The Mountaineers have faced Bobby Bowden's Florida State teams twice in the Gator Bowl losing both contests. The first appearance by West Virginia in the Gator Bowl was the 1982 game which was played in a driving rain storm. The Mountaineers star quarterback Jeff Hostetler could not deal with the weather conditions and completed just 10 of 28 passes for 118 yards with 2 iterceptions and was sacked 3 times. Florida State’s Billy Allen returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and Dennis McKinnon caught a 27-yard td pass from from Blair Williams and the Seminoles had a 17-3 halftime lead and never looked back in a 31-12 rout.

The 2nd time that West Virginia played in the Gator Bowl was the 1989 game which saw the Mountaineers again routed, this time by the Clemson Tigers 27-7. This was the season after the 11-0 Mountaineers lost to Notre Dame for the National Championship at the 1988 Fiesta Bowl and the EErs came in with an 8-2-1 record. The game started out well for WVU with Major Harris hitting James Jett with a 12 yard touchdown pass and an early 7-0..... The Mountaineers would never come close to scoring again in an ugly loss. The Tigers scored 27 unanswered points and harrassed Major Harris all night long to the point of where his mother made the now infamous remarks to the national television viewers that her son should "Leave West Virginia and turn professional". It was an embarrassing night to say the least.

West Virginia made their 3rd visit to the Gator Bowl in 1997 losing 20-13 to Mac Browns North Carolina Tarheels.This was the first time the game was played in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (later called ALLtel). North Carolina's backup quarterback Oscar Davenport came off the bench to lead the Tarheels to victory throwing for one TD and rushing for another. Mountaineer quarterback Chad Johnston was intercepted 3 times in the loss. This was the WVU team that started the 1996 season 7-0 before losing at home to Miami 10-7 on a blocked punt for a touchdown with just seconds remaining in the game. The Mountaineer season went south after that losing 4 of their last 5 to finish 8-4 with the Gator Bowl loss.

The 4th West Virginia trip to the Gator Bowl was the 2004 game which was without question the most brutal Bowl loss in West Virginia football history as the Maryland Turtles destroyed the Mountaineers 41-7 in a game that was not even that close. Former WVU transfer Scott McBrien passed for 381 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran for another score. I was in attendance and never felt more embarrassed at a football game in my life. Earlier that season WVU had beed punished by the Turtles in College Park 34-7 and despite the fact that the Mountaineers were greatly improved and finished the season very strong they were actually beaten worse in the Bowl rematch

The following season West Virginia returned for their 5th trip to Jacksonville in the 2005 Gator Bowl in another matchup with Bobby Bowdens Florida State Seminoles performing much better but still losing a hard fought 30-18 contest that was a bit closer than the final score indicated. Leon Washington rushed for 195 yards and a TD for FSU while Kay-Jay Harris rushed for 145 yards and a TD for WVU. The Mountaineers had pulled to within 23-18 late in the 4th quarter but James Colemans 1 yard touchdown run put the game away for the Noles.

The 6th West Virginia appearance was the 2007 Gator Bowl and the Mountaineers finally found a way to win in an exciting victory over the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets although it certainly didn't start out that way as the Mountaineers had no answer early on for All-American Calvin Johnson who caught 9 passes for over 190 yards and a pair of TDs in the 1st half. The Jackets led 35-7 early in the 3rd quarter when tailback Tashard Choice ran in from 5 yards out but the Mountaineers waged a furious comback and scored 21 unanswered 3rd quarter points enroute to an exciting 38-35 victory. Owen Schmitt rushed for 109 yards and 2 TDs in place of the injured Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White passed for 131 yards and a pair of TDs while also rushing for 145 yards and the game winning touchdown.

That classic Gator Bowl victory was just the 4th win by a West Virginia football team in the state of Florida in 20 games dating back 30 seasons. The other victories were a 28-17 win at Miami in 1997, a 45-20 victory over Central Florida in Orlando in 2004 and a 28-13 victory over South Florida in Tampa in 2005. Thats it folks, thats ALL the WVU victories in the State of Florida.

Having said all that in todays history lesson, this is a Mountaineer program that has won 4 consecutive Bowl games and has no interest in losing this New Years Day contest. Do I believe West Virginia can beat Florida State, Of course they can but they WILL GET the Seminoles best punch as they will want to send their longtime coach Bobby Bowden out with a victory just as much as the Mountaineers were determined to send Don Nehlen out a winner in the 2000 Music City Bowl in Nashville against Mississippi.The Mountaineers are healthy now and key players on defense such as Sidney Glover, Scooter Berry, Reed Williams, J.T.Thomas, Brando Hogan and Robert Sands should all be rested and ready as well as offensive starters Noel Devine, Jarrett Brown, Wes Lyons, Brad Starks and Tavon Austin. I would imaging the Seminoles come into this game wide open like the Bobby Bowden that coached in Morgantown and will go for it on every forth down and WVU may see every trick and gadget play the old man has collected in 44 years as a College Football head coach.

However the Seminole defense is pretty soft and if we see the West Virginia offense from early in the season they should be able to move the ball at will against FSU. It could be a real fun game to watch.

Until Next Time.......Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Mountaineers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
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