2009 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 2009 West Virginia Mountaineer football team represented West Virginia University in the college football season of 2009. The Mountaineers were led by head coach Bill Stewart and played their home games on Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Mountaineers finished the season 9–4 (5–2 Big East) and lost in the Gator Bowl 33–21 to Florida State.

2009 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Gator Bowl, L 21–33 vs. Florida State
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
BCS	No. 16
Coaches	No. 22
AP	No. 25
Record	9–4 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach	Bill Stewart (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Mullen (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Jeff Casteel (8th season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (Capacity: 60,000)

2009 Big East Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 8 Cincinnati $		7	–	0					12	–	1
No. 25 West Virginia		5	–	2					9	–	4
No. 15 Pittsburgh		5	–	2					10	–	3
Rutgers		3	–	4					9	–	4
Connecticut		3	–	4					8	–	5
South Florida		3	–	4					8	–	5
Louisville		1	–	6					4	–	8
Syracuse		1	–	6					4	–	8
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	Noon	Liberty*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPN+	W 33–20	57,950
September 12	3:30 p.m.	East Carolina*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPN360	W 35–20	59,216
September 19	7:45 p.m.	at Auburn*		Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	ESPN2	L 30–41	87,451
October 1	7:30 p.m.	Colorado*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia (Gold Rush)	ESPN	W 35–24	60,055
October 10	Noon	at Syracuse		Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York	ESPN+	W 34–13	40,144
October 17	3:30 p.m.	Marshall*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia (Friends of Coal Bowl)	ESPN+	W 24–7	54,432
October 24	Noon	Connecticut	No. 22	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPNU	W 28–24	58,106
October 30	8:00 p.m.	at South Florida	No. 20	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida	ESPN2	L 19–30	56,328
November 7	Noon	Louisville		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPN+	W 17–9	55,334
November 13	8:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Cincinnati	No. 23	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN2	L 21–24	35,105
November 27	7:00 p.m.	No. 9 Pittsburgh		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia (Backyard Brawl)	ESPN2	W 19–16	56,123
December 5	Noon	at Rutgers	No. 23	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, New Jersey	ESPN	W 24–21	52,534
January 1	1:00 p.m.	vs. Florida State*	No. 17	Jacksonville Municipal Stadium Jacksonville, Florida (Gator Bowl)	CBS	L 21–33	84,129
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Liberty

	1	2	3	4	Total
Flames	3	7	3	7	20
Mountaineers	10	13	3	7	33

Jarrett Brown completed 19 of 26 passes for 243 yards and ran for a 22-yard touchdown, and redshirt freshman Tyler Bitancurt kicked four field goals to lead West Virginia to a 33–20 season-opening victory over Liberty.

East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	10	10	0	0	20
Mountaineers	7	14	7	7	35

West Virginia was able to overcome a mistake filled day to gain some payback on the East Carolina Pirates. Quarterback Jarrett Brown had a career day completing 24 of 31 passes for 334 yards and 4 touchdowns, including a 58-yard bomb to freshman Tavon Austin. Brown also picked up 73 yards on the ground.

Auburn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountaineers	21	0	9	0	30
Tigers	10	10	7	14	41

All-time record: Tied 1–1

This was the second meeting between West Virginia and Auburn, with the Mountaineers winning the first game 34–17 during the 2008 season.

Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buffaloes	7	3	7	7	24
Mountaineers	7	7	7	14	35

All-time record: Tied 1–1

This was the second meeting between West Virginia and Colorado, with the Buffaloes winning the first game 17–14 in overtime during the 2008 season. The game was designated a Gold Rush, meaning that fans attended the game wearing all gold. West Virginia scored early with a Noel Devine 77-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage. Colorado responded with a 36-yard run from tailback Rodney Stewart. They then took the lead by making a 39-yard field goal.(He had missed 2 field goals earlier in the game.)West Virginia responded with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jarrett Brown to Jock Sanders. Despite 4 fumbles lost in the first half for West Virginia, they still led 14–10 at halftime. The second half started with a 48-yard touchdown pass to receiver Bradley Starks to put the Mountaineers up 21–10, Colorado responded by converting on 4th and 10 for a 26-yard touchdown to trim the lead to 4. In the 4th quarter, freshmen fullback Ryan Clarke rumbled for a 1-yard touchdown run, and later ran for an 8-yard run putting the Mountaineers up 35–17 with 2 minutes to play. Colorado scored the final touchdown of the night with 3 seconds left, but it was too late for any sort of comeback as the Mountaineers won 35–24. Noel Devine had a career-high 220 yards rushing with an average of 10 yards per carry.

Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountaineers	14	13	0	7	34
Orange	0	0	6	7	13

WVU jumped out to a 27–0 halftime lead en route to beating the Orange for an 8th straight time. Jarrett Brown completed 22–30 passing for 244 yards and a touchdown pass to Noel Devine, who also had 97 yards on the ground with a touchdown.

Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	7	0	0	0	7
Mountaineers	0	3	7	14	24

Further information: Friends of Coal Bowl

Starting QB Jarrett Brown was knocked out of the game on the Mountaineer's opening drive, forcing true freshman Geno Smith to step in. The emotional punch of having Brown out of the game showed as Marshall was able to head into the half with a 7–3 lead. WVU responded by scoring on its first possession of the second half, on the way to 21 second half points. Smith finished 15–21 passing for 147 yards and a touchdown, Noel Devine added 103 yards on the ground scoring 2 touchdowns

Connecticut

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	10	0	7	24
#22 Mountaineers	7	7	7	7	28

South Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Mountaineers	9	3	7	0	19
Bulls	10	10	7	3	30

Louisville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	6	0	3	9
Mountaineers	0	7	10	0	17

Cincinnati

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountaineers	7	7	0	7	21
#5 Bearcats	7	7	7	3	24

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Panthers	0	3	3	10	16
Mountaineers	0	3	10	6	19

West Virginia's Tyler Bitancurt kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give WVU a win in the 102nd Backyard Brawl. The 2009 Backyard Brawl, broadcast by ESPN2, was the most watched college football game in the history of ESPN2.

Rutgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
#24 Mountaineers	14	0	7	3	24
Scarlet Knights	3	0	11	7	21

Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Mountaineers	14	0	0	7	21
Seminoles	3	10	10	10	33

2010 Konica Minolta Gator Bowl marked the final game for legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who also spent six seasons as head coach at West Virginia.

Rankings

See also: 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	22	20	—	—	—	—	24	18	25
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	22	20	—	23	—	—	23	17	22
Harris	Not released					—	—	23	20	—	24	—	—	25	18	Not released
BCS	Not released							23	21	—	25	—	—	23	16	Not released

Statistics

WVU Team Statistics Through 6 Games (10/18/09)

WVU OPP SCORING 191  125    Points per Game 31.8  20.8  FIRST DOWNS 121  95    Rushing 55  29    Passing 60  57    Penalty 6  9  RUSHING YARDAGE 1,108  481    Rushing Yards Gained 1,279  661    Rushing Yards Lost 171  180    Rushing Attempts 223  182    Average Per Rush 5.0  2.6    Average Per Game 184.7  80.2    Rushing TDs 16  4  PASSING YARDAGE 1,451  1,276    Comp-Att-Int 120–174–6  111–220–9    Average Per Pass 8.3  5.8    Average Per Catch 12.1  11.5    Average Per Game 241.1  212.7    Passing TDs 9  10  TOTAL OFFENSE 2,559  1,757    Total Plays 397  402    Avg per Play 6.4  4.4    Avg per Game 426.5  292.8

WVU OPP KICK RETURNS: #-Yards-TD 24–518–0  34–736–0  KICK RETURN AVERAGE 21.6  21.6  PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards-TD 13–160–0  11–111–0  PUNT RETURN AVERAGE 12.3  10.1  FUMBLES-LOST 16–11  8–3  PENALTIES-Yards 36–337  37–305  −0   Avg per Game 56.2  50.8  PUNTS-Yards 23–1,065  34–1,410    Avg Per Punt 46.3  41.5    Net Punt Average 38.9  35.0  TIME OF POSSESSION/Game 31:32  28:28  3RD DOWN CONVERSIONS 35/76  32/95    3rd Down Pct 46%  34%  4TH DOWN CONVERSIONS 1/4  4/9    4th Down Pct 25%  44%  SACKS BY-Yards 14–88  9–89  TOUCHDOWNS SCORED 25  15  RED-ZONE SCORING 20–23 87%  9–12 75%  FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS 6–6  7–11  PAT-ATTEMPTS 23–24 96%  14–15 93%  ATTENDANCE 231,653  127,595    Games/Avg per Game 3/59,074  2/63,798

Scores by quarter

1 2 3 4 Total West Virginia 59 50 33 49 191 Opponents 37 30 23 35 125

Offense

Rushing

Name	GP	Att	Net	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Noel Devine	6	114	734	6.4	9	77	122.3
Jarrett Brown	6	50	209	4.2	1	26	34.8
Jock Sanders	6	11	62	5.9	1	12	10.8
Ryan Clarke	5	19	61	3.2	5	4	12.2
Shawne Alston	5	6	18	3.0	0	8	3.6
Geno Smith	3	7	15	2.1	0	13	5.0
Tavon Austin	6	2	8	4.0	0	4	1.3
Coley White	1	3	7	2.3	0	13	7.0
Mark Rodgers	6	4	5	1.2	0	4	0.8
Brad Starks	5	2	−3	−1.5	0	2	−0.5
TEAM	5	5	−11	−2.2	0	0	−2.2
Total	6	223	1,108	5.0	16	77	184.7
Opponents	6	182	481	2.6	4	36	80.2

Passing

Name	GP	Att-Comp	Pct	Yds	TD	INT	Lng	Avg/G
Jarrett Brown	6	96–140	68.6	1,209	8	5	58	201.5
Geno Smith	3	23–33	69.7	211	1	1	33	70.0
Brad Starks	6	1–1	100	31	0	0	31	5.2
Total	6	120–174	69.0	1,451	9	6	58	241.0
Opponents	6	111–220	50.5	1,279	10	9	82	212.7

Receiving

Name	GP	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Jock Sanders	5	41	394	9.6	2	38	78.8
Brad Starks	5	14	296	21.1	1	58	59.2
Alric Arnett	5	14	194	13.9	2	46	38.8
Noel Devine	5	11	72	6.5	1	17	14.4
Tavon Austin	5	8	103	12.9	1	58	20.6
Wes Lyons	5	6	76	12.7	0	16	15.2
Tyler Urban	5	4	72	18.0	0	33	14.4
Will Johnson	5	4	63	15.8	1	33	12.6
Ryan Clark	5	2	15	7.5	0	9	3.0
Total	5	104	1,285	12.4	8	58	257.0
Opponents	5	94	1,127	12.0	10	82	225.4

Special teams

Name	Punting								Kickoffs
	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TB	FC	I20	Blkd	No.	Yds	Avg	TB	OB
Total

Name	Punt Returns					Kick Returns
	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Total