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 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.

Schedule source:

Coaching staff Neal BrownHead Coach2ndTroyMatt MooreAssistant Head Coach/OL2ndTroy Co-OC/OLGerad ParkerOC/WR1stPenn State (WR/PGC)Chad ScottCo-OC/RB2ndLouisville (RB)Jeff KoonzILB/ST1stOle Miss (ILB)Jahmile AddaeDB2ndMinnesota (DB)Jeff CasteelDefensive Analyst/OLB1stNevada (DC/LB)Jordan LesleyDL2ndTroy (DL)Seth ReaganQB2ndTroy (Co-OC/QB)Travis TrickettTE/WR2ndGeorgia State (OC/QB)Dontae WrightS1stWestern Michigan (S)

Game summaries

Vs. Eastern Kentucky

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 StatisticsEastern Kentucky Passing Peyton McKinney 9-17, 131 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Alonzo Booth 7 carries, 45 yds Receiving Keyion Dixon 3 receptions, 53 yds, 1 TDWest Virginia Passing Jarret Doege 19–25, 228 yds, 3 TD Rushing Alec Sinkfield 15 carries, 123 yds, 2 TD Receiving Sam James 5 receptions, 72 yds, 1 TD

At Oklahoma State

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 StatisticsWest Virginia Passing Jarret Doege 20/37, 285 yards, TD Rushing Leddie Brown 26 carries, 104 yards Receiving Winston Wright Jr. 6 receptions, 127 yards, TD Oklahoma State Passing Shane Illingworth 15/21, 139 yards, INT Rushing LD Brown 11 carries, 103 yards, TD Receiving Tylan Wallace 6 receptions, 78 yards

Vs. Baylor

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 StatisticsBaylor Passing Charlie Brewer 23–38, 229 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT Rushing John Lovett 14 carries, 23 yards Receiving R.J. Sneed 6 receptions, 48 yards, 1 TDWest Virginia Passing Jarret Doege 30–42, 211 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT Rushing Leddie Brown 27 carries, 93 yards, 2 TD Receiving Sam James 8 reception, 66 yards

Vs. Kansas

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 StatisticsKansas Passing Miles Kendrick 14/23, 95 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Velton Gardner 11 carries, 43 yards Receiving Andrew Parchment 6 receptions, 65 yards, TDWest Virginia Passing Jarret Doege 26/44, 318 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Leddie Brown 18 carries, 195 yards, TD Receiving Bryce Ford-Wheaton 5 receptions, 89 yards, TD

At Texas Tech

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 StatisticsWest Virginia Passing Jarret Doege 32/50, 347 yards, TD Rushing Leddie Brown 21 rushes, 77 yards, 2 TD Receiving Winston Wright Jr. 9 receptions, 126 yardsTexas Tech Passing Henry Colombi 22/28, 169 yards, TD Rushing SaRodorick Thompson 8 rushes, 68 yards, TD Receiving Myles Price 7 receptions, 79 yards

Vs. No. 16 Kansas State (homecoming)

Statistics KSU WVU First downs Total yards Rushes/yards Passing yards Passing: Comp–Att–Int Time of possession Team Category Player StatisticsKansas State Passing Rushing Receiving West Virginia Passing Rushing Receiving

At Texas

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 StatisticsWest Virginia Passing Jarret Doege 35–50, 317 yards Rushing Leddie Brown 15 car, 47 yards, 1 TD Receiving T.J. Simmons 4 rec, 71 yardsTexas Passing Sam Ehlinger 15–31, 184 yards, 2 TDs Rushing Bijan Robinson 12 car, 113 yards Receiving Jake Smith 3 rec, 59 yards, 1 TD

Vs. TCU

Statistics TCU WVU First downs Total yards Rushes/yards Passing yards Passing: Comp–Att–Int Time of possession Team Category Player StatisticsTCU Passing Rushing Receiving West Virginia Passing Rushing Receiving

At Iowa State

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 StatisticsWest Virginia Passing Jarret Doege 21–44, 209 YDS Rushing Leddie Brown 14 CAR, 48 YDS Receiving Sean Ryan 5 REC, 79 YDSIowa State Passing Brock Purdy 20–23, 247 YDS, 3 TD Rushing Breece Hall 22 CAR, 97 YDS, TD Receiving Xavier Hutchinson 8 REC, 89 YDS

Vs. Army – 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 StatisticsWest Virginia Passing Jarrett Doege 15/25, 159 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Leddie Brown 20 carries, 65 yards Receiving T.J. Simmons 4 receptions, 56 yards, 2 TDArmy Passing Christian Anderson 4/6, 57 yards, 1 INT Rushing Tyhier Tyler 24 carries, 76 yards, 3 TD Receiving Chris Cameron 1 reception, 32 yards

Rankings

Players drafted into the NFL

5 153 Tony Fields II ILB Cleveland Browns

References