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2009 West Virginia

9–⁠4 (5–⁠2 Big East), coached by Bill Stewart, finished No. 25 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

West Virginia in 2009, game by game: won vs. Liberty 33–20; won vs. East Carolina 35–20; lost at Auburn 30–41; won vs. Colorado 35–24; won at Syracuse 34–13; won vs. Marshall 24–7; won vs. UConn 28–24; lost at South Florida 19–30; won vs. Louisville 17–9; lost at No. 5 Cincinnati 21–24; won vs. No. 8 Pittsburgh 19–16; won at Rutgers 24–21; lost vs. Florida State 21–33+21−12Won 33–20 vs. Liberty+13LibertyWon 35–20 vs. East Carolina+15East CarolinaLost 30–41 at Auburn-11AuburnWon 35–24 vs. Colorado+11ColoradoWon 34–13 at Syracuse+21SyracuseWon 24–7 vs. Marshall+17MarshallWon 28–24 vs. UConn+4UConnLost 19–30 at South Florida-11South FloridaWon 17–9 vs. Louisville+8LouisvilleLost 21–24 at No. 5 Cincinnati-3No. 5 CincinnatiWon 19–16 vs. No. 8 Pittsburgh+3No. 8 PittsburghWon 24–21 at Rutgers+3RutgersLost 21–33 vs. Florida State-12Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsLibertyW 33–⁠2084%
Sep 12vsEast CarolinaW 35–⁠2071%
Sep 19atAuburnL 30–⁠4154%
Oct 1vsColoradoW 35–⁠2481%
Oct 10atSyracuseW 34–⁠1375%
Oct 17vsMarshallW 24–⁠778%
Oct 24vsUConnW 28–⁠2469%
Oct 30atSouth FloridaL 19–⁠3054%
Nov 7vsLouisvilleW 17–⁠981%
Nov 13at5CincinnatiL 21–⁠2430%
Nov 27vs8PittsburghW 19–⁠1650%
Dec 5atRutgersW 24–⁠2149%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsFlorida StateGator BowlL 21–⁠3362%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida State 33–⁠21 in the Gator Bowl; No. 25 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big East.

In program history: The 18th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 22
  2. Wk 9: 20
  3. Wk 14: 24
  4. Wk 15: 18
  5. Final: 25
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big East
AP final
No. 25 peak No. 18
Points
340–⁠282
Coach
Bill Stewart
Elo
1638 +6 this season
SP+ rating
13.8 No. 29 of 120; offense No. 38, defense No. 28, special teams No. 11
SRS
6.1 No. 37 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 24
Offensive coordinator
Jeff Mullen
Defensive coordinator
Jeff Casteel
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense54th of 120
  • Defense35th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted46th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted37th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0440%1.0354th of 120
Defense0.0138%0.8735th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.05 off
0.02 def		41% off
38% def		—46th off
37th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 333% allowed
Defense0.0own 322% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJarrett Brown QB2,144 yds
Passing touchdownsJarrett Brown QB11 TD
Rushing yardsNoel Devine RB1,465 yds
Rushing touchdownsNoel Devine RB13 TD
Receiving yardsJock Sanders WR688 yds
Receiving touchdownsAlric Arnett WR3 TD
InterceptionsRobert Sands DB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Geno Smith DUAL★★★★No. 103
Logan Heastie WR★★★★No. 178
Tavon Austin WR★★★★No. 180
Deon Long WR★★★★No. 239
Chris Snook OLB★★★★No. 333
Stedman Bailey WR★★★★No. 335

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.954
Running backs13.00.871
Receivers44.00.912
Offensive line13.00.811
Defensive line12.00.789
Linebackers33.30.854
Defensive backs33.00.848
Whole class143.40.870

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 7Selvish Capers OTWashington Redskins

Roster 111

The 2009 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 27 have a stat line. See the roster

2009 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Cincinnati7–⁠012–⁠18
Pittsburgh5–⁠210–⁠315
West Virginia5–⁠29–⁠425
Rutgers3–⁠49–⁠4
South Florida3–⁠48–⁠5
UConn3–⁠48–⁠5
Syracuse1–⁠64–⁠8
Louisville1–⁠64–⁠8

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