# 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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 3:30 p.m. | Villanova* | No. 8 | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV | ESPN+ | W 48–21 | 60,566 |
| September 6 | 4:30 p.m. | at East Carolina* | No. 8 | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPN | L 3–24 | 43,610 |
| September 18 | 8:30 p.m. | at Colorado* | No. 24 | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO | ESPN | L 14–17 $^{OT}$ | 51,883 |
| September 27 | 3:30 p.m. | Marshall* | | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV (Friends of Coal Bowl) | ESPN+ | W 27–3 | 60,154 |
| October 4 | Noon | Rutgers | | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV | ESPN+ | W 24–17 | 59,122 |
| October 11 | Noon | Syracuse | | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV | ESPNU | W 17–6 | 58,133 |
| October 23 | 7:30 p.m. | Auburn* | | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV (Gold Rush) | ESPN | W 34–17 | 60,765 |
| November 1 | Noon | at Connecticut | | Rentschler FieldEast Hartford, CT | ESPN+ | W 35–13 | 40,000 |
| November 8 | 7:00 p.m. | Cincinnati | No. 23 | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV | ESPNU | L 23–26 $^{OT}$ | 59,834 |
| November 22 | Noon | at Louisville | | Papa John's Cardinal StadiumLouisville, KY | ESPN | W 35–21 | 34,796 |
| November 28 | Noon | at Pittsburgh | No. 25 | Heinz FieldPittsburgh, PA (Backyard Brawl) | ABC | L 15–19 | 63,019 |
| December 6 | 8:00 p.m. | South Florida | | Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, 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 StadiumCharlotte, NC (Meineke Car Care Bowl) | ESPN | W 31–30 | 73,712 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the gameAll 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.

## 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

US college sports recruiting information for recruits :
| 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | 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 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 8 | 8 | 25 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | 23 |
| Coaches | 8 | 8 | 24 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | — | — | 25 | — | — | — |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 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 |
* Noel Devine 18 Rush, 188 Yds

### Auburn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Auburn | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| • West Virginia | 0 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 34 |

## Statistics
### Team

* Scoring
* Points per Game
* First Downs
* Rushing
* Passing
* Penalty
* Total Offense
* Avg per Play
* Avg per Game
* Fumbles-Lost
* Penalties-Yards
* Avg per Game
* 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 | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Sacks | Pass Def. | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles | Blkd Kick |
| Name | GP | 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 | Kicking | Kicking | Kicking | Kicking | Kicking | Kicking | Kicking | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting |
| Name | 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 | Punt Returns | Punt Returns | Punt Returns | Punt Returns | Kick Returns | Kick Returns | Kick Returns | Kick Returns | Kick Returns |
| Name | 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 | | | | | | | | | | |