |
| September 26 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 15 Oklahoma State | Boone Pickens StadiumStillwater, OK | ABC | L 13–27 | 14,672 |
| October 3 | 12:00 p.m. | Baylor | Milan Puskar StadiumMorgantown, WV | ABC | W 27–21 $^{2OT}$ | 978 |
| October 17 | 12:00 p.m. | Kansas | Milan Puskar StadiumMorgantown, WV | FOX | W 38–17 | 10,759 |
| October 24 | 5:30 p.m. | at Texas Tech | Jones AT&T StadiumLubbock, TX | ESPN2 | L 27–34 | 13,532 |
| October 31 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 16 Kansas State | Milan Puskar StadiumMorgantown, WV | ESPN2 | W 37–10 | 10,441 |
| November 7 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 22 Texas | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | ABC | L 13–17 | 17,843 |
| November 14 | 12:00 p.m. | TCU | Milan Puskar StadiumMorgantown, WV | FOX | W 24–6 | 11,111 |
| December 5 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 9 Iowa State | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | ESPN | L 6–42 | 14,256 |
| December 31 | 4:00 p.m. | vs. Army | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (Liberty Bowl) | ESPN | W 24–21 | 8,187 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
    Schedule Source:

## Coaching staff

| Coach | Title | Year at West Virginia | Previous job |
| Neal Brown | Head Coach | 2nd | Troy |
| Matt Moore | Assistant Head Coach/OL | 2nd | Troy Co-OC/OL |
| Gerad Parker | OC/WR | 1st | Penn State (WR/PGC) |
| Chad Scott | Co-OC/RB | 2nd | Louisville (RB) |
| Jeff Koonz | ILB/ST | 1st | Ole Miss (ILB) |
| Jahmile Addae | DB | 2nd | Minnesota (DB) |
| Jeff Casteel | Defensive Analyst/OLB | 1st | Nevada (DC/LB) |
| Jordan Lesley | DL | 2nd | Troy (DL) |
| Seth Reagan | QB | 2nd | Troy (Co-OC/QB) |
| Travis Trickett | TE/WR | 2nd | Georgia State (OC/QB) |
| Dontae Wright | S | 1st | Western Michigan (S) |

## Game summaries
### Vs. Eastern Kentucky

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eastern Kentucky | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| West Virginia | 14 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 56 |
at Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV
* Date: Saturday, September 12, 2020
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: mostly cloudy, 88°F
* TV: FS1
* Pregame line: West Virginia -40.0
| Statistics | EKU | WVU |
| First downs | 9 | 31 |
| Total yards | 206 | 624 |
| Rushes/yards | 75 | 329 |
| Passing yards | 131 | 295 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 9-17-1 | 25-35-0 |
| Time of possession | 24:17 | 35:43 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Eastern Kentucky | Passing | Peyton McKinney | 9-17, 131 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| Eastern Kentucky | Rushing | Alonzo Booth | 7 carries, 45 yds |
| Eastern Kentucky | Receiving | Keyion Dixon | 3 receptions, 53 yds, 1 TD |
| West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 19–25, 228 yds, 3 TD |
| West Virginia | Rushing | Alec Sinkfield | 15 carries, 123 yds, 2 TD |
| West Virginia | Receiving | Sam James | 5 receptions, 72 yds, 1 TD |

### At Oklahoma State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| West Virginia | 0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| No. 15 Oklahoma State | 0 | 20 | 0 | 7 | 27 |
at Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, OK
* Date: Saturday, September 26, 2020
* Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
* Game weather: •Sunny Temperature: 87
* Game attendance: 14,672
* Referee: David Alvarez
* TV announcers (ABC): Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Dan Orlovsky (analyst), Kris Budden (sideline)
* Pregame line:
| Statistics | WVU | OKST |
| First downs | 22 | 20 |
| Total yards | 353 | 342 |
| Rushes/yards | 42–68 | 41–203 |
| Passing yards | 285 | 139 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 20–37–0 | 15–22–1 |
| Time of possession | 32:51 | 27:09 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 20/37, 285 yards, TD |
| West Virginia | Rushing | Leddie Brown | 26 carries, 104 yards |
| West Virginia | Receiving | Winston Wright Jr. | 6 receptions, 127 yards, TD |
| Oklahoma State | Passing | Shane Illingworth | 15/21, 139 yards, INT |
| Oklahoma State | Rushing | LD Brown | 11 carries, 103 yards, TD |
| Oklahoma State | Receiving | Tylan Wallace | 6 receptions, 78 yards |

### Vs. Baylor

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Baylor | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| West Virginia | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 27 |
at Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV
* Date: Saturday, October 3, 2020
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: partly cloudy • Temperature: 57°F
* Game attendance: 978
* Referee: Scott Campbell
* TV announcers (ABC): Bob Wischusen, Dan Orlovsky and Rocky Boiman
* Pregame line: Baylor −1.0
| Statistics | BAY | WVU |
| First downs | 15 | 18 |
| Total yards | 256 | 345 |
| Rushes/yards | 33/27 | 39/134 |
| Passing yards | 229 | 211 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 23–38–2 | 30–42–2 |
| Time of possession | 28:07 | 31:53 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Baylor | Passing | Charlie Brewer | 23–38, 229 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT |
| Baylor | Rushing | John Lovett | 14 carries, 23 yards |
| Baylor | Receiving | R.J. Sneed | 6 receptions, 48 yards, 1 TD |
| West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 30–42, 211 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT |
| West Virginia | Rushing | Leddie Brown | 27 carries, 93 yards, 2 TD |
| West Virginia | Receiving | Sam James | 8 reception, 66 yards |

### Vs. Kansas

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Kansas | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| West Virginia | 7 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 38 |
at Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV
* Date: Saturday, October 17, 2020
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 53 °F (12 °C) • Wind: SW 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)
* Game attendance: 10,759
* Referee: Michael Vandervelde
* TV announcers (FOX): Gus Johnson (play-by-play) and Joel Klatt (analyst)
* Pregame line: WVU –22 • Over/under: 51.5
| Statistics | KAN | WVU |
| First downs | 7 | 29 |
| Total yards | 157 | 544 |
| Rushes/yards | 31/62 | 38/226 |
| Passing yards | 95 | 318 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 14–23–2 | 26–44–1 |
| Time of possession | 27:05 | 32:55 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Kansas | Passing | Miles Kendrick | 14/23, 95 yards, TD, 2 INT |
| Kansas | Rushing | Velton Gardner | 11 carries, 43 yards |
| Kansas | Receiving | Andrew Parchment | 6 receptions, 65 yards, TD |
| West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 26/44, 318 yards, 3 TD, INT |
| West Virginia | Rushing | Leddie Brown | 18 carries, 195 yards, TD |
| West Virginia | Receiving | Bryce Ford-Wheaton | 5 receptions, 89 yards, TD |

### At Texas Tech

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| West Virginia | 7 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 27 |
| Texas Tech | 13 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 34 |
at Jones AT&T Stadium • Lubbock, TX
* Date: Saturday, October 24, 2020
* Game time: 5:30 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: Temperature: 65 °F (18 °C) • weather: clear • wind: SSW 17 MPH
* Game attendance: 13,532
* Referee: Brandon Cruse
* TV announcers (ESPN2): Anish Shroff, Tom Luginbill and Ian Fitzsimmons
* Pregame line:
| Statistics | WVU | TTU |
| First downs | 22 | 18 |
| Total yards | 438 | 348 |
| Rushes/yards | 29/91 | 39/179 |
| Passing yards | 347 | 169 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 32–50–0 | 22–28–0 |
| Time of possession | 30:07 | 29:53 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 32/50, 347 yards, TD |
| West Virginia | Rushing | Leddie Brown | 21 rushes, 77 yards, 2 TD |
| West Virginia | Receiving | Winston Wright Jr. | 9 receptions, 126 yards |
| Texas Tech | Passing | Henry Colombi | 22/28, 169 yards, TD |
| Texas Tech | Rushing | SaRodorick Thompson | 8 rushes, 68 yards, TD |
| Texas Tech | Receiving | Myles Price | 7 receptions, 79 yards |

### Vs. No. 16 Kansas State (homecoming)

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 16 Kansas State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV
* Date: Saturday, October 31, 2020
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: • Temperature:
* Game attendance: 10,441
* TV: ESPN2
* Pregame line:
* Statistics
* First downs
* Total yards
* Rushes/yards
* Passing yards
* Passing: Comp–Att–Int
* Time of possession
| Team | Category |
| Kansas State | Passing |
| Kansas State | Rushing |
| Kansas State | Receiving |
| West Virginia | Passing |
| West Virginia | Rushing |
| West Virginia | Receiving |

### At Texas

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| West Virginia | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
| No. 22 Texas | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX
* Date: Saturday, November 7, 2020
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: Mostly Sunny, 70 °F (21 °C), Wind: 0 mph (0 km/h)
* Game attendance: 17,843
* Referee: Kevin Hassell
* TV announcers (ABC): Joe Tessitore, Greg McElroy, Holly Rowe
* Pregame line:
| Statistics | WVU | TEX |
| First Downs | 21 | 17 |
| Total Yards | 360 | 363 |
| Rushing: Att/Yds | 26/43 | 36/9 |
| Passing Yards | 317 | 184 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 35–50–0 | 15–31–0 |
| Time of Possession | 34:21 | 25:39 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 35–50, 317 yards |
| West Virginia | Rushing | Leddie Brown | 15 car, 47 yards, 1 TD |
| West Virginia | Receiving | T.J. Simmons | 4 rec, 71 yards |
| Texas | Passing | Sam Ehlinger | 15–31, 184 yards, 2 TDs |
| Texas | Rushing | Bijan Robinson | 12 car, 113 yards |
| Texas | Receiving | Jake Smith | 3 rec, 59 yards, 1 TD |

### Vs. TCU

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| TCU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV
* Date: Saturday, November 14, 2020
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: • Temperature:
* Game attendance: 11,111
* TV: FOX
* Pregame line:
* Statistics
* First downs
* Total yards
* Rushes/yards
* Passing yards
* Passing: Comp–Att–Int
* Time of possession
| Team | Category |
| TCU | Passing |
| TCU | Rushing |
| TCU | Receiving |
| West Virginia | Passing |
| West Virginia | Rushing |
| West Virginia | Receiving |

### At Iowa State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| No. 9 Iowa State | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
at Jack Trice Stadium • Ames, IA
* Date: Saturday, December 5, 2020
* Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 49
* Game attendance: 14,256
* Referee: Kevin Hassell
* TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Pasch, Mike Golic
* Pregame line: Iowa State -6
| Statistics | WVU | ISU |
| First downs | 16 | 26 |
| Total yards | 263 | 483 |
| Rushes/yards | 25-54 | 44-236 |
| Passing yards | 209 | 247 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 21-41-0 | 20-23-0 |
| Time of possession | 28:09 | 31:51 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 21–44, 209 YDS |
| West Virginia | Rushing | Leddie Brown | 14 CAR, 48 YDS |
| West Virginia | Receiving | Sean Ryan | 5 REC, 79 YDS |
| Iowa State | Passing | Brock Purdy | 20–23, 247 YDS, 3 TD |
| Iowa State | Rushing | Breece Hall | 22 CAR, 97 YDS, TD |
| Iowa State | Receiving | Xavier Hutchinson | 8 REC, 89 YDS |

### Vs. Army – Liberty Bowl

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| West Virginia | 3 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 24 |
| Army | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN
* Date: Thursday, December 31, 2020
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Temperature: 40 °F (4 °C) • Wind: NE 12 mph • Weather: Rain
* Game attendance: 8.187
* Referee: Stuart Mullins
* TV announcers (ESPN): Wes Durham (play-by-play), Roddy Jones (analyst) & Eric Wood (sideline)
* Pregame line: ESPN – West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Army Black Knights (2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl)
| Statistics | WVU | ARMY |
| First downs | 19 | 16 |
| Total yards | 322 | 239 |
| Rushes/yards | 27–42 | 59–182 |
| Passing yards | 280 | 57 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 23–42–1 | 4–6–1 |
| Time of possession | 26:19 | 33:41 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| West Virginia | Passing | Jarrett Doege | 15/25, 159 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| West Virginia | Rushing | Leddie Brown | 20 carries, 65 yards |
| West Virginia | Receiving | T.J. Simmons | 4 receptions, 56 yards, 2 TD |
| Army | Passing | Christian Anderson | 4/6, 57 yards, 1 INT |
| Army | Rushing | Tyhier Tyler | 24 carries, 76 yards, 3 TD |
| Army | Receiving | Chris Cameron | 1 reception, 32 yards |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | — | | | | |
| Coaches | — | — | — | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | | | | |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | Not released |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 5 | 153 | Tony Fields II | ILB | Cleveland Browns |