2002 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

American college football season August 2023 February 2026 2002 West Virginia Mountaineers football West Virginia Mountaineers logo.svg Big East Conference Big East 20 25 9–4 6–1 Rich Rodriguez 2nd Spread option Jeff Casteel 1st Todd Graham 1st 3–3–5 Mountaineer Field Continental Tire Bowl L 22–48 vs. Virginia The 2002 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University as a member of the Big East Conference during the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Rich Rodriguez, the Mountaineers compiled an overall record of 9–4 with a mark of 6–1 in conference play, placing second in the Big East. West Virginia was invited the Continental Tire Bowl, where the Mountaineers lost to Virginia. The team played home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. West Virginia'ss 9–4 record marked the biggest one-season turnaround in Big East history, after posting a 3–8 record the previous season. Schedule 2002 AP Eastern August 31 6:00 p.m. w y Chattanooga Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV MSN 56–7 54,455 https://www.newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-marshall-pilots/176516708/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Marshall pilots WVU's win September 1, 2002 July 12, 2025 Newspapers.com September 7 12:00 p.m. l y y Wisconsin 25 Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI ESPN Plus 17–34 76,320 September 14 7:00 p.m. w y y Cincinnati Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH MSN 35–32 28,806 September 28 12:00 p.m. w y East Carolina Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV ESPN Plus 37–17 54,497 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73325975/cobourne-sets-rushing-record-as-wvu/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Cobourne sets rushing record as WVU wins in rout September 29, 2002 March 12, 2021 Newspapers.com October 5 12:00 p.m. l y Maryland Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV ESPN2 17–48 55,146 October 12 3:30 p.m. w y Rutgers Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ ESPN Plus 40–0 12,973 October 19 12:00 p.m. w Syracuse Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV rivalry ESPN Plus 34–7 45,088 October 26 12:00 p.m. l Miami (FL) 1 Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV ESPN2 23–40 56,817 November 2 12:00 p.m. w y Temple Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA 46–20 15,042 November 9 12:00 p.m. w Boston College Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV ESPN 24–14 48,474 November 20 7:00 p.m. w y Virginia Tech 13 Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA rivalry ESPN2 21–18 62,723 November 30 1:00 p.m. w y 24 Pittsburgh 17 Heinz Field Pittsburgh PA Backyard Brawl ABC 24–17 66,731 December 28 11:00 a.m. l y y 15 Virginia Ericsson Stadium Charlotte, NC Continental Tire Bowl ESPN2 22–48 73,535 Season summary Rasheed Marshall was the starting quarterback for the Mountaineers. He led the team with 1616 passing yards and 9 touchdowns. Leading the team in rushing was Avon Cobourne with 1710 net yards. Miquelle Henderson led the team in receiving with 40 receptions for 496 yards. The home opener for the West Virginia Mountaineers was against Chattanooga, in which the Mountaineers won handily 56–7. In the second game of the season, WVU played at Wisconsin, where they lost 34–17. They then traveled to Cincinnati, where they beat the Bearcats 35–32. They then defeated East Carolina by a 37–17 margin at home. They got demolished at home by ACC powerhouse Maryland 17–48. They then traveled to Rutgers, where they won handily 40–0. The next game was a 34–17 home win over Syracuse. They played host to the number 1 team in the land, the Miami Hurricanes, but lost by a 23–40 count. They played at Temple, and blew out the Owls 46–20. A home game against Boston College resulted in a 24–14 Mountaineer victory. Their next game was against Virginia Tech, where they won 21–18, in Blacksburg. On November 30, they played at archrival Pitt in the Backyard Brawl, and won 24–17. In the Continental Tire Bowl, they lost to the Virginia Cavaliers 22–48 to finish the season. Roster 2002 West Virginia Mountaineers f 85 Fr Dee Alston WR yes 51 Fr Matt Ameri C yes 21 Sr Phil Braxton WR 22 Sr Avon Cobourne RB y 83 So Miquelle Henderson WR 36 Jr Adam King FB 18 So Rasheed Marshall QB y 86 Jr John Pennington WR 71 So Justin Williams T 3 Jr Quincy Wilson Quincy Wilson (running back) RB y 32 Sr Ben Collins LB 19 Jr Lance Frazier DB y 9 Fr Adam Jones Adam Jones (American football) DB y 92 So Ben Lynch DE 6 Jr Grant Wiley LB y 57 So Chad Lavender LS https://wvusports.com/roster.aspx?roster=63&path=football *Rich Rodriguez Team players in the NFL Player Position Round Pick NFL club Lance Nimmo Tackle 4 130 Tampa Bay Buccaneers James Davis Linebcaker 5 144 Detroit Lions References West Virginia Category:West Virginia Mountaineers football seasons West Virginia Mountaineers football