While the 2021 Mountaineer Football season was far from a success, there were some highs to counteract the lows of a 6-7 season. Today, we are going to take a look back at the six victories for WVU last season and rank them based on their importance to the season and the excitement of the game overall.
Here are the six WVU victories from 2021 ranked from worst to first:
6. September 11: vs LIU (W 66-0)
Though this was a fun game to attend, the blowout victory was still against one of the worst teams on the FCS level. West Virginia dominated, literally from the opening kickoff return by Winston Wright. In terms of importance, this will not be a win that Mountaineer Nation remembers for years to come, if they even remember it at all.
5. November 20: vs Texas (W 31-23)
This one may shock some folks, but Texas was really bad last season. They lost to Kansas…the 2-10 Kansas Jayhawks for goodness sakes. It is always fun to run over the Longhorns and flash a Horns Down or two, BUT last year’s game will not go down as an all-time between matchup between the schools, mostly because of the dumpster fire that is going on in Austin, Texas right now.
4. October 23: at TCU (W 29-17)
The rest of the games on this list did carry a significant weight of importance. The late October victory against the Horned Frogs really kept WVU’s season from going completely off of the rails. Had the Mountaineers not picked up the win in Fort Worth, it’s hard to tell how things would have played out in Morgantown. So this one was really the statement course correction for the 2021 campaign.
3. November 27: at Kansas (W 34-28)
Yes, it may have been Kansas, but this win got the Mountaineers to the postseason. A season finale loss to the Jayhawks would have really put a dark cloud over the WVU program. We can only imagine the outrage from fans had this one went the other way. So for that, this one checks-in higher on our list than lit generally would in years past.
2. October 30: vs Iowa State (W 38-31)
This was arguably the biggest surprise of the season. With how much the Mountaineer offense was struggling, they really did put on a show against one of the better defenses that the Big 12 has to offer. Jarret Doege had the best performance of his Mountaineer career, and the receivers were equally as effective. We saw glimpses of what West Virginia could be under Neal Brown if they can get all of the parts moving in the right direction. This game could be looked at as the foundation for what is to come in Morgantown.
- September 18: vs Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (W 27-21)
Neal Brown may have lost his first traditional rival game to Maryland, but he certainly made up for it with a win over the Hokies. It took a last second goal line stand by the defense, but the team got the job done. For all of those in attendance, this will be a game that they will remember for years and years to come.
