The
1987 season was the beginning of
Major Harris as the starting quarterback for West Virginia. Only a redshirt-freshman, Harris led the Mountaineers to a
Sun Bowl berth, after a 1–3 start.
The '88 season opened with coach
Don Nehlen's alma mater,
Bowling Green. The win marked the beginning of the run, winning 62–14. West Virginia beat their next opponent,
Cal-Fullerton, 45–10. West Virginia's first challenge was against the
Maryland Terrapins. West Virginia got behind the Terps 14–0, but pulled away at halftime, winning 55–24.
West Virginia's next game was at the
Pittsburgh Panthers. The game was a defensive struggle, until running back
A.B. Brown, a Pitt transfer, ran a draw for 64-yards and the score. Scoring 14-points in the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers broke away. In the 1988
Backyard Brawl, West Virginia was installed as a one-point underdog by the odds makers. The Mountaineers rolled to a 31–10 victory over Pitt on the way to their first undefeated, untied regular season in school history. West Virginia then traveled to rival
Virginia Tech, and won 22–10, even though they produced four fumbles in the game. The next two games, a win at
East Carolina, and a 59-point win at
Boston College, gave West Virginia a 7–0 record.
Next, the late October matchup vs
Penn State at Mountaineer Field is widely regarded as one of the greatest games in Mountaineer football history. Before a nationwide CBS audience, the Mountaineers were up 34–8 before the half. On a draw play, runningback
Undra Johnson ran 55 yards for the touchdown to end the half. The game also included a touchdown run by Major Harris, which is remembered in West Virginia lore as "The Run".
The next game was at the
Cincinnati Bearcats, where the Mountaineers started slow in the first half. Receiver
Reggie Rembert scored three times, and the Mountaineers won by scoring 24 points in the third quarter. The Mountaineers traveled to
Giants Stadium to play
Rutgers, who had beat Penn St., Boston College, and
Michigan State. The Mountaineers played poor, but came out with the win.
The final regular season game of the season was at home, against the
Syracuse Orangemen. The Orangemen were 8–2, while the Mountaineers were 10–0. The highlight of the game was a 49-yard interception by Willie Edwards that was taken for a touchdown. The Mountaineers won 31–9, and took a famous lap around the stadium to entertain the 65,000 fans in Morgantown.
National championship
West Virginia traveled to the
Fiesta Bowl to play the only other undefeated team in the
NCAA, the
Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Free-safety
Darrell Whitmore was out for the Mountaineers, but Nehlen moved star
Bo Orlando from strong safety to free to fill the hole. Nehlen recalled the move as "our first mistake...". "Another mistake I made is that I let the media overrun us."
West Virginia's offense was doomed from the third play of the game. Major Harris separated his shoulder on the third play when he was slammed to the ground by Irish Linebacker Michael Stonebreaker. He couldn't throw well for the rest of the game. The WVU coaches also abandoned their plans to run a lot of option football out of fear of further injuring Harris. Linemen John Stroia and Bob Kovach were injured for the Mountaineers in that game as well. NG Jim Gray would also suffer an early injury in the game. Notre Dame completely dominated the game. West Virginia only made one serious threat. Willie Edwards (Now coaching at
Morgantown High School * class of 1984) picked off a Tony Rice pass in the 3rd quarter. ND led by 13 points at the time. A Harris incompletion and two ND sacks took WVU out of field goal range, and the threat was over. ND opened up a 21-point lead before a late WVU touchdown made the score respectable. WVU lost 34–21, it was their first loss of the season for the national championship.
Roster
West Virginia's '88 team was highlighted with an explosive offense, led by Major Harris. Harris, only a sophomore, threw an exceptional deep ball in addition to his remarkable scrambling ability. Running backs
A.B. Brown,
Undra Johnson, Eugene Napoleon, and
Craig Taylor at fullback highlighted the run game. The runners were led by
Rick Phillips and
Brian Smider on the offensive line, along with Stroia and Kovach, while
Kevin Koken led the line at center. Early in the season,
Keith Winn was moved from receiver to tight end, providing help to the run game, but was more famous as a deep-pass threat. The receivers catching the balls from Harris were led by
Reggie Rembert, who was accompanied by
Calvin Phillips and
Grantis Bell.
The
1987 season was the beginning of
Major Harris as the starting quarterback for West Virginia. Only a redshirt-freshman, Harris led the Mountaineers to a
Sun Bowl berth, after a 1–3 start.
The '88 season opened with coach
Don Nehlen's alma mater,
Bowling Green. The win marked the beginning of the run, winning 62–14. West Virginia beat their next opponent,
Cal-Fullerton, 45–10. West Virginia's first challenge was against the
Maryland Terrapins. West Virginia got behind the Terps 14–0, but pulled away at halftime, winning 55–24.
West Virginia's next game was at the
Pittsburgh Panthers. The game was a defensive struggle, until running back
A.B. Brown, a Pitt transfer, ran a draw for 64-yards and the score. Scoring 14-points in the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers broke away. In the 1988
Backyard Brawl, West Virginia was installed as a one-point underdog by the odds makers. The Mountaineers rolled to a 31–10 victory over Pitt on the way to their first undefeated, untied regular season in school history. West Virginia then traveled to rival
Virginia Tech, and won 22–10, even though they produced four fumbles in the game. The next two games, a win at
East Carolina, and a 59-point win at
Boston College, gave West Virginia a 7–0 record.
Next, the late October matchup vs
Penn State at Mountaineer Field is widely regarded as one of the greatest games in Mountaineer football history. Before a nationwide CBS audience, the Mountaineers were up 34–8 before the half. On a draw play, runningback
Undra Johnson ran 55 yards for the touchdown to end the half. The game also included a touchdown run by Major Harris, which is remembered in West Virginia lore as "The Run".
The next game was at the
Cincinnati Bearcats, where the Mountaineers started slow in the first half. Receiver
Reggie Rembert scored three times, and the Mountaineers won by scoring 24 points in the third quarter. The Mountaineers traveled to
Giants Stadium to play
Rutgers, who had beat Penn St., Boston College, and
Michigan State. The Mountaineers played poor, but came out with the win.
The final regular season game of the season was at home, against the
Syracuse Orangemen. The Orangemen were 8–2, while the Mountaineers were 10–0. The highlight of the game was a 49-yard interception by Willie Edwards that was taken for a touchdown. The Mountaineers won 31–9, and took a famous lap around the stadium to entertain the 65,000 fans in Morgantown.
National championship
West Virginia traveled to the
Fiesta Bowl to play the only other undefeated team in the
NCAA, the
Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Free-safety
Darrell Whitmore was out for the Mountaineers, but Nehlen moved star
Bo Orlando from strong safety to free to fill the hole. Nehlen recalled the move as "our first mistake...". "Another mistake I made is that I let the media overrun us."
West Virginia's offense was doomed from the third play of the game. Major Harris separated his shoulder on the third play when he was slammed to the ground by Irish Linebacker Michael Stonebreaker. He couldn't throw well for the rest of the game. The WVU coaches also abandoned their plans to run a lot of option football out of fear of further injuring Harris. Linemen John Stroia and Bob Kovach were injured for the Mountaineers in that game as well. NG Jim Gray would also suffer an early injury in the game. Notre Dame completely dominated the game. West Virginia only made one serious threat. Willie Edwards (Now coaching at
Morgantown High School * class of 1984) picked off a Tony Rice pass in the 3rd quarter. ND led by 13 points at the time. A Harris incompletion and two ND sacks took WVU out of field goal range, and the threat was over. ND opened up a 21-point lead before a late WVU touchdown made the score respectable. WVU lost 34–21, it was their first loss of the season for the national championship.
Roster
West Virginia's '88 team was highlighted with an explosive offense, led by Major Harris. Harris, only a sophomore, threw an exceptional deep ball in addition to his remarkable scrambling ability. Running backs
A.B. Brown,
Undra Johnson, Eugene Napoleon, and
Craig Taylor at fullback highlighted the run game. The runners were led by
Rick Phillips and
Brian Smider on the offensive line, along with Stroia and Kovach, while
Kevin Koken led the line at center. Early in the season,
Keith Winn was moved from receiver to tight end, providing help to the run game, but was more famous as a deep-pass threat. The receivers catching the balls from Harris were led by
Reggie Rembert, who was accompanied by
Calvin Phillips and
Grantis Bell.