The 1971 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1971 college football season. It was the Mountaineers' 79th overall season and they competed as an University Division Independent. The team was led by head coach Bobby Bowden, in his 2nd year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record of seven wins and four losses (7–4 overall).
| Date
|
Opponent#
|
Rank#
|
Site
|
Result
|
Attendance
|
| September 11
|
Boston College
|
|
Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV
|
W 45–14
|
31,500
|
| September 18
|
at California
|
|
California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA
|
L 10–20
|
23,000
|
| September 25
|
at Richmond
|
|
City Stadium • Richmond, VA
|
W 16–3
|
11,000
|
| October 2
|
Pittsburgh
|
|
Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)
|
W 20–9
|
38,500
|
| October 9
|
at William & Mary
|
|
Cary Field • Williamsburg, VA
|
W 28–23
|
15,000
|
| October 16
|
East Carolina
|
|
Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV
|
W 44–21
|
27,000
|
| October 23
|
Temple
|
|
Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV
|
W 43–33
|
25,000
|
| October 30
|
#5 Penn State
|
|
Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Rivalry)
|
L 7–35
|
37,000
|
| November 6
|
at Duke
|
|
Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, NC
|
L 15–31
|
30,150
|
| November 13
|
VMI
|
|
Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV
|
W 28–3
|
24,000
|
| November 20
|
at Syracuse
|
|
Archbold Stadium • Syracuse, NY (Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy)
|
L 24–28
|
18,049
|
| *Non-Conference Game. †Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.
|
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
| by Quarter |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4
|
Total
|
| Pittsburgh
|
3 |
6 |
0 |
0
|
9
|
| • West Virginia
|
13 |
0 |
0 |
7
|
20
|
- Date: October 2
- Location: Morgantown, WV
- Game attendance: 38,500
| Scoring summary |
|---|
|
| 1 |
| PITT | Knisley 35 yard field goal | PITT 3-0 |
|
| 1 |
| WVU | Marbury 10 yard run (kick failed) | WVU 6-3 |
|
| 1 |
| WVU | Marbury 2 yard run (Nester kick) | WVU 13-3 |
|
| 2 |
| PITT | Gindin 25 yard pass from Havern (run failed) | WVU 13-9 |
|
| 4 |
| WVU | Galiffa 4 yard run (Nester kick) | WVU 20-9 |
|
