1998 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 1998 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Mountaineers' 106th overall and 8th season as a member of the Big East Conference (Big East). The team was led by head coach Don Nehlen, in his 19th year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record of eight wins and four losses (8–4 overall, 5–2 in the Big East) and with a loss against Missouri in the Insight.com Bowl.

1998 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Insight.com Bowl, L 31–34 vs. Missouri
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	8–4 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach	Don Nehlen (19th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dan Simrell (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Steve Dunlap (7th season)
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field (Capacity: 63,500)

1998 Big East Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 25 Syracuse $		6	–	1					8	–	4
No. 20 Miami (FL)		5	–	2					9	–	3
No. 23 Virginia Tech		5	–	2					9	–	3
West Virginia		5	–	2					8	–	4
Boston College		3	–	4					4	–	7
Rutgers		2	–	5					5	–	6
Temple		2	–	5					2	–	9
Pittsburgh		0	–	7					2	–	9
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	7:00 p.m.	No. 1 Ohio State*	No. 11	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	CBS	L 17–34	68,409
September 19	6:00 p.m.	Maryland*	No. 19	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 42–20	52,279
September 26	12:00 p.m.	Tulsa*	No. 19	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	MSN	W 44–21	48,819
October 3	12:00 p.m.	at Navy*	No. 16	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	FSN	W 45–24	36,009
October 10	12:00 p.m.	at Temple	No. 16	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA	ESPN Plus	W 37–7	14,851
October 24	3:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)	No. 13	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	CBS	L 31–34	60,081
October 31	12:00 p.m.	at No. 20 Virginia Tech	No. 21	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (rivalry)	ESPN Plus	L 13–27	52,807
November 7	7:30 p.m.	No. 15 Syracuse		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	ESPN	W 35–28	54,655
November 14	12:00 p.m.	at Rutgers		Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	ESPN Plus	W 28–14	26,740
November 21	12:00 p.m.	Boston College		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN	W 35–10	40,573
November 27	2:30 p.m.	at Pittsburgh		Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (Backyard Brawl)	CBS	W 52–14	42,254
December 26	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 23 Missouri*		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ (Insight.com Bowl)	ESPN	L 31–34	36,147
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 1998 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	11	20	19	19	16	16	15	13	21	—	—	RV	—	—	—	RV
Coaches Poll	12	20	20	20	17T	17	15	14	20	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	25	RV
BCS	Not released								—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

Personnel

1998 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 1 Jerry Porter Jr QB 4 Marc Bulger Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Don Nehlen Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt