History of WVU football on Thanksgiving
WVU head coach Neal Brown has made one thing clear ahead of the Mountaineers’ game at Baylor: This week is about food and football.
Across the 130 seasons of gold and blue football, there were several Thanksgivings where food and Mountaineer football went hand in hand.
West Virginia has played 37 games on Thanksgiving Day, holding an 18-17-2 record in those games.
From the completion of a comeback season to a Backyard Brawl blowout and more, there have been quite a few big moments after the turkey turns into leftovers.
Of all the programs West Virginia has faced on Thanksgiving, Washington & Jefferson tops the list. The Mountaineers have played the Presidents 15 times and was an annual fixture from 1919-1929.
The biggest win in the series for WVU came in 1922. The Mountaineers entered the matchup with an 8-0-1 record, their first undefeated season so far. But W&J was only one season removed from a Rose Bowl appearance and shut out West Virginia the year before.
The game brought so much hype, that additional bleachers needed to be brought in to the WVU’s Athletic Field (located where the Mountainlair currently sits) to accommodate fans.
After a scoreless first half, the Mountaineers opened the second half with a scoring drive capped off by a 17-yard rushing touchdown from running back Nick Nardacci. The Morgantown Post described Nardacci’s running as “phantom-like.”
Nadcacci wasn’t done. He scored a receiving touchdown from Fred Simons in the fourth quarter to secure the final 14-0 West Virginia win.
WVU ended up advancing to its first-ever bowl game, a trip to San Diego for the East-West Christmas Classic, beating Gonzaga 21-13.
After the 1930s, Thanksgiving games became rare in Morgantown. Entering the 1994 season, the Mountaineers had only hosted one Thanksgiving game since 1937.
But the 1994 season was unique from the start. After opening the year with a 1-4 record, West Virginia rebounded to win five of the next six games, including an upset over 13th-ranked Boston College.
The only game left on WVU’s schedule was against No. 22 Syracuse. It was a game that Mountaineer fans had waited a long time for. Two years prior, in the Orange’s last trip to Morgantown, a fight broke out between both squads after Syracuse quarterback Marvin Graves threw a football at West Virginia’s Tommy Orr.
Three WVU players were ejected. Graves remained in the game, and Syracuse scored on that drive to win it 20-17.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” WVU head coach Don Nehlen said after the game. “But I don’t think I’ve ever had one taken from me like that. It’s a crime.”
The 1994 matchup wasn’t pretty, with only one touchdown drive the entire game, but it went West Virginia’s way.
Jimmy Gray led the way on the ground with 119 rushing yards. Kantroy Barber added 70 and a touchdown. The Mountaineer defense held the Orange to only 51 yards rushing in the 13-0 win.
The win completed one of the best season turnarounds in West Virginia history and the Mountaineers were rewarded with a trip to the Carquest Bowl.
The most recent Thanksgiving game for West Virginia was 18 years ago. Fittingly, instead of a backyard bowl, it was a snowy and frigid Backyard Brawl.
The 2005 season was somewhat of a happy surprise for West Virginia fans. After losing several starters in Rasheed Marshall, Kay-Jay Harris, Chris Henry and Pac-Man Jones, nobody knew what the Mountaineers would have.
Turns out, West Virginia would have quite a bit.
True freshman Steve Slaton would hit the ground running in his first year with five 100-yard rushing games going into Thanksgiving’s Pitt game.
But the star rusher would be under center for the Mountaineers that chilly night in Morgantown. Pat White would rush for 220 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a game that Pitt was never able to make competitive. Slaton would add 179 yards and another couple of touchdowns to secure a 45-13 win.
The win would clinch a Big East Championship for WVU, to set up the school’s first-ever BCS bowl appearance.
Nov. 26, 1896Mahoning Cycle ClubYoungstown, OhioL 26-0Nov. 25, 1897Latrobe IndependentsLatrobe, Pa.L 16-0Nov. 30, 1899WaynesburgWaynesburg, Pa.L 20-0Nov. 24, 1904MariettaMarietta, OhioW 22-0Nov. 30, 1905MariettaMarietta, OhioW 17-6Nov. 29, 1906Washington & JeffersonWashington, Pa.L 29-6Nov. 25, 1909Washington & JeffersonMorgantownL 18-5Nov. 30, 1911DenisonFairmontL 5-3Nov. 28, 1912DenisonFairmontL 17-6Nov. 27, 1913VillanovaMorgantownW 7-0Nov. 26, 1914West Virginia WesleyanFairmontL 14-9Nov. 25, 1915West Virginia WesleyanFairmontW 30-0Nov. 30, 1916West Virginia WesleyanFairmontW 54-7Nov. 29, 1917NC StateMorgantownW 21-0Nov. 27, 1919Washington & JeffersonMorgantownW 7-0Nov. 25, 1920Washington & JeffersonWashington, Pa.L 28-0Nov. 24, 1921Washington & JeffersonMorgantownL 13-0Nov. 30, 1922Washington & JeffersonMorgantownW 14-0Nov. 29, 1923Washington & JeffersonMorgantownL 7-2Nov. 27, 1924Washington & JeffersonMorgantownW 40-7Nov. 26, 1925Washington & JeffersonMorgantownW 19-0Nov. 25, 1926Washington & JeffersonMorgantownL 13-3Nov. 24, 1927Washington & JeffersonMorgantownT 6-6Nov. 29, 1928Washington & JeffersonMorgantownW 14-0Nov. 28, 1929Washington & JeffersonMorgantownW 6-0Nov. 27, 1930Oregon StateChicagoL 12-0Nov. 30, 1933Washington & JeffersonMorgantownW 7-2Nov. 29, 1934Washington & JeffersonAtlantic City, N.J.W 14-12Nov. 28, 1935Loyola (La.)New OrleansT 19-19Nov. 26, 1936George WashingtonWashingtonL 7-2Nov. 25, 1937George WashingtonMorgantownW 26-0Nov. 24, 1938George WashingtonWashingtonW 7-6Nov. 24, 1949MarylandCollege Park, Md.L 47-7Nov. 28, 1963FurmanMorgantownW 38-7Nov. 22, 1990South CarolinaColumbia, S.C.L 29-10Nov. 24, 1994SyracuseMorgantownW 13-0Nov. 25, 2004PittPittsburghL 16-13Nov. 24, 2005PittMorgantownW 45-13
