2002 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 2002 West Virginia Mountaineers football team completed the regular season with a 9–3 record and traveled to the Continental Tire Bowl, where they lost to the Virginia Cavaliers 48–22. They finished with a record of 9-4 and a ranking of 25/20.

2002 West Virginia Mountaineers football
ConferenceBig East Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 20
APNo. 25
Record9–4 (6–1 Big East)
Head coach
Co-defensive coordinatorJeff Casteel (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinatorTodd Graham (1st season)
Home stadiumMountaineer Field
(Capacity: 63,500)
Seasons
← 2001
2003 →
2002 Big East Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 2 Miami (FL) $   7 0     12 1  
No. 25 West Virginia   6 1     9 4  
No. 19 Pittsburgh   5 2     9 4  
No. 18 Virginia Tech   3 4     10 4  
Boston College   3 4     9 4  
Temple   2 5     4 8  
Syracuse   2 5     4 8  
Rutgers   0 7     1 11  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

WVU's 9–4 record marked the biggest one-season turnaround in Big East Conference history, after posting a 3–8 record the previous season.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 316:00 p.m.Chattanooga*MSNW 56–754,455
September 7Noonat No. 21 Wisconsin*ESPN+L 17–3476,320
September 147:00 p.m.at Cincinnati*MSNW 35–3228,806
September 28NoonEast Carolina*
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, West Virginia
ESPN+W 37–1754,497
October 5NoonMaryland*
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, West Virginia
ESPN2L 17–4855,146
October 123:30 p.m.at RutgersESPN+W 40–012,973
October 19NoonSyracuse
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, West Virginia
ESPN+W 34–745,088
October 26NoonNo. 1 Miami
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, West Virginia
ESPN2L 23–4056,817
November 2Noonat TempleW 46–2015,042
November 9NoonBoston College
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, West Virginia
ESPNW 24–1448,474
November 207:00 p.m.at No. 12 Virginia TechESPN2W 21–1862,723
November 301:00 p.m.at No. 18 PittsburghNo. 21ABCW 24–1766,731
December 2811:00 a.m.vs. Virginia*No. 13ESPN2L 22–4873,535

Roster

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2002 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 85 Dee Alston   Fr
C 51 Matt Ameri   Fr
WR 21 Phil Braxton Sr
RB 22 Avon Cobourne Sr
WR 83 Miquelle Henderson So
FB 36 Adam King Jr
QB 18 Rasheed Marshall So
WR 86 John Pennington Jr
OT 71 Justin Williams So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 32 Ben Collins Sr
DB 19 Lance Frazier Jr
DB 9 Adam Jones Fr
DE 92 Ben Lynch So
LB 6 Grant Wiley Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
LS 57 Chad Lavender So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Roster

2002 season

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Rasheed Marshall was the starting quarterback for the Mountaineers. He led the team with 1616 passing yards and 9 touchdowns. Leading the team in rushing was Avon Cobourne with 1710 net yards. Miquelle Henderson led the team in receiving with 40 receptions for 496 yards.

The home opener for the West Virginia Mountaineers was against Chattanooga, in which the Mountaineers won handily 56–7. In the second game of the season, WVU played at Wisconsin, where they lost 34–17. They then traveled to Cincinnati, where they beat the Bearcats 35–32.

They then defeated East Carolina by a 37–17 margin at home. They got demolished at home by ACC powerhouse Maryland 17–48. They then traveled to Rutgers, where they won handily 40–0. The next game was a 34–17 home win over Syracuse.

They played host to the number 1 team in the land, the Miami Hurricanes, but lost by a 23–40 count. They played at Temple, and blew out the Owls 46–20. A home game against Boston College resulted in a 24–14 Mountaineer victory. Their next game was against Virginia Tech, where they won 21–18, in Blacksburg.

On November 30, they played at archrival Pitt in the Backyard Brawl, and won 24–17. In the Continental Tire Bowl, they lost to the Virginia Cavaliers 22–48 to finish the season.

Team players in the NFL

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Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Lance Nimmo Tackle 4 130 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
James Davis Linebcaker 5 144 Detroit Lions

References

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