2020 West Virginia Mountaineers football team
The 2020 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mountaineers played their home games at the Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, in Morgantown, West Virginia, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Neal Brown.
2020 West Virginia Mountaineers football | |
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Liberty Bowl champion | |
Liberty Bowl, W 24–21 vs. Army | |
Conference | Big 12 Conference |
Record | 6–4 (4–4 Big 12) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Gerad Parker (1st season) |
Co-offensive coordinator | Chad Scott (2nd season) |
Defensive coordinator | Jordan Lesley (1st season) |
Co-defensive coordinator | Jahmile Addae (1st season) |
Co-defensive coordinator | Jeff Koonz (1st season) |
Home stadium | Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (Capacity: 60,000) |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 9 Iowa State y | 8 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 6 Oklahoma y$ | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 20 Oklahoma State | 6 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 19 Texas | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TCU | 5 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West Virginia | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kansas State | 4 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Texas Tech | 3 | – | 6 | 4 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Baylor | 2 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kansas | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Championship: Oklahoma 27, Iowa State 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Offseason
Coaching changes
Offensive coordinator Matt Moore was promoted to assistant head coach, and was replaced in his role as offensive coordinator by Penn State wide receivers coach Gerad Parker. Parker also replaced Xavier Dye, who departed for South Florida, as wide receivers coach. Additionally, the Mountaineers hired Jeff Koonz from Ole Miss to serve as inside linebackers and special team coach and later became co-defensive coordinator.[1]
On July 22, Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning parted ways with West Virginia after allegations of mistreatment by West Virginia players.[2] To replace him, they promoted three defensive coaches to become co-defensive coordinators: Jordan Lesley, Jahmile Addae, and Jeff Koonz. They also moved linebackers coach Dontae Wright to safeties coach along with promoting analyst Jeff Casteel to outside linebackers coach.[3]
Preseason
Big 12 media days
The Big 12 media days were held on July 21–22, 2020 in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]
Big 12 media poll
Big 12 media poll[5] | ||
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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1 | Oklahoma | 888 (88) |
2 | Oklahoma State | 742 (6) |
3 | Texas | 727 (4) |
4 | Iowa State | 607 |
5 | Baylor | 489 |
6 | TCU | 477 |
7 | Kansas State | 366 |
8 | West Virginia | 287 |
9 | Texas Tech | 267 |
10 | Kansas | 100 |
Schedule
Spring game
The West Virginia football spring "Blue-Gold game" was canceled due to COVID-19.
Regular season
West Virginia released its 2020 schedule on October 21, 2019. The 2020 schedule originally consisted of 7 home games, 4 away games, and 1 neutral-site game in the regular season. The Mountaineers were to host two non-conference games against Eastern Kentucky and Maryland, and play a non-conference neutral site game against Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. West Virginia was to host Kansas State, TCU, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Baylor; and travel to Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma State, and Iowa State in regular-season conference play.
The Mountaineers' games against Florida State, scheduled for September 5, and Maryland, scheduled for September 19, were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6][7]
Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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September 12 | 12:00 p.m. | Eastern Kentucky* | FS1 | W 56–10 | 976 | |
September 26 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 15 Oklahoma State | ABC | L 13–27 | 14,672 | |
October 3 | 12:00 p.m. | Baylor |
| ABC | W 27–21 2OT | 978 |
October 17 | 12:00 p.m. | Kansas |
| FOX | W 38–17 | 10,759 |
October 24 | 5:30 p.m. | at Texas Tech | ESPN2 | L 27–34 | 13,532 | |
October 31 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 16 Kansas State |
| ESPN2 | W 37–10 | 10,441 |
November 7 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 22 Texas | ABC | L 13–17 | 17,843 | |
November 14 | 12:00 p.m. | TCU |
| FOX | W 24–6 | 11,111 |
December 5 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 9 Iowa State | ESPN | L 6–42 | 14,256 | |
December 31 | 4:00 p.m. | vs. Army | ESPN | W 24–21 | 8,187 | |
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- Schedule Source:[8]
Coaching staff
Coach | Title | Year at West Virginia | Previous job |
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Neal Brown | Head Coach | 2nd | Troy |
Matt Moore | Assistant Head Coach/OL | 2nd | Troy Co-OC/OL |
Gerad Parker | OC/WR | 1st | Penn State (WR/PGC) |
Chad Scott | Co-OC/RB | 2nd | Louisville (RB) |
Jeff Koonz | ILB/ST | 1st | Ole Miss (ILB) |
Jahmile Addae | DB | 2nd | Minnesota (DB) |
Jeff Casteel | Defensive Analyst/OLB | 1st | Nevada (DC/LB) |
Jordan Lesley | DL | 2nd | Troy (DL) |
Seth Reagan | QB | 2nd | Troy (Co-OC/QB) |
Travis Trickett | TE/WR | 2nd | Georgia State (OC/QB) |
Dontae Wright | S | 1st | Western Michigan (S) |
Game summaries
Vs. Eastern Kentucky
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Eastern Kentucky | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
West Virginia | 14 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 56 |
Game information |
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Statistics | EKU | WVU |
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First downs | 9 | 31 |
Total yards | 206 | 624 |
Rushes/yards | 75 | 329 |
Passing yards | 131 | 295 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 9-17-1 | 25-35-0 |
Time of possession | 24:17 | 35:43 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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Eastern Kentucky | Passing | Peyton McKinney | 9-17, 131 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT |
Rushing | Alonzo Booth | 7 carries, 45 yds | |
Receiving | Keyion Dixon | 3 receptions, 53 yds, 1 TD | |
West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 19–25, 228 yds, 3 TD |
Rushing | Alec Sinkfield | 15 carries, 123 yds, 2 TD | |
Receiving | Sam James | 5 receptions, 72 yds, 1 TD |
At Oklahoma State
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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West Virginia | 0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
No. 15 Oklahoma State | 0 | 20 | 0 | 7 | 27 |
at Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, OK
- Date: Saturday, September 26, 2020
- Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: •Sunny Temperature: 87
- Game attendance: 14,672
- Referee: David Alvarez
- TV announcers (ABC): Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Dan Orlovsky (analyst), Kris Budden (sideline)
- Pregame line:
Game information |
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None
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Statistics | WVU | OKST |
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First downs | 22 | 20 |
Total yards | 353 | 342 |
Rushes/yards | 42–68 | 41–203 |
Passing yards | 285 | 139 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 20–37–0 | 15–22–1 |
Time of possession | 32:51 | 27:09 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 20/37, 285 yards, TD |
Rushing | Leddie Brown | 26 carries, 104 yards | |
Receiving | Winston Wright Jr. | 6 receptions, 127 yards, TD | |
Oklahoma State | Passing | Shane Illingworth | 15/21, 139 yards, INT |
Rushing | LD Brown | 11 carries, 103 yards, TD | |
Receiving | Tylan Wallace | 6 receptions, 78 yards |
Vs. Baylor
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
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Baylor | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
West Virginia | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 27 |
at Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV
- Date: Saturday, October 3, 2020
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: partly cloudy • Temperature: 57°F
- Game attendance: 978
- Referee: Scott Campbell
- TV announcers (ABC): Bob Wischusen, Dan Orlovsky and Rocky Boiman
- Pregame line: Baylor −1.0
Game information |
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Statistics | BAY | WVU |
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First downs | 15 | 18 |
Total yards | 256 | 345 |
Rushes/yards | 33/27 | 39/134 |
Passing yards | 229 | 211 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 23–38–2 | 30–42–2 |
Time of possession | 28:07 | 31:53 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
---|---|---|---|
Baylor | Passing | Charlie Brewer | 23–38, 229 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT |
Rushing | John Lovett | 14 carries, 23 yards | |
Receiving | R.J. Sneed | 6 receptions, 48 yards, 1 TD | |
West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 30–42, 211 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT |
Rushing | Leddie Brown | 27 carries, 93 yards, 2 TD | |
Receiving | Sam James | 8 reception, 66 yards |
Vs. Kansas
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV
- Date: Saturday, October 24, 2020
- Game time: EDT
- Game weather: • Temperature:
- Pregame line:
Game information |
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Statistics | KAN | WVU |
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First downs | ||
Total yards | ||
Rushes/yards | ||
Passing yards | ||
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | ||
Time of possession | ||
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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Kansas | Passing | ||
Rushing | |||
Receiving | |||
West Virginia | Passing | ||
Rushing | |||
Receiving |
At Texas Tech
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
West Virginia | 7 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 27 |
Texas Tech | 13 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 34 |
at Jones AT&T Stadium • Lubbock, TX
- Date: Saturday, October 24, 2020
- Game time: 5:30 p.m. EDT
- Game weather: Temperature: 65 °F (18 °C) • weather: clear • wind: SSW 17 MPH
- Game attendance: 13,532
- Referee: Brandon Cruse
- TV announcers (ESPN2): Anish Shroff, Tom Luginbill and Ian Fitzsimmons
- Pregame line:
Game information |
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Statistics | WVU | TTU |
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First downs | ||
Total yards | ||
Rushes/yards | ||
Passing yards | ||
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | ||
Time of possession | ||
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
---|---|---|---|
West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 32/50, 347 yards, TD |
Rushing | Leddie Brown | 21 rushes, 77 yards, 2 TD | |
Receiving | Winston Wright Jr. | 9 receptions, 126 yards | |
Texas Tech | Passing | Henry Colombi | 22/28, 169 yards, TD |
Rushing | SaRodorick Thompson | 8 rushes, 68 yards, TD | |
Receiving | Myles Price | 7 receptions, 79 yards |
Vs. Kansas State (homecoming)
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kansas State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV
- Date: Saturday, October 31, 2020
- Game time: EDT
- Game weather: • Temperature:
- Pregame line:
Game information |
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Statistics | KSU | WVU |
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First downs | ||
Total yards | ||
Rushes/yards | ||
Passing yards | ||
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | ||
Time of possession | ||
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
---|---|---|---|
Kansas State | Passing | ||
Rushing | |||
Receiving | |||
West Virginia | Passing | ||
Rushing | |||
Receiving |
At Texas
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
West Virginia | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
No. 22 Texas | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX
- Date: Saturday, November 7, 2020
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
- Game weather: Mostly Sunny, 70 °F (21 °C), Wind: 0 mph (0 km/h)
- Game attendance: 17,843
- Referee: Kevin Hassell
- TV announcers (ABC): Joe Tessitore, Greg McElroy, Holly Rowe
- Pregame line:
Game information |
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Statistics | WVU | TEX |
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First Downs | 21 | 17 |
Total Yards | 360 | 363 |
Rushing: Att/Yds | 26/43 | 36/9 |
Passing Yards | 317 | 184 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 35–50–0 | 15–31–0 |
Time of Possession | 34:21 | 25:39 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
---|---|---|---|
West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 35–50, 317 yards |
Rushing | Leddie Brown | 15 car, 47 yards, 1 TD | |
Receiving | T.J. Simmons | 4 rec, 71 yards | |
Texas | Passing | Sam Ehlinger | 15–31, 184 yards, 2 TDs |
Rushing | Bijan Robinson | 12 car, 113 yards | |
Receiving | Jake Smith | 3 rec, 59 yards, 1 TD |
Vs. TCU
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
TCU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV
- Date: Saturday, November 14, 2020
- Game time: EDT
- Game weather: • Temperature:
- Pregame line:
Game information |
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Statistics | TCU | WVU |
---|---|---|
First downs | ||
Total yards | ||
Rushes/yards | ||
Passing yards | ||
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | ||
Time of possession | ||
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
---|---|---|---|
TCU | Passing | ||
Rushing | |||
Receiving | |||
West Virginia | Passing | ||
Rushing | |||
Receiving |
At Iowa State
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
No. 9 Iowa State | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
at Jack Trice Stadium • Ames, IA
- Date: Saturday, December 5, 2020
- Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 49
- Game attendance: 14,256
- Referee: Kevin Hassell
- TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Pasch, Mike Golic
- Pregame line: Iowa State -6
Game information |
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Statistics | WVU | ISU |
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First downs | 16 | 26 |
Total yards | 263 | 483 |
Rushes/yards | 25-54 | 44-236 |
Passing yards | 209 | 247 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 21-41-0 | 20-23-0 |
Time of possession | 28:09 | 31:51 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics | |
---|---|---|---|---|
West Virginia | Passing | Jarret Doege | 21–44, 209 YDS | |
Rushing | Leddie Brown | 14 CAR, 48 YDS | ||
Receiving | Sean Ryan | 5 REC, 79 YDS | ||
Iowa State | Passing | Brock Purdy | 20–23, 247 YDS, 3 TD | |
Rushing | Breece Hall | 22 CAR, 97 YDS, TD | ||
Receiving | Xavier Hutchinson | 8 REC, 89 YDS |
Vs. Army – Liberty Bowl
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
West Virginia | 3 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 24 |
Army | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN
- Date: Thursday, December 31, 2020
- Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: Temperature: 40 °F (4 °C) • Wind: NE 12 mph • Weather: Rain
- Game attendance: 8.187
- Referee: Stuart Mullins
- TV announcers (ESPN): Wes Durham (play-by-play), Roddy Jones (analyst) & Eric Wood (sideline)
- Pregame line: ESPN – West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Army Black Knights (2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl)[9]
Game information |
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Statistics | WVU | ARMY |
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First downs | 19 | 16 |
Total yards | 322 | 239 |
Rushes/yards | 27–42 | 59–182 |
Passing yards | 280 | 57 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 23–42–1 | 4–6–1 |
Time of possession | 26:19 | 33:41 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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West Virginia | Passing | Jarrett Doege | 15/25, 159 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
Rushing | Leddie Brown | 20 carries, 65 yards | |
Receiving | T.J. Simmons | 4 receptions, 56 yards, 2 TD | |
Army | Passing | Christian Anderson | 4/6, 57 yards, 1 INT |
Rushing | Tyhier Tyler | 24 carries, 76 yards, 3 TD | |
Receiving | Chris Cameron | 1 reception, 32 yards |
Rankings
Week | ||||||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
AP | — | — | — | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | — | ||||
Coaches | — | — | — | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | ||||
CFP | Not released | Not released |
Players drafted into the NFL
Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
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5 | 153 | Tony Fields II | ILB | Cleveland Browns |
References
- Callihan, Schuyler. "Matt Moore Promoted to Assistant Head Coach". si.com. ABG-SI LLC. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
- "West Virginia D-Coordinator Vic Koenning part ways". ESPN.com.
- Sallee, Barrett. "West Virginia defensive staff to share coordinator duties in 2020 season after parting with Vic Koenning". CBSSports.com.
- Rittenberg, Adam. "Big 12 football media days going virtual due to coronavirus". ESPN.com. ESPN, Inc. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- "Oklahoma Tops Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll". big12sports.com.
- Myerberg, Paul. "Big Ten football reduces season schedule to only conference games, maybe setting stage for others to follow". USA TODAY. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
- Kelley, Kevin (July 30, 2020). "All three Chick-fil-A Kickoff games canceled in 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- "West Virginia Mountaineers Schedule 2020". ESPN.com. ESPN, Inc. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
- "West Virginia vs. Army (2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl) – Game Summary – December 31, 2020". ESPN. Retrieved January 3, 2021.