CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1998 West Virginia

8–⁠4 (5–⁠2 Big East), coached by Don Nehlen.

Schedule and results

West Virginia in 1998, game by game: lost vs. No. 1 Ohio State 17–34; won vs. Maryland 42–20; won vs. Tulsa 44–21; won at Navy 45–24; won at Temple 37–7; lost vs. Miami 31–34; lost at No. 20 Virginia Tech 13–27; won vs. No. 15 Syracuse 35–28; won at Rutgers 28–14; won vs. Boston College 35–10; won vs. Pittsburgh 52–14; lost vs. No. 23 Missouri 31–34+38−17Lost 17–34 vs. No. 1 Ohio State-17No. 1 Ohio StateWon 42–20 vs. Maryland+22MarylandWon 44–21 vs. Tulsa+23TulsaWon 45–24 at Navy+21NavyWon 37–7 at Temple+30TempleLost 31–34 vs. Miami-3MiamiLost 13–27 at No. 20 Virginia Tech-14No. 20 Virginia TechWon 35–28 vs. No. 15 Syracuse+7No. 15 SyracuseWon 28–14 at Rutgers+14RutgersWon 35–10 vs. Boston College+25Boston CollegeWon 52–14 vs. Pittsburgh+38PittsburghLost 31–34 vs. No. 23 Missouri-3No. 23 Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vs1Ohio StateL 17–⁠3440%
Sep 19vsMarylandW 42–⁠2074%
Sep 26vsTulsaW 44–⁠2169%
Oct 3atNavyW 45–⁠2449%
Oct 10atTempleW 37–⁠779%
Oct 24vsMiamiL 31–⁠3463%
Oct 31at20Virginia TechL 13–⁠2732%
Nov 7vs15SyracuseW 35–⁠2843%
Nov 14atRutgersW 28–⁠1471%
Nov 21vsBoston CollegeW 35–⁠1079%
Nov 27vsPittsburghW 52–⁠1478%
Dec 26Bowls & playoffvs23MissouriInsight.com BowlL 31–⁠3453%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Missouri 34–⁠31 in the Insight.com Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big East.

In program history: The 29th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 2: 20
  3. Wk 3: 19
  4. Wk 4: 19
  5. Wk 5: 16
  6. Wk 6: 16
  7. Wk 7: 15
  8. Wk 8: 13
  9. Wk 9: 21

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 1998.

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big East
AP final
Unranked peak No. 11
Points
410–⁠267
Coach
Don Nehlen
Elo
1610 +72 this season
SP+ rating
16.3 No. 22 of 112; offense No. 14, defense No. 42
SRS
15.0 No. 18 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Dan Simrell
Defensive coordinator
Steve Dunlap

Drafted in 1999

The 1999 draft
Rd 2Charles Fisher DBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 2John Thornton DTTennessee Titans
Rd 2Solomon Page OTDallas Cowboys
Rd 3Gary Stills LBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 3Amos Zereoue RBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Kevin Landolt DTJacksonville Jaguars

All-Big East

5 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1998 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1998 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Syracuse6–⁠18–⁠425
Miami5–⁠29–⁠320
Virginia Tech5–⁠29–⁠323
West Virginia5–⁠28–⁠4
Boston College3–⁠44–⁠7
Rutgers2–⁠55–⁠6
Temple2–⁠52–⁠9
Pittsburgh0–⁠72–⁠9

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