1987 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 1987 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Mountaineers' 95th overall season and they competed as a Division I-A Independent. The team was led by head coach Don Nehlen, in his eighth year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record of six wins and six losses (6–6 overall), and with a loss against Oklahoma State in the 1987 Sun Bowl.

1987 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Sun Bowl, L 33–35 vs. Oklahoma State
Conference	Independent
Record	6–6
Head coach	Don Nehlen (8th season)
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field (Capacity: 63,500)

1987 Major eastern college football independents records

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Syracuse $	5	–	0	–	0			11	–	0	–	1
Penn State	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh	3	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
West Virginia	2	–	3	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Rutgers	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Boston College	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Temple	1	–	3	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1987 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)		–		–				12	–	0	–	0
No. 4 Syracuse		–		–				11	–	0	–	1
No. 2 Florida State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 15 South Carolina		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Penn State		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
No. 17 Notre Dame		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Northern Illinois		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
West Virginia		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Tulane		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Boston College		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Akron		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Temple		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Navy		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	Ohio	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 23–3	46,744
September 12	at No. 5 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 3–24	88,272
September 19	at Maryland	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)	L 20–25	40,125
September 26	Pittsburgh	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	L 3–6	65,079
October 3	East Carolina	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 49–0	36,630
October 17	Cincinnati	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 45–17	46,488
October 24	at Boston College	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	W 37–16	31,500
October 31	at No. 18 Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	L 21–25	85,108
November 7	Virginia Tech	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	W 28–16	47,322
November 14	Rutgers	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 37–13	44,717
November 21	at No. 6 Syracuse	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	L 31–32	49,866
December 25	vs. No. 11 Oklahoma State	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	L 33–35	43,240
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1987 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 1 Grantis Bell Jr WR 7 John Talley Sr QB 9 Major Harris Fr QB 12 Chuck LeVinus So QB 13 Ben Reed Sr QB 17 Mike Timko Sr FB 20 Craig Taylor Jr RB 28 A. B. Brown Jr G 75 John Stroia Jr WR 88 Reggie Rembert So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 3 Alvoid Mays Jr DB 14 Jay Darr Fr DB 22 Bo Orlando Jr DT 61 Mike Fox So DE 87 Renaldo Turnbull So DT 98 David Grant Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 8 Charlie Baumann Jr P 18 Lance Carion Jr	Head coach Don Nehlen Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt