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1953 West Virginia

8–⁠2 (4–⁠0 Southern Conference), coached by Art Lewis, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

West Virginia in 1953, game by game: won at No. 17 Pittsburgh 17–7; won vs. Waynesburg 47–19; won vs. Washington and Lee 40–14; won at George Washington 27–6; won vs. VMI 52–20; won at Penn State 20–19; won vs. Virginia Tech 12–7; lost vs. South Carolina 14–20; won at NC State 61–0; lost vs. No. 10 Georgia Tech 19–42+61−23Won 17–7 at No. 17 Pittsburgh+10No. 17 PittsburghWon 47–19 vs. Waynesburg+28WaynesburgWon 40–14 vs. Washington and Lee+26Washington and …Won 27–6 at George Washington+21George Washingt…Won 52–20 vs. VMI+32VMIWon 20–19 at Penn State+1Penn StateWon 12–7 vs. Virginia Tech+5Virginia TechLost 14–20 vs. South Carolina-6South CarolinaWon 61–0 at NC State+61NC StateLost 19–42 vs. No. 10 Georgia Tech-23No. 10 Georgia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26at17PittsburghW 17–⁠745%
Oct 3vsWaynesburgW 47–⁠1993%
Oct 10vsWashington and LeeW 40–⁠1479%
Oct 16atGeorge WashingtonW 27–⁠653%
Oct 24vsVMIW 52–⁠2075%
Oct 31atPenn StateW 20–⁠1948%
Nov 7vsVirginia TechW 12–⁠770%
Nov 14vsSouth CarolinaL 14–⁠2069%
Nov 21atNC StateW 61–⁠079%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs10Georgia TechSugar BowlL 19–⁠4237%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia Tech 42–⁠19 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Southern Conference champions.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 16
  2. Wk 2: 13
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 10
  5. Wk 5: 8
  6. Wk 6: 5
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Wk 8: 8
  9. Wk 9: 19
  10. Wk 10: 11
  11. Final: 10

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1953.

Southern Conference champions4–⁠0 in the conference

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠0 shared first in Southern Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 5
Points
309–⁠154
Coach
Art Lewis
Elo
1608 +70 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
6.7 No. 39 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1954

The 1954 draft
Rd 4Tommy Allman BGreen Bay Packers

All-Southern Conference

5 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
West Virginia4–⁠08–⁠210
Furman2–⁠07–⁠2
George Washington4–⁠25–⁠4
William & Mary3–⁠25–⁠4–⁠1
Richmond3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠1
Virginia Tech3–⁠35–⁠5
VMI3–⁠35–⁠5
Washington and Lee2–⁠44–⁠6
The Citadel1–⁠32–⁠7
Davidson0–⁠50–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.